Ben Davies admitted at the weekend he had no idea how Tottenham team-mate Cristian Romero coped with being suspended, because the Argentinian is still struggling to speak English.
If looks are worth a thousand words, though, Romero’s smouldering stare in the direction of Matty Cash after the Aston Villa defender injured Rodrigo Bentancur with a nasty challenge last week suggested a frustrated player itching to return to the fray.
Romero will be back in action on Thursday night when Spurs host West Ham, having missed three games for a straight red in the 4-1 defeat by Chelsea on November 6, though he featured in Argentina’s two World Cup qualifiers last month.
Whatever your view of Romero’s sending off for a studs-up follow through on Enzo Fernandez, he appeared to lose control against Chelsea and was earlier lucky to have avoided punishment for kicking out at Levi Colwill.
His suspension - coupled with a serious hamstring injury to defensive partner Micky van de Ven in the same game - has cost Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have taken one point from a possible 12 and, since Romero left the field against Chelsea, they have shipped 11 goals and struggled to play out fluently from the back - one of the “non-negotiables” of the head coach’s approach.
Emerson Royal, who has deputised at right centre-back in the past two matches, was twice caught playing out in the 3-3 draw at Manchester City but spared by wasteful finishing by Erling Haaland, and also struggled in the 2-1 defeat by Villa.
Eric Dier looked ill-equipped for Postecoglou’s football in the reverse at Wolves and has since joined Spurs’s long injury list.
"Tottenham's hopes of keeping in touch with the front-runners feel dependent on Romero keeping fit - and his cool"
Emerson is expected to drop out on Thursday night, with the left-footed Davies likely to partner Romero at centre-back - and presumably with enough common language to communicate on the pitch.
The return of Romero will ease Spurs’s selection crisis, but if he is shown another straight red this season, he would be banned for four matches, so their hopes of keeping in touch with the front-runners feel dependent on the 25-year-old keeping fit - and his cool.
Postecoglou says he has not spoken to Romero about discipline, but offered the suggestion of a warning to his vice-captain, pointing out the team are punished for his rushes of blood.
“It’s part of who he is as a player, he brings a physicality to it,” he said. “When he oversteps the mark, the whole group pays a price, so it’s up to him to maintain the discipline I know he can show.”
