Player Watch: Cristian Romero

[Ossie85]

View attachment 145022
He is playing offside, why aren't the others?
I'm sure they should be taking their line off of their leader which I presume is Romero.

How is this on Romero?
Dragusin leaves both newcastle players onside. Porro and Udogie are well positioned.
If Romero were positioned to track back like Dragusin he would have lost in pace too, like Dragusin did
Winning the ball back with pace against running attackers is not a defensive tactic. We are going to lose most of the times. Only VDV can do that.
None of the other teams defend like this.

 

[jezz]

I can assure ju that's not the reason why I'm not the manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

You also failed to answer the question on your second try as well.

I've answered the question you don't like the answer.
If you think Romero has a BAD attitude and Ange would put up with his Bad attitude then we are done discussing.
That's your opinion and I don't agree.
I think he's a world class defender and will make errors like any other world class player.
I accept that and understand the system we play will expose our defenders more than others.
VVD got a lesson from isak last year but I accept that with the system we play.

 

[Whazam]

How is this on Romero?
Dragusin leaves both newcastle players onside. Porro and Udogie are well positioned.
If Romero were positioned to track back like Dragusin he would have lost in pace too, like Dragusin did
Winning the ball back with pace against running attackers is not a defensive tactic. We are going to lose most of the times. Only VDV can do that.
None of the other teams defend like this.

Of course you drop and follow runners at times. You can't play for offside every time, no matter what. Especially not if you are already standing on the halfway line, then dropping is very much the go to.

On this occasion, there's a yard or two left to the halfway line, so maybe Romero is in the right (but he did look to only be ball watching, to me). Either way, we weren't in sync. If that's on Romero or the other three, I couldn't say. I don't really care, it's not great of course, but I don't feel the need to blame someone for it. I'm just disappointed about how he reacted to the situation from that point.

 

[Whazam]

I've answered the question you don't like the answer.
If you think Romero has a BAD attitude and Ange would put up with his Bad attitude then we are done discussing.
That's your opinion and I don't agree.
I think he's a world class defender and will make errors like any other world class player.
I accept that and understand the system we play will expose our defenders more than others.
VVD got a lesson from isak last year but I accept that with the system we play.

I asked how you would define his actions on the goals and not tracking back, since you said that wasn't a display of poor attitude. You could very well have a great definition of it, I wouldn't know because, no, you have not answered that question from me. Genuinely not sure if you are trolling me here?

Also, you can't argue that Ange wouldn't pick him for something that happened after the actual picking of him. If you simply mean going forward, how do you know Ange wasn't displeased about his effort/mentality today?

I agree he is a fantastic player and he is allowed to make mistakes. I also agree defenders are exposed in our system. I think Romero generally is a lovely player. But that's not what we are discussing.

 

[Japhet]

Surely it’s not idleness, he’s expecting others to cover the gap he left?

A good defence is about the whole unit, not just individuals.

Not his best game but I still think he’s absolute quality.

He's caught out of position and can't contribute in that initial phase, but if that phase breaks down he should be right in the mix if he gets a shift on and gets back in position. Fact is though that he jogs back as if he's given up. I expect more tbh.

 

[keenu]

Could be missing his mate Le Celso. Now no Argentines in the squad apart from him.

 

[spurs mental]

Could be missing his mate Le Celso. Now no Argentines in the squad apart from him.

He shouldn't be underperforming because his friend isn't here any more. Not if he's as mentally strong or important to the team as is stated.

Players move on all the time.

 

[Freddie]

I love Romero but he seems to make big errors or just switches off every game. You can't do this at the top level, and especially with the way we try and play. It undoes everything we're trying to do. People calling him the best in the world are way off.

 

[mattspur1]

I've said it before, good player but lacks that football intelligence. He makes rash tackles and loses concentration too often. He doesn't always see the danger coming.

 

[cjsimba]

View attachment 145022
He is playing offside, why aren't the others?
I'm sure they should be taking their line off of their leader which I presume is Romero.

Agreed and I think this was the mistake Ange was referring to. I think Dragusin drops back incorrectly, forcing Porro and Udogie to follow suit. Whereas they should have followed Romero in standing ground with the high line.

 

[mattspur1]

View attachment 145022
He is playing offside, why aren't the others?
I'm sure they should be taking their line off of their leader which I presume is Romero.

This image terrifies me. As an attacking Newcastle player, this is heaven.

 

[Jamturk]

Agreed and I think this was the mistake Ange was referring to. I think Dragusin drops back incorrectly, forcing Porro and Udogie to follow suit. Whereas they should have followed Romero in standing ground with the high line.

I don't think Radu (who played well) should be overly criticized for this as he has hardly played and this kind of understanding takes time.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Agreed and I think this was the mistake Ange was referring to. I think Dragusin drops back incorrectly, forcing Porro and Udogie to follow suit. Whereas they should have followed Romero in standing ground with the high line.

