Hoddle calls on Son to be dropped and Romero to sort himself out after Spurs CL exit

Former Tottenham player and manager Glenn Hoddle has criticised Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son after the club’s Champions League exit.

The north Londoners crashed out of Europe on Wednesday night after a 0-0 home draw to AC Milan saw the Italian champions progress 1-0 on aggregate.

It was a bitterly disappointing display that resulted in a chorus of boos from the home fans after the full-time whistle.

The Champions League exit means Tottenham will finish another season without a trophy. Their last piece of silverware came in 2008.

A lot is being said about the future of head coach Antonio Conte – who is out of contract at the end of 2022-23.

When the former Chelsea boss was appointed in November 2021, many expected Tottenham to become more successful, but it has been a difficult stint in charge.

At their best under Conte, Tottenham are very hard to beat, but that has not come often enough and they were far from good enough against Milan on Wednesday.

The Premier League side were not helped on the night by defender Romero, who was rightly sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

Romero has a discipline problem. He is a very rash footballer who clearly struggles to control himself when he has already been cautioned.

He constantly plays on the line and it ultimately cost his team against Milan.

And Tottenham legend Hoddle singled the Argentine and his teammate Son out after .

“Romero’s got to be looked at,” Hoddle told BT Sport.

“We say it every week, he could be a wonderful defender but time and time again he gets sent off, he gets a second booking – he’s got to play differently then.

Hoddle added that Son’s lack of confidence is really affecting his performances and has called on Conte to once again drop him to the bench.

“[Son’s] playing in chains, he’s played for weeks in chains,” he added.

“He’s not even thinking about what he’s going to do next with the ball, he’s just worried about getting control and not making a mistake.

“He’s scored goals from the bench, he scored three against Leicester – take him out. Actually, take him out for a few weeks and let him come on from the sidelines.

“That’s just one individual player but it wasn’t good enough right the way through the team.”

Hoddle continued: “Tottenham are at a crossroads. This squad isn’t good enough, fourth pace is better than they should be doing.

“There was no energy, there was no creativity. They found it so hard to get round the back.”

BT co-commentator and former Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas was also critical of Romero following his dismissal.

He said: “It’s a massive flaw to his game.

“We spoke about it after 15 minutes [when he received his first booking], I don’t understand why he has to do this all the time.

“He is such a top, top player, Cristian Romero, and he is so loved at this place. I think he is a brilliant, brilliant defender but this is a part of his game he needs to figure out.”