Player Watch Player Watch: Cristian Romero

[fishhhandaricecake]

It saddens me to see how quickly people turn on our own players. The list is endless - and Romero is just the latest - but we have seen the impact on other players when the fans turn on them.

It was a bad situation. But, not one where Romero was shitting on the shirt, or disrespecting the club/fans. We need to be a bit more accepting that sometimes good players make bad plays.

I don’t think many are ‘turning on him’ but many are disappointed with his actions last night, especially the kick out as he’d really cleaned up his act under Ange this season so it was disappointing to see him again lose his head a bit in such a big important match and ultimately that he needs to learn from this moving forwards.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

No point at all in doing that. He deserved the red and should have been carded earlier. It's the same with Udogie they both got away with one and appeared to learn nothing from it. Both stupid and both fully deserved.

Spot on

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Have the fans turned on him? No one is booing him, they are just saying he acted like a twat and lost us the game with an action he's done before and this was against Chelsea, the next team after Arsenal we want to beat more than any other. People are frustrated and venting, in 3 games time he'll still get cheered when they call his name out when announcing the team.

this.

 

[Dannyspur]

1 red card a season = missing for 3 games from 38 which is about 8% of the season he’s missing for, if you also count likely costing us in the game he is sent off in and make it essentially 3.5/4 games then that’s nearly 10% of the league season you can’t rely on him alone. If he picks up multiple books or a few injuries that’s more games where we can’t rely on him.

If it was 95% of the time where we could rely on him then great but the reality imo is that he will cost us 10-20% of the time and if we have big aspirations to eventually compete for and win titles then I’d argue that is too much, you don’t see Man.City’s defenders regularly season in season out getting suspended for challenges and behaviour which could be avoided.

Top top player yes but needs to learn from this now and adapt his game slightly.

He has committed 7 fouls this season in 11 games. Not exactly running around kicking everyone in sight.

 

[robotsonic]

If it was 95% of the time where we could rely on him then great but the reality imo is that he will cost us 10-20% of the time and if we have big aspirations to eventually compete for and win titles then I’d argue that is too much, you don’t see Man.City’s defenders regularly season in season out getting suspended for challenges and behaviour which could be avoided.

Man City have 4 excellent CBs. IMO We don't need to neuter Romero permanently as much as we need cover, because I fully believe if you take the hot head out of him then we don't get the Romero of the previous 10 games. And if you want rid of Romero, then that's another CB we need on the pile, one which we'll struggle to better.

He doesn't cost us 10-20% of the time mate, that's a massive exaggeration.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I don’t think many are ‘turning on him’ but many are disappointed with his actions last night, especially the kick out as he’d really cleaned up his act under Ange this season so it was disappointing to see him again lose his head a bit in such a big important match and ultimately that he needs to learn from this moving forwards.

There are many people who are saying we need to bring in a replacement for him...

That, to me, is turning on him.

If we want to bring in a back-up for him - fine. But, spending the kind of money to replace a defender of his caliber - is just nonsense.

Just earlier you were talking about how unreliable he is because he might miss 3 games a season due to suspension. Vertonghen only played 35 games once in his 8 year career. Missing 3 games, while unfortunate, is not a reason to get rid of a top-tier defender.

And Romero is a top-tier defender.

 

[Trent Crimm]

Have the fans turned on him? No one is booing him, they are just saying he acted like a twat and lost us the game with an action he's done before and this was against Chelsea, the next team after Arsenal we want to beat more than any other. People are frustrated and venting, in 3 games time he'll still get cheered when they call his name out when announcing the team.

Yep.

 

[Trent Crimm]

Madrid did OK with Ramos

I see this all the time. When Ramos went off on one of his red mists the 9 players in front of him were some of if not the best players in the world. RM could gs f beaten most teams with 9 players.

they had ZZ etc and we have Oliver Skipp. Not as much as a winning comparison then.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Right but you know what people mean; it's not like we don't have a litany of big reckless moments to point to.

- Tackle on Xhaka in the NLD in Jan
- Cucurella hair pull (absolutely daft thing to do)
- Could've gone against Milan in the first leg
- Was sent off against Milan for a daft challenge in the second leg, which killed the game
- Silly kick out and then a daft challenge yesterday

He's a live by the sword die by the sword player who's done more than enough good to get some slack, but he has this reputation for a reason. If you try to 'fix' him, you might get a worse player; that's the risk we take. But yesterday, the team needed clear heads and he didn't provide that.

