Tim Sherwood has said that he still has doubts about Cristian Romero when the centre-back does not have Micky van de Ven beside him, revealing that he holds his breath every time the Argentine goes into a challenge.
Much like the majority of the Tottenham squad, Romero had a season to forget last term, making plenty of unforced errors and being part of an extremely leaky Spurs defence.
The 25-year-old has stepped up in a major way this season and has grown with the additional responsibility handed to him by Ange Postecoglou, who has made the centre-back his vice-captain.
However, the former Juventus man is yet to completely tame his aggression and continues to step over the line on occasions as he did when he was handed a red card for his challenge on Enzo Fernandez last month.
Romero was perhaps unlucky to escape without a red for his rash challenge on Callum Wilson in Tottenham’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United last week.
Micky Van de Ven can calm Cristian Romero down
Sherwood suggested that the Tottenham man looks a lot more composed when he has Van de Ven beside him.
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The former Spurs midfielder and interim head coach told Sky Sports News (16/12/23 at 12:10 pm): “Romero is someone who I hold my breath every time he goes into a tackle.
“He is better there when Van der Ven is there. I think he trusts him. He seemed to have calmed it down when he was playing in that partnership together.
“Them two tackles from Romero and Bissouma against Forest are really poor tackles and you can hurt your opposition.”
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Unfortunately, Romero has now developed a reputation as being a dirty player, and referees will thus continue to micro-analyse his antics on the pitch. That means that the Argentine has to be extra careful if he does not want to risk getting sent off again.
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