That still clearly shows Drag at fault but not sure if that is the whole story

 

[Japhet]

I don't think Radu (who played well) should be overly criticized for this as he has hardly played and this kind of understanding takes time.

Also difficult for him since Isak really stretched him for pace a few times. Can't be giving a player like him an extra yard so I'm not surprised or disappointed that he got caught.

 

[Whazam]

Agreed and I think this was the mistake Ange was referring to. I think Dragusin drops back incorrectly, forcing Porro and Udogie to follow suit. Whereas they should have followed Romero in standing ground with the high line.

No, you can't just stay planted on the halfway line when the opposition have the ball without any pressure and with three or four attackers making runs starting from within their own half. If they don't drop, the runner and the passers will just time it differently, and the result would be the same, but without defenders chasing them. Actually, I wouldn't even call it dropping on this occassion, because Radu is chasing back from within Newcastle's half.

Maybe Ange actually would want Radu, Porro and Udogie to stay put in this situation, I don't know, but I doubt it, because that would be the tactic of just praying the opposition will fuck up. So, I see no reason why Radu should get any blame here. Romero is standing in the exact samt spot several frames earlier as well, ball watching, so if the others didn't fall back, Joelinton could have just played the ball earlier or the attackers timed their runs differently. I'm assuming Romero was hoping he could intercept the pass from his position and forgot about everything else.

 

[bubble07]

Agreed and I think this was the mistake Ange was referring to. I think Dragusin drops back incorrectly, forcing Porro and Udogie to follow suit. Whereas they should have followed Romero in standing ground with the high line.

Very well playing high line but he wasn't even on the half turn to run back with the forward

Only criticism you could say for radu was when running back if he ran with isak he may have intercepted pass. He ran towards Murphy. But then if he didn't run towards Murphy he may have just scored himself

But those situations always end up being wrong if the opposition scores and you don't follow ball/scorer

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Was really poor for both goals yesterday.

I know the tactics probably expose him a bit but honestly I really don’t think he’s quite as good as some think.

For me the best defenders rarely make mistakes, they’re rarely caught out of position and they for the most part make defending looks comfortable and easy, to name a few : Toby & Jan, King, Van Dijk, Terry, R.Ferdinand, Saliba, R.Dias, Kompany, I just don’t think Romero has the discipline to ever be where we need him to be consistently.

Controversial take but if Real Madrid offer us huge money next summer I’d honestly take it and I’d re-invest it in another VDV level of player but for RCB and use the rest to sign an Eze level of attacker, I think we’d be better overall for that.

Ofc still very much behind him whilst he’s at the club and people will point to Messi saying Romero is amazing and he’s scored a few goals and he’s put in a few storming performances but I just can’t help but feel that he’s non secure or consistent enough.

Tough one though as last season in the NLD he did a mad charge up field to press and he helped us get a goal, yesterday he does the same against Newcastle and we conceded as a result, fine margins.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I love Romero but he seems to make big errors or just switches off every game. You can't do this at the top level, and especially with the way we try and play. It undoes everything we're trying to do. People calling him the best in the world are way off.

Certainly wouldn’t say he does this ‘every game’ that’s not true or fair. However he does do it more often than he should and I agree and have felt for a long time that he’s not as good as some are making out.

I far preferred Toby & Jan, King etc just felt more comfortable with them defending compared to Romero. Heck even Gallas & Dawson filled me with more comfort than Romero at times.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

He was awful yesterday. Terrible for the first goal and then made an absolute schoolboy error for the 2nd goal.

Caught square on to the ball and body position completely wrong.

As soon as Joelinton was turning Maddison the entire back 4 should have been retreating 5-10 yards with a side on body shape. As it happens 3 of them got the body position right (but failed to retreat quickly enough) and Romero just stood there like a 5 year old who’s never defended in his life.

If Romero had been in position next to Isak he’d have cut out the pass with ease.

The entire back 4 needs to switch on more though and Ange needs to get them retreating proactively when our press/counter press is beaten going in to the middle third.

 

[mattspur1]

He was awful yesterday. Terrible for the first goal and then made an absolute schoolboy error for the 2nd goal.

Caught square on to the ball and body position completely wrong.

As soon as Joelinton was turning Maddison the entire back 4 should have been retreating 5-10 yards with a side on body shape. As it happens 3 of them got the body position right (but failed to retreat quickly enough) and Romero just stood there like a 5 year old who’s never defended in his life.

If Romero had been in position next to Isak he’d have cut out the pass with ease.

The entire back 4 needs to switch on more though and Ange needs to get them retreating proactively when our press/counter press is beaten going in to the middle third.

It does make you think how does Ange deal with this. I would have them all in today to watch the game back. I would pause it at the point Joelinton turns Maddison and ask each one of them what they are doing at that point, right or wrong. When it comes to Romero I would tell him he needs to be prepared to retreat, sideways on and be aware of their runners behind him. He isn't the quickest so I would have him at least side by side with the relevant attacker but not to play him onside.