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Cristian Romero

BrainOfLevy said:
I’m not sure I agree, I would argue that Romero was perfectly allowed to play to his instincts in Ange’s system. Indeed I think the idea that he would advance up to win the duel knowing that VDV was covering in behind was a key part of the system.

I really think the confusion in the players was down to barely having a settled defensive line or settled 11 from one game to the next. We seemed to do absolutely fine when playing a more defensive game (either overall or in phases) when we actually had our first choice players on the pitch.
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His mistakes rarely if ever that tactic
The aggressive side was fine
It was the casual stuff that is the issue
Walking away from his man or not tracking
Or being super casual wih the ball and losing it
That will happen under any system because it’s his nature
 
BrainOfLevy said:
I get what you’re saying, but part of me thinks it can be argued that the 18 yard line as defensive line was an attempt to take a cognitive load off of the players. That line doesn’t change, so if the players organise around that, it should reduce error.

I also think that Bowen goal was just a Ben Davies error. Simple as that. He messed up. But he’s our 5th choice centre back for a reason, and played a lot more than 5th choice centre backs usually do. And I think part of the reason we conceded so many goals was the relative lack of games we actually got anything approaching our first choice 11 on the pitch.

I understand too that we conceded a lot of goals under Ange, but I just would have loved to have seen his system in its intended final form. Because when that happens, it was about squeezing the opposition in their half and not giving up too many chances at all. When a team is unable to actually play the way they have been built and trained to play, there are always horrible stats in goals conceded and scored. And then it looks like the manager is missing something obvious. But usually it just requires getting players back fit and things start falling into place.

But yeah on Romero specifically, I agree we were using the 18 yard line. I’m just not convinced it was beyond the ability of top level footballers to carry out. I also don’t know exactly why we were using it, but a top level manager trying to win games probably had a reason. Maybe it was precisely because we didn’t usually play with a double pivot, and so we would be vulnerable to the slips in behind. And this was a way to mitigate that while allowing our players to take up the offensive positions we want them to have in possession?
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Enjoying the conversation. I think we both know we will neither prove or disprove theories as Ange has left the building and we don't get to find out next season.

We ended up putting so many lines on the Ange's bug tracking spreadsheet and every single one of them had their own story. I've said this before but when that list of bugs gets too big you end up changing software vendors. Then a bunch of people at your company spend the next 2 years telling you that the old system could have been repaired and the new implementation is no better. That is, unless the new software does the job and then nobody even mentions it, let alone say nice things. After all, it's just software. Romero definitely has his own line on that bug tracker.

Personally, I think I learned more from the first pre-season and 10 league games than almost the rest of it. At the end, I was also happy to eventually see that Ange could even counter and park the bus and get results, even trophies. Those very first 10 games had their vulnerabilities but came out in our favour and we scored goals without Kane. I will always wonder whether we could have taken all that good stuff and massively reduced the clear vulnerabilities. Do the things you say about compressing play, drawing mistakes and getting into pass and move with the ball. On balance, I still don't think we would have achieved that. The other managers adapted and negated some of it quite quickly. Just like they have with Pep, but he keeps creatively tweaking his system and disrupting the other managers in the other direction.

What I want from Frank is a stronger tactical foundation first, especially defensively. I don't mean the defence per se, just how the entire team defend together. I want to see players interchange seamlessly and I want to see tactics change dynamically based on opposition and what is happening in the 90 mins. I just didn't see enough of that with Ange.

I'd also be ecstatic to see Romero sign the new contract. We've seen him grow up for a few seasons. His best years are just about to happen at his age. Be such a shame to talk about him like we do others e.g. Modric, Bale etc.
 
You do realise we are the only set of supporters who actually rate Romero right? That says a lot about how much Spurs fans overrate their own players.
 
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