And yet in games we won and the clean sheets we earned were as if he had no part to play in, no cool situations he had handled.

Sometimes we really can't have nice things.

 

[RuskyM]

And yet in games we won and the clean sheets we earned were as if he had no part to play in, no cool situations he had handled.

Sometimes we really can't have nice things.

That’s the reality of his position. A goalkeeper makes one cock up and he loses the game; a defender makes one rash decision and he’s off.

I know Cuti’s playstyle is intertwined with his temperament; I don’t want to Clockwork Orange him, but it does make him unreliable. He’s one of the best defenders in the world but we needed him to be cool on Monday and he wasn’t.

 

[Japhet]

We've got some difficult games coming up and I'm sure he'll be regretting his red card during those. The occasion got the better of him and he needs to take that fully onboard. Can't wait for him to be available again.

 

[onthetwo]

There are many people who are saying we need to bring in a replacement for him...

That, to me, is turning on him.

If we want to bring in a back-up for him - fine. But, spending the kind of money to replace a defender of his caliber - is just nonsense.

Just earlier you were talking about how unreliable he is because he might miss 3 games a season due to suspension. Vertonghen only played 35 games once in his 8 year career. Missing 3 games, while unfortunate, is not a reason to get rid of a top-tier defender.

And Romero is a top-tier defender.

The problem for Romero and his type of defender now is VAR and how tackles look in slow-mo when the player finishes off their feet.
Cuti's only hope is that our coaches coaches make it clear to him and help him evolve otherwise hes a red card waiting to happen in every game IMO.

 

[johnwhitesghost]

He just has to remember what’s the point of the tackle; it’s not to injure the opposing player. Cut out the macho crap and concentrate on winning the ball.

 

[Stamford]

Good luck replacing Romero. Not finding a better player.

 

[mil1lion]

I see this all the time. When Ramos went off on one of his red mists the 9 players in front of him were some of if not the best players in the world. RM could gs f beaten most teams with 9 players.

they had ZZ etc and we have Oliver Skipp. Not as much as a winning comparison then.

Bit odd to name our bench midfielder to compare with their best starter. I'm not sure it was so easy when Ramos got sent off against Barca either which happened 5 times. Barca won 3 and draw 1 of those. There was also a fair number of draws and losses to lesser teams. We're not talking just the classico years just because you want to cherry pick that era to make a point. His first was 2005 and last 2022. His last 5 were either draws or losses with no wins.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Man City have 4 excellent CBs. IMO We don't need to neuter Romero permanently as much as we need cover, because I fully believe if you take the hot head out of him then we don't get the Romero of the previous 10 games. And if you want rid of Romero, then that's another CB we need on the pile, one which we'll struggle to better.

He doesn't cost us 10-20% of the time mate, that's a massive exaggeration.

Getting a good back-up to him and VDV is key really.

 

[Wig]

Yes he made costly errors for us on Monday night, but overall his performances this season have been much more mature. Underneath the aggression is an elite centre back, and I have every confidence that Ange and staff will help coach to get the best out of him.

It's so early in the season under new management that mistakes will be made, but a bit like Bissouma getting sent off recently, you would hope it's all part of the learning experience and we will continue to improve. With the talent that Romero has we need to back him, not get on his back.

 

[muppetman]

This need for everyone to be "world class" and never make a mistake just isn't possible I think. You weigh up the pros and cons for each player and for me the pros massively outweigh the cons with him.

Others will feel differently and that's fine, but the odds on us finding someone anywhere near as good as Romero seem pretty slim to me - there aren't loads of Mickey VdV's about waiting to be snapped up at a price we will pay.

 

[spursfan77]

Did you know that VAR have access to the sky sports commentary. These are Gary Neville’s words during the review:


Gary Neville called it a “mad challenge” and “mayhem” in commentary for the game’s UK broadcaster Sky Sports, and it is hard to disagree.

“Trust me, as a defender, that is not a natural follow-through,” former Manchester United and England full-back Neville added. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Now surely that can’t be helpful and must sway the video referees. I wouldn’t mind hearing the audio of this one and whether their comments mirror Neville’s.

 

[mil1lion]

Well we need to add centre backs not take away. VdV and Romero have formed a great partnership. We need someone ideally who can partner either and then a youngster (Dorringtonor Phillips) for depth. This will be more important when we're back in Europe. To be fair Sanchez did a good job before alongside either Alderweireld or Vertonghen when called on. Sell Romero and you have to replace him and Dier with genuine quality. No chance. It's taken long enough to find a partner for Romero as it is.