Postecoglou sends warning to Romero over tackle; picks out Spurs star for special praise

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has warned Sergio Romero that “the spotlight will be on him for the rest of the year” after a late challenge against Newcastle United at the weekend.

Richarlison scored twice, and Spurs also scored goals from Son Heung-min and Destiny Udogie to easily defeat the Magpies 4-1 on Sunday.

Nevertheless, Romero’s careless challenge on Callum Wilson in the 80th minute should have resulted in a straight red card, thus Tottenham were fortunate to end the match with 10 men.

The Argentina international was given a yellow card by the referee and permitted to finish the game as VAR didn’t think it was essential to step in after only recently returned from a three-match suspension.

Romero “understands,” according to Tottenham manager Paulo Divac, that he will now be “under the spotlight” for the remainder of the season as a result of the tackle and prior red card.

Postecoglou told reporters at a pre-match press conference: “To an extent but it’s fair to say the spotlight will be on him for the rest of the year. Any challenge he does whether it’s something that’s pretty clear like the Chelsea game or last week which I thought was as much clumsy as anything else. And he knows that, he understands that.

“He’s just got to make the adjustments that he needs to do during the game. But I don’t think it’s a subject for long chats. It’s pretty evident the impact he has on us when he’s playing and when he’s not, and we much prefer to have him out there.”

Ben Davies has been in and out the team this season but he’s played a more prominent role in recent weeks under Postecoglou and the Spurs boss is thrilled with the Welshman’s contributions.

Postecoglou added: “I thought Ben Davies was outstanding. He’s getting a run of games. We’ve got to be mindful he’s not a centre-back and he’s growing into that role.

“Ben is still adapting to it. He’s done remarkably well. Centre-back is still a position, especially in our structure, where you need outstanding attributes and we’ve been very fortunate to have him that he’s been able to adapt there. He’s great at taking on information. He’s been helped by having Romero back and Vic has taken on a leadership role back there as well.

“We need to sign another centre-back though because at the moment we’re on tenterhooks in case something else happens there.”