Tottenham’s ‘stupid’ Cristian Romero causes outrage and disbelief vs Bodo/Glimt
Tottenham defender Cristian Romero was blasted from multiple directions despite his side’s relatively comfortable Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt.
Ange Postecoglou‘s side welcomed the Norwegian outfit to North London on Thursday (1 May) in the first leg of their semi final tie.
Spurs will be looking to salvage what has been a dismal campaign by lifting that trophy to end their long wait for silverware, and qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Tottenham beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 to take another step towards the final in that game, with Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke all getting on the scoresheet.
But there was one incident involving captain Romero late on in that game that left several observers unimpressed.
Cristian Romero booked for late challenge
The Argentina international again wore the skipper’s armband in the absence of the injured Son Heung-min in that clash.
Romero would have a positive impact by winning the penalty that allowed Solanke to put Tottenham 3-0 up on the hour-mark.
However, 15 minutes afer that, the Spurs centre-back found himself in the referee’s book, after a late off the ball barge into Bodo/Glimt’s Jostein Maurstad Gundersen as the visitors mounted an attack.
Speaking on co-commentary on TNT Sports about the incident, Ally McCoist was left furious with the unnecessary nature of the challenge with the visitors three up and cruising.
| Cristian Romero vs Bodo/Glimt | Total (as per SofaScore) |
| Accurate Passes | 43/49 |
| Duels Won | 5/10 |
| Tackles | 0 |
| Interceptions | 3 |
| Clearances | 5 |
| Fouls | 2 |
As a replay of the foul was shown, the former Rangers striker erupted, saying (1 May, 9:38pm): “Romero, honestly, I cannot believe Romero, it’s stupid.
“You’re 3-0 up, he’s just got no interest in the game and he just, watch him, look, look, look, bang. Why would you?
With the camera then showing Romero arguing his case to the referee, McCoist continued: That must frustrate the life out of Postecoglou and his teammates.
“I don’t even know what he’s saying in his defence there, I’m watching it and he’s not even looking at the ball, he’s just looking at the man running up to him and he’s says ‘I’m going to stop him’.
“Gets himself a yellow card.”
Meanwhile, taking to X to react to that booking, former Tottenham midfielder and current talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara wrote: “What is Romero doing like seriously why do that[?]”.
Tottenham will not appreciate indiscipline from key man
Football Insider Verdict
This is of course far from the first time that Romero has got himself into trouble for a foul that he simply did not need to make.
As McCoist says you can be sure that it will not be an attribute of his that is going to be popular with his Tottenham teammates.
Romero can be an excellent defender, but by getting bookings for silly fouls like this he limits what he can do by putting himself on a proverbial tightrope so frequently.
Indeed, at times it can even go further than that and the Argentine will be have his match ended prematurely with a needless sending off.
Either way, that makes things a lot harder for the rest of the Spurs side as they attempt to recover from such setbacks.
In that way he is something of a liability, which could also create an issue for Tottenham as they look to make as much money from the sale of Romero as possible amid interest from elsewhere.