Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says managers have a responsibility to ‘protect the players’ after he took off Cristian Romero with a head injury
Romero and Mbeumo were involved in clash of heads in the opening minutesAfter opening the scoring for the vistors, Argentine defender was subbed off
Boss Postecoglou had console Romero after he departed the pitch reluctantly
Ange Postecoglou insists managers have a responsibility to ‘protect players’ after he took Cristian Romero off, after the defender suffered a head injury seconds after putting Tottenham ahead against Brentford.
It was new Postecoglou’s Premier League debut, though the former Celtic boss was forced to bring off one his players just minutes into the game after a head injury scare.
The Argentine centre-back was involved in an early clash of heads with Bees forward Bryan Mbeumo four minutes into Sunday afternoon’s contest at the Gtech Community Stadium, though was cleared to continue.
Less than ten minutes later, Romero put his side 1-0 ahead, nodding in a header from James Maddison’s free-kick, though had to be subbed off following a second blow to the head during the act of scoring.
Despite being reluctant to leave the pitch, Spurs could not take any chances and brought on Davinson Sanchez as a replacement. Postecoglou has also revealed that it didn’t count as a concussion substitute after the wrong form was filled in.
After the match, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou told Sky Sports it was ‘quite evident’ as to why the centre-back had been substituted off.
‘I thought it was quite evident, he hurt his head.
‘We’re in an era where we know about these things so I’m not a doctor and anytime that happens I think it’s really important that we protect the players.
‘They don’t know themselves what’s going on and I had medical advice’ Postecoglou continued.
‘The disappointing thing for me was that we filled in the wrong form for a concussion substitute so in this day and age when we are talking about player care, a piece of paper is not important.’
The Australian manager added that there was ‘no hesitation in taking him off, obviously the player wants to continue but he’s not the one who makes that decision.’
Postecoglou appeared to be explaining to Romero why he was being taken off as well as consoling the player.
Romero’s exit wasn’t a concussion substitution, but rather one of Spurs’ five normal ones, because he didn’t leave the pitch at the time of the initial clash of heads.
Despite taking an early lead, the visitors were held to a 2-2 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium, settling for a point.
Maddison, the new number 10, registered two assists on his opening appearance for Spurs, putting the visitors ahead within 11 minutes.
Romero watched the remainder of the match from the bench. He has just been named one of Spurs’ vice-captains ahead of the new Premier League season with Son Heung-min taking the armband.
Kick-off in west London was delayed by around seven minutes because water supplies to the stadium were interrupted.
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