Cristian Romero surprisingly off it in Tottenham win v Newcastle United, Gary Neville slams him as ‘poor’
Cristian Romero was involved in the thick of the action as Tottenham ran out 4-1 winners over Newcastle United on Sunday (10 December).
The Argentina international had an effort cleared off the line and was somewhat fortunate to avoid a red card for a horror challenge in the second half.
Romero also found himself caught out of position more than once, leading to criticism from Gary Neville on commentary [Sky Sports, 10 December, 16:38pm].
“The start of that move is so poor from Romero,” Neville said of a Newcastle attack that Bruno Guimaraes could not finish off.
That is not to say Romero had a terrible game by any means, but it was not his best and he was overshadowed by Ben Davies alongside him.
Indeed, as per WhoScored, Romero’s 88-per-cent pass-success rate was his lowest of the Premier League campaign to date.
The five tackles the 25-year-old committed, meanwhile, were a joint-high for the season, while his 50 passes were way down on his average.
Factor in that he was dribbled past once and gave away possession seven times [Sofascore], it is fair to suggest he was not at his absolute best.
Continuing the theme, Romero did not register any interceptions in a game he has started for just the second time this season.
That could be put down to how ineffective Newcastle were in the final third for most of the game, but every other member of the Spurs backfour registered an interception.
Romero almost cost his team with his challenge on Callum Wilson, too, which somehow went unpunished by Chris Kavanagh and his VAR team.
The Argentinian did win all three of his aerial duels, though, and he will continue to be a regular pick as long as he is available.
Having only recently returned from a suspension, Romero must ensure he keeps his head and maintains a consistent level of performance to ensure Spurs remain on track for the top four.
In other Tottenham news, a Sky Sports pundit has offered advice to a Spurs player despite his 100-per-cent performance against Newcastle.