How does Tottenham Hotspur get the best of Cristian Romero?
Cristian Romero loaded the field with a goal.
In the 2-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur in Fulham in March, the 26-year-old left his central partner Ben Davies alone and found Raul Jimenez in the area of Fulham before slapped him on him on the touch line. Jimenez made pain while Romero returned to position, an unchanged facial expression.
When Tottenham faced AZ in the second stage of the 16 -drawing Europa League round, Romero the shoulders started his opponents and shouted in front of his former teammate Troy Parrott. Argentina International is unstoppable in aggressive opponents aggressively.
The problem is that the drama follows him in the same way.
After losing the marker of Arsenal Gabriel in a corner in the 1-0 defeat of the derby north of September, Argentinian Media reported that Romero was not satisfied with his travel agreements after representing his country twice in the qualifications of the World Cup. Romero arrived at Gatwick airport on Thursday and had only a couple of days to train before facing Arsenal.
In December, Romero came out wounded after 10 minutes during the defeat of Tottenham by Chelsea and seemed to criticize President Daniel Levy in an interview with the Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes.
“You have to understand that something is going wrong,” said Romero. “We hope that (Board Club) realize who the real managers are and we go on because it is a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily compete for the title every year.” Coach Ange Poscoglou revealed a few days after Romero apologized for his comments.
At the beginning of March, after returning from the Quad question he suffered against Chelsea, Romero thanked only the medical staff of Argentina for their help with his healing, who mentioned unusual with the Spurs.
After a difficult period and full of things that happened in the middle, I returned with the group and I am happy to help the team.
Surely there is a lot to correct and work, but we are together and we want to reverse this situation
See you Thursday, we’ll be back … pic.twitter.com/x68edqsryg– Romero Leave (@Calomero2) March 9, 2025
Romero has made only three appearances in all competitions since he returned from an injury, but speculation is growing around his long -term future. Tottenham’s deputy captain has a contract until 2027 but has been connected to Real Madrid, and it emerged that it is a target for their neighbors in the Athletic City. What does the future hold?
Romero has made high-profile errors this season, with the last example coming in the 4-1 victory of Argentina over Brazil in March. On the ball in his half, he took a loose touch, which allowed Matheus Cunha to pinch him before shooting a blow beyond Emiliano Martinez.
In August in Leicester City, he left Jamie Vardy not marked for a draw 1-1. A few weeks later, Romero took a step forward when the rest of Tottenham’s defense dropped into the accumulation of Alexander Isak’s strike in a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United. He left Danny Welbeck without march when the striker scored an header in a 3-2 defeat in Brighton & Hove Albion. In the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on March 9-the first appearance of the defender from December-in-Unregular passage on the left foot in the minute of opening was almost punished by Evanilson.
Romero won Copa America with Argentina last summer and had less than three weeks of rest before reporting for the pre-stage. He started the first 11 championship games, but would have benefited that he was slowly reinstated.
In a Report from FIFPRO on the workload of the playersRomero traveled more than any other player during 2023-24, covering a distance of 162,978 kilometers. The next one was his international teammate Julian Alvarez, with 153,869 km. The journey is constantly physically, emotionally and mentally draining and is not surprising that it can have a negative impact on him.
Romero appeared in Argentina’s 4-1 victory over Brazil in March (Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)
From the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, which helped his country win, Romero started 27 games out of 32 (84 percent), including friendlies.
But Romero’s fitness struggles suggest that it has not always been the right decision to travel to Argentina to play under Lionel Scaloni.
An injury on the finger was immediately in a reckless challenge on Morgan Rogers in the 4-1 victory of Tottenham over Aston Villa in November became a repeated problem when he started in Argentina against Paraguay 12 days later, with him who was taken off halfway through the weather due to the discomfort.
He no longer played until Spurs hosted Chelsea on December 8th and lasted 15 minutes. Atletico reported in January That Romero had only a couple of training sessions before then and, after sub -injury, raised questions about his rehabilitation work. The club said that this type of accident is impossible to predict and this speculation is the hindsight.
There have been 143 leading games since Romero joined Spurs in August 2021, initially on loan by the Italian Atalanta team before the move became permanent for £ 42.5 million. It started 94 (65 percent). He appeared in more than 30 championship games only once for Spurs for four years.
Romero has just lost a game for Argentina in recent years, but his poor availability for Spurs is worrying.
Romero can be irregular, but Tottenham has lost its quality and leadership this season. He won multiple trophies with Argentina. He has a good relationship with Postecoglou, who appointed him deputy captain last season. It is the voice of the Spanish and South American contingent in the locker room of Spurs, which includes Rodrigo Bentancur, Pedro Porro and Sergio Regolon. Occasionally he defends himself in a wild way but does not allow many fouls or receives reservations as they once were. The defender’s experience would have been invaluable in the England Cup and the Carabao Cup defeats Aston Villa and Liverpool respectively.
Romero is courageous in possession and excellent in playing the rupture passages of the line. When Radu Dragusin collaborated in Archie Gray to the central defender between December and January, he seemed nervous to the ball. Dragusin was guilty of moving away from the attackers and returning to the goalkeeper, who slowed down Tottenham’s attacks.
It is rare to see Romero who seems agitated in those situations. Romero’s aggressive and frontal approach to the defense of the complements of Micky Van de Ven, who has the recovery speed to sweep away any loose balls played behind. They will be crucial for the possibilities of Spurs to reach the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21.
After Spurs beat Az 3-2 in aggregate last month, Romero and Van de Ven were gathered for the first time in three months. “For the first 60 minutes, it was solid as we were all year round,” said Postecoglou. “They made a shot from a set and did not threaten us at all. The central defensive partnerships are important and both with and without the ball, they gave us good options.
Spurs will play European football only next season if this year’s Europa League will win (Stefan Koops / Eye4image / Nurphotto via Getty Images)
“With the ball, Micky is a great outlet for us because it can run with it, having a defender on the left that helps and the gamma of passage (of Romero) is ridiculous.”
There are similarities between Romero and Kevin Danse, who joined Spurs in January on loan from the French side lens with the obligation to buy for 25 million euros. Danse, who has been closed more than 20 times by Austria, is only five months younger than Romero.
The arrival of Danse means that Postecoglou has four central defenders, even if the Dragusina is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has suffered in January, together with Gray and Davies, who can cover the position. Davies is the basic backup, but it is not clear who Postecoglou would select when everyone is fit.
Van De Ven’s contract last until 2029, while Dragusin and Danse offers expire 12 months later. Romero remain only two years on his contract and if he leaves, the Spurs already have a replacement of the right foot that likes to fight the attackers and is at ease in bringing the ball forward to Danse. If Romero does not sign a new contract, the imminent transfer window is the best time to sell it at a significant cost.
It is easy to see the appeal that Atletico could contain Romero. He would give him the opportunity to work under an Argentine coach in Diego Simeone and to play regularly with several international teammates, including Alvarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Giuliano Simeone and Nahuel Molina.
Spurs will lose European football for the second time in three years unless the Europa League win. At Atletico, Romero would join a team fighting for the title, compared to Spurs, who took a step back in the second year of Postecoglou. His long -term future is seriously doubtful, While Simeone was responsible for Atletico for over a decade.
Perhaps Romero will help Spurs win a trophy for the first time since 2008 and will take sides with Van de Ven in the Champions League next season. Tottenham team is full of young talents, including Gray and Lucas Bergvall, so Romero could be determined to continue guiding them together with Son Heung-Min.
Whatever happens later, don’t expect the noise and the drama surrounding Romero to calmly calm down.
(Photo above: Catherine Ivill – Am/Getty Images)
