Tottenham: Thomas Frank responds to questions over Cristian Romero captaincy regret | OneFootball

Spurs boss made World Cup winner his captain in the summer

Following Romero’s dismissal, his second red card of the season and the sixth of his Spurs career, United quickly took the lead through Bryan Mbeumo.

The hosts then dominated after the break and sealed the three points when Bruno Fernandes prodded home Diogo Dalot’s cross late on.

Despite a series of discipline issues on and off the pitch, with Romero criticising Spurs’ hierarchy on social media on Monday evening, Frank has stood by the captain and was defiant in his defence of the Argentinian at full-time.

“No, there's not (any regrets about making him captain),” Frank said in his post-match press conference.

“And also, he was sorry for the incident, he apologised to his team-mates in the changing room. No, I think he's one of the most important players, and I think when he performs top, he's driving the team.”

Asked whether Romero had let him down, Frank said he would not be taking any further action against the defender, adding that his apology was enough.

He continued: “We haven’t spoken specifically about this situation because he apologised to the players, to us, to the team in there. That’s enough for me for now. And then, how can you say, that’s it. Nothing more to do for now.”

Romero will now miss the next four league games and is close to a further two-game suspension should he pick up two more yellow cards upon his return from suspension.

Frank appreciates that Romero is someone who plays on the edge, and admits there is a balance to be struck between aggression and overzealousness as he prepares to reshuffle his defence ahead of Tuesday’s match at home to Newcastle.

He said: “I think if you look at how many red cards he has had, it's not like he had that many throughout his career. You know, you play with passion, and you play with aggression. And there's a fine line when you do that.”