Players who play in team sports should always act together and play as one. A sense of unity is required. This can be severely damaging if a player/s constantly gets into trouble on the field. Should this be the case on a regular basis, it puts the team at a serious disadvantage and a risk of losing the match/es.
This seems to be the case for Tottenham captain, Cristian Romero. He was sent off in the defeat to Manchester United. According to many pundits, this is the main reason why they lost as it's difficult to win a match when you're down by one man.
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank called it the "perfect storm". Other assessments were made of Cristian Romero's lunge at Manchester United midfielder Casemiro half an hour into their Premier League game at Old Trafford.
At the end of a week during which Romero has been at the centre of attention after he publicly condemned the Spurs hierarchy for their failure to invest in the squad, the Argentina defender once again left manager, Thomas Frank to defend him.
The match, which was goalless when he was shown a straight red card for the foul on Casemiro, ended in a 2-0 defeat for Spurs.
"He apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room," said Frank afterwards, having argued on Friday that too much attention had been paid to Romero's social media outburst and defended the "passion" of his captain.
The facts were quite simple at Old Trafford. Romero overhit the ball slightly, so was going to be marginally late as he went to play a pass. The ball flicked up off Casemiro's left foot, which meant Romero struck his opponent's right with full force on the shin, before he played the ball.
There was little time - but those are the fine margins that exist in the Premier League.
According to the Premier League Match Centre, Romero's challenge met the threshold for serious foul play because it was "made with excessive force and endangered an opponent." Former Premier League official, Darren Cann, agreed with the decision.
"Romero makes a forceful challenge on Casemiro which is, in law, undoubtedly a serious foul play tackle," Cann told BBC Sport. "It was a really excellent decision from referee Michael Oliver, who was brilliantly positioned."
Not even Frank could argue match referee, Michael Oliver, was wrong to send Romero off. "The red card is a red card," he said. "But I have watched it back five times, he clearly tried to go for the ball."
As Romero had already been sent off once this season, against Liverpool in December, he will now miss Tottenham's next four Premier League games through suspension. He will not feature again domestically until the rematch with Arne Slot's side on 15 March.
There are more damning statistics than that. Twice - in different games against Brentford - the Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel concluded he got away with tackles he should've been sent off for.
Nonetheless, Romero has still become the first player to be red carded twice in the Premier League this season. He now has four in the league since he joined Tottenham in 2021, the most of any player during this period and the joint-most for anyone from the club in the competition overall.
He has six Spurs red cards in total.
"I didn't know that," admitted Frank when informed of Romero's unhappy record in response to a previous answer. Unsurprisingly, Frank was asked about the wisdom of having Romero as his captain. In terms of leading by example, it was a very bad look.
"No, there is not," said the Dane in response to whether there is any regret about Romero's status. "I think it is fair to say he doesn't have any intention to get a red card after 28 minutes. He is sorry for the incident. He apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room. He is one of the most important players."
Frank's answer to whether he would consider taking the armband off Romero was predictable. "No," he said. It was the same succinct manner he used later to a point that Romero was not helping a team that were already without 10 senior players at kick-off, and subsequently also lost full-back Destiny Udogie to injury.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario also defended his team-mate on TNT Sports. "He's our captain and today he made a mistake," he said. "But we know the player he is. He's going to come back stronger, for sure, and he'll help us throughout the rest of the season."
Match of the Day pundit, Danny Murphy, was clear Romero "let his team-mates down," adding: "It is irresponsible, especially after a week where he's been talking about recruitment and a lack of players.
"He's the captain, the leader - he needs to do better." Murphy wasn't the only pundit critical of Romero. "You just know he's got that switch," Joe Hart, who played for Tottenham among others, told TNT Sports. "He doesn't need to do that. He just smashes him. Is he a good leader? I don't know. He must be from what we don't see because Thomas Frank seems to stand by him no matter what."
Former Manchester United midfielder, Owen Hargreaves, was similarly unimpressed. "When he looks at it back he'll think 'why did I do that?'," he said. "He's club captain. He needs to be leading by example - but that's not the example he needs to be setting."
Cristian Romero apologised to his team-mates after his first-half red card in their 2-0 defeat at Man Utd on Saturday - but Thomas Frank backed his skipper.
Frank confirmed Romero had said sorry for his actions in the dressing room after the defeat but insisted the defender hadn't intended to hurt Casemiro. "The red card is a red card," he said. "I've watched it back five times. Cuti tried to go for the ball. You play with passion and aggression and there's a fine line."
Frank has made it clear Romero will still be captain when he returns for that Liverpool game, which will split two Champions League last-16 ties, when Juventus and Atletico Madrid are two of the four opponents they could meet.
Frank had also cited Romero's passion when he defended his centre-back's social media outburst earlier this week. Romero had made headlines after the 2-2 draw with Man City when he used the word "disgraceful" after referencing how stretched Spurs' squad was; in an apparent dig at the club's recruitment.
It followed a previous social media post in January, in which Romero accused the club's hierarchy of "lies." In a since-edited post, he wrote: "They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies."
Last Thursday, Frank said the latest matter had been "dealt with internally" and stood by his skipper, starting him on Saturday against United.
Asked if he had regrets keeping Romero as captain, Frank said: "No, there is not. He's apologised to his team-mates in the changing room. He's one of our most important players. He doesn't have any intention to get a red card. He's apologised to the team and that's enough for me right now, there's nothing more to do."
It's Romero's second red card of the season and means he is facing a four-game ban, which will include the north London derby (against Arsenal).
"It's an absolute nightmare for Thomas Frank," said former Spurs captain, Michael Dawson, on Soccer Saturday. "This is a disaster for Thomas Frank. As a manager, you're sitting in 14th and you're going, 'my captain has come out and said this'. Now he leaves his team down to 10 men."
"I'm baffled. As a captain, you're supposed to lead by example. You leave your team vulnerable, 10 men at Old Trafford. Your losing your captain and one of your best players. He's let his team down again today."
Romero has now been sent off six times across all competitions since his Spurs debut in August 2021 - that's more than any other player in the competition in that period. He has seen red four times in the Premier League - the joint-most by a Spurs player with Younes Kaboul.
He was also dismissed against Liverpool this season in December, when he was handed a fine and an additional game ban for 'failing to leave the field of play promptly'.
Romero's January mess:
7 January - Accuses club hierarchy of lies
8 January - Frank defends Romero and calls him a "true captain"
2 February - Romero uses the word "disgraceful" after referencing the lack of depth in the Spurs squad
5 February - Frank says he wouldn't have posted that on social media but refers to Romero as passionate and ambitious
7 February- Romero gets a straight red card for a dreadful tackle at Old Trafford
Spurs are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle and will now be without one of their most important players for four games.
They face Newcastle in a huge game at the Tottenham hotspur Stadium on Tuesday and Spurs will also be without their captain for the north London derby against Arsenal. Spurs then face Fulham and Crystal Palace in March.
Romero will not feature again until Spurs face Liverpool at Anfield on 15 March.
If I were a Tottenham fan, I wouldn't want Romero anywhere near the club. He's clearly a liability in the team. Players like these are high risk at producing dangerous actions that can lead to disastrous results. Players like these should be kept away for as long as possible.
It's alarming that Romero is set to remain as captain. Captains should lead by example. Displaying the kind of behaviour while remaining captain shows that the behaviour is okay and that it's just fine to make reckless tackles and act out if things don't go in your favour.