Romero’s absence from Argentina throws Tottenham plan into doubt

Romero missing Thursday makes one wonder

If the players are indeed able to leave after the Sunday match and enter Croatia on Monday, September 6, they could be integrated back with the team as early as Thursday, September 16, the same day Spurs travel to Rennes and three days before Chelsea. This could mean the players only miss two matches total and only 1 in the Premier League.

However, this plan only works if the players are released by their respective national teams after their second qualifier on Sunday. The idea was that the Premier League players would play Thursday and Sunday and then skip the following Thursday. This is all well and good and seems like a possibility for most of the participants, except Romero did not play on Thursday.

Not only did Cuti Romero not play Thursday against Venezuela, but Romero also was not even in the squad. By missing out entirely on Thursday it makes one wonder if he is going to play the second and third matches instead. If that is the case the plan to get Romero back early, along with Lo Celso and Sanchez may not work for Tottenham.

For Lo Celso, he can actually force the decision by simply picking up a yellow against Brazil, which would mean he was ineligible for the match against Bolivia. Romero is in no such situation and his missing out in game one of the three makes one wonder.

Ultimately, we will find out on Monday who is actually coming home early and who is destined to miss most of September for the club. For the Spurs losing the trio for a couple of matches is not the end of the world, not having them back and available until Arsenal, which would likely be the case with playing all three matches and a full UK quarantine is a different story.