After a brilliant win for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Jamie O’Hara was still left frustrated with one player.
And when discussing the Spurs win, O’Hara simply couldn’t believe the actions of Cristian Romero.
Despite Tottenham being ahead and managing the game well, Romero showed his typical recklessness when leaving an unnecessary foot into a challenge, risking a red card.
And O’Hara thought Romero would end up costing Postecoglou at Tottenham.
He said: “I just don’t understand what goes through his head, he’s a fantastic player, world-class player.
“And I know he plays on the edge, there are players who play on the edge all the time. You’ve just come back from a three-game suspension.
“If he gets sent off he gets four games, so I just think he needs to learn to be able to [stop] but I just don’t think he can. I think it’s just in him as a player and the way he tackles is so aggressive.
“He is a problem for us but the players back him and he does play on the edge and he is brilliant when he’s on the pitch.
“The problem is he doesn’t spend enough time on it.”
Romero clearly has the ability to be an integral part of Postecoglou’s project at Tottenham.
However, he simply won’t be if his reckless actions continue.
It’s very hard to defend a player who is consistently deciding to put his team needlessly at risk.
One pundit was suggesting that it was now time to have a word with Romero, however, that has surely already taken place.
Tottenham are known to be targeting a centre-back in January, and should they recruit well, Romero could find himself out of the eleven when Micky van de Ven returns.
Not because of his ability, rather his temperament.
As O’Hara states, Romero can be a key man for Postecoglou, he’s showing it every week.
But it’s impossible to build a project around a player that can be so unpredictable.
And with Tottenham now linked to a very impressive £40m defender in January, Romero will now need to consider his conduct in future games.
