The conundrum of Cristian Romero: Is Tottenham’s centre-back one of the best Premier League defenders? | OneFootball

Depending on who you ask, the opinion of Cristian Romero will vary.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender is like marmite, you either love him or you hate him. Well, in this case, you either rate him or you don’t. There doesn’t seem to be an inbetween.

So, the question is, is Romero actually good?

There’s no denying that Romero’s first two seasons at Tottenham were a bit rough, to say the least. And that’s where a lot of the current conceptions of Romero came from.

Under Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte and Ryan Mason, Romero played 64 games across all competitions. Of those 64 games, 49 came in the Premier League. During that run, Romero was booked 17 times with one red card, committing 70 fouls. Only three players received more cards in the Premier League during those two seasons than Romero’s 18 in total. And they were all combative midfielders.

Romero also had two errors leading to goals and another two leading to shots. In the Premier League between 2021/22 and 2022/23, only five outfielders had more errors leading to goals than Romero. For those tied with Romero on two, eight hit that number in fewer minutes than the Argentinian.

But, as we have seen with other defenders in the past, Romero’s errors seem to be picked up on more by opposition fans.

Once the dust had settled though and there was a bit of stability at Tottenham, Romero’s class started to shine.

The real turning point was the arrival of Ange Postecoglou. In the Premier League last season, Romero played 33 games for Postecoglou. He missed three games through suspension and two due to injury. But otherwise he was ever-present as one of Postecoglou’s centre-backs.

Last season there was just one error leading to a shot, as Tottenham were held to a 2-2 draw by Everton at Goodison Park. But, for the first time, Romero didn’t have an error leading to a goal in the Premier League.

Romero’s maturity has helped too, as his defensive stature has carried over to national level. In 2023, the centre-back played nine times for Argentina and helped them keep eight clean sheets, conceding just two goals.

This year, Romero has played 10 games for Argentina, keeping seven clean sheets with four goals conceded. With Romero on the pitch, La Albiceleste have averaged a goal conceded every 318 minutes since the start of 2023.

We may only be three games into the 2024/25 Premier League season, but Romero is coming out as one of the best centre-backs in the division. While he is not the strongest in the air, Romero averages high for aerial duels won in the Premier League this season at 3 per 90 minutes — among centre-backs with at least 135 minutes played. Although it’s worth noting that his success rate is only 56.25%.

Romero sits fourth for ground duels won at 3.67 per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 73.3%, inside the top 10 among centre-backs. He’s also hardly committing fouls this season, at just 0.33 per 90 minutes, and 0.33 challenges lost.

The Argentinian has won 73.3% of his ground duels so far, inside the top 10 among centre-backs with at least 135 minutes played. And he’s also inside the top 10 for ball recoveries per 90 (6), and tackles per 90 (3).

It’s easy to see why too, with Tottenham one of the stingiest defences in the Premier League right now. Although they have conceded three goals, with just one clean sheet, Tottenham have faced just 26 shots in the Premier League. Only Manchester City (20) and Liverpool (23) have faced fewer this season.

Tottenham have also faced just seven shots on target, with only Man City (six) facing fewer in the Premier League this season.

But Romero isn’t just a solid defender. He’s also proving key to Postecoglou’s passing game, which is a growing requirement for centre-backs. The Argentinian sits in the top 10 for forward passing accuracy (81.63%) and percentage of sequences featured in that end in the final third (10.83 per 90 minutes). Romero is also fourth for passes into the final third completed per 90 (8) and top for passes into opposition half completed (11.33).