Stuart Pearce provided a scathing assessment of Tottenham captain Cristian Romero during the 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
The Argentine lined up for Spurs against the Red Devils on Saturday but could do little to prevent Ruben Amorim’s side claiming a last-gasp equaliser.
Stuart Pearce calls out Tottenham captain Cristian Romero for 'horrific' performance against Manchester United!
The World Cup winner limped off with a knock with the game locked at 1-1 but by that point, Pearce had seen enough to suggest Romero had put in a sluggish display.
What did Pearce say about Romero?
"If I was a chief scout sent to watch Romero, I would identify him as a weakness,” the former England captain told talkSPORT.
"You can certainly get in behind him. And if I was sent on behalf of recruitment, I would say, 'Leave him where he is!'"
Pearce added: "It's horrific what Romero is doing at the moment. He gives the ball away in midfield and doesn't even make a recovery run. As a defender, that should be engrained in you.
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"He's pushing up to defend into midfield, getting completely bypassed and he's just jogging back making no effort to help out.
"I know I keep going on about it, but it really is unbelievable from the captain of his team."
Romero was handed the Tottenham captaincy in August following the exit of Heung-min Son.
In spite of Pearce’s criticism, Romero boasts an impressive resumé having added the Europa League to his World Cup winners medal.
But it has been defensive partner Mickey Van de Ven that has taken the plaudits this season.
The Dutchman, fresh off his goal scoring exploits against FC Copenhagen in midweek, was stellar yet again against United showing his worth to Tottenham.
Cristian Romero lined up for Tottenham against Man United but limped off through injury late on
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Cristian Romero lined up for Tottenham against Man United but limped off through injury late onCredit: Getty
Pearce was far from impressed with Romero's endeavour against Man United
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Pearce was far from impressed with Romero's endeavour against Man UnitedCredit: Getty
Despite having surrendered their lead late in the dying seconds Spurs boss Thomas Frank was pleased with his side's second half fightback.
"I think it was a good performance at home against Man United especially second half," Frank told talkSPORT.
"I liked that when came out for the second half 1-0 down, the players stayed in the game and kept doing the right thing with the principles.
"We turned it around and got a deserved equaliser . We got what we hoped t could have been the winner.
"We can't run away from it, it's disappointing they equalised so late but it's not the first time in world history that happened.
"To come back in the fashion we did, I'm very happy.
Thomas Frank's substitution of Xavi Simons proved to be a turning point
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Thomas Frank's substitution of Xavi Simons proved to be a turning point
"It was a good step forward in terms of what we wanna do but we are not where we want to be in terms of free-flowing."
Xavi Simons substitution was the right call
Frank handed another start to summer signing Xavi Simons who now appears to be showing signs of promise at the north London club.
The Netherlands international has often substituted by Frank in matches and was hooked yet again in the 79th minute.
His exit sparked a chorus of boos from the home crowd however Frank was proved right in his decision with replacement Mathys Tel netting Spurs' equaliser five minutes later.
"Every single time I make a substitution, I do it for the best of the team with only one aim -- to try to win the match.
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"Today, it was successful. Mathys came in and scored the goal. For Xavi, it was another step forward in a positive performance
"He's started a lot of games and we needed a little extra freshness."