Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero did not impress journalist Alasdair Gold on Sunday after his goading of the opponents following their late equaliser at Stamford Bridge.
The reliable Spurs journalist has been speaking on his YouTube channel following the 2-2 draw, with Romero’s actions a big talking point.
It was a drama-filled afternoon at Chelsea, and – managers aside – it was Romero who played a big role in fuelling the controversy.
In the lead-up to Harry Kane’s late equaliser, VAR interrupted the game to check a potential red card incident which saw the Argentinian pull Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair.
Although VAR decided not to punish the 24-year-old centre-back, Gold was not left impressed by the action and what was to quickly follow.
After the VAR check was over, Kane scored and Romero was spotted in the celebrations shouting in the face of Chelsea’s Reece James, which did not go down well with Gold.
He said: “You know what I probably didn’t like even more than that [Cucurella incident] – and I know some fans will love it, and it will only endear him to Tottenham fans more – was after the goal went in off James, Romero went up to James and went ‘ahhh’ right in his face, like really went up close to him.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like that goading of opponents after. It’s not very classy, it’s a bit crass. And yes, I’m sure some fans will love it and they’ll think it’s kind of cult hero status-worthy, I get it.”
TIF Thoughts on Gold’s comments…
We can absolutely see where Gold is coming from, and as he suggested, it will be something which will divide the opinions of the fans.
Do you like this side of Romero?
Yes
No
On one hand, it shows the Argentinian’s passion and excitement on the pitch, but it does leave him vulnerable to being left red-faced in later games.
In fact, he did the same last season against Manchester United and was beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo in the air for what was the game-deciding goal moments later.
So there is definitely a fine line that the defender walks and it does seem he can easily get caught up in the emotions, but if he can continue to avoid picking up yellow cards, we think a lot of fans will not mind too much.