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Cristian Romero

Not sure about that. I loved Daws for his bravery, his dogged refusal to give ground, his uncanny knack of getting in the way of shots and making last-ditch saving tackles. But let's be honest, whenever he was not alongside Ledley he could often be downright average.

Switch Ledley for a different centre back, loved to hated, and emphasise downright average and you could be describing John Terry. Dawson was a good defender and often underrated. Dawson did need a good defensive partner though.

Romero leads the defence, he can command it. I don’t know if speaks English well, but if not then he can converse well with Dier in Portuguese I guess. Either way he’s a hero and I honestly think next season he’ll be talked about the same way that VVD and Dias have been and are.

I hope Romero is switched on to Liverpool tactics at the weekend. I can see them trying to get him booked early on so that he can’t be as strong a defensive force. It will be a big test for him.
 
He’s very aggressive. Thats a great trait worked very well yesterday and in some other games. But there will be times when he has to be less aggressive.

I’ll give you two examples. Against City, at 2-1 he got sucked under the ball and lost his man. He missed the header and it goes back post. He goes charging out aggressively out of control. Ball hits his hand and it’s a pen (correctly). He stays close to his man, he wins the header. He gets out to the ball without diving in and he likely blocks it. Kane got him out of that hole.

Against Brighton, he has their winger by the end line. He can just show him the line easily enough. He goes to win it, ball ricochets around, he slips, Dier doesn’t help much and we lose 1-0.

From memory, there is a third v Villa when he charges out, doesn’t win the tackle and they exploit the space to equalise.

The guy is a very very good player. His aggression is a great tool but it can’t be his only tool or only way of playing and I think he’ll need more up at Anfield. I think he has massive potential but his decision making needs to be a bit better. He’s still young but I’m sure he’ll learn.

Like I say, look back and a lot of fans doubted him up to a few weeks ago. We’re getting a little carried away with ourselves based on a few games against relatively poor opposition.

He's so good at that aggressive style though.

A less aggressive style can also lead to goals conceded. What is the "right decision" shouldn't be based on what the outcome was, but rather the likelihood of him winning the ball when being aggressive.

As good as he is at being aggressive he can't be expected to win the ball every time he's aggressive. He will lose some, he will concede free kicks, pick up cards. Even when he does that doesn't mean the decision was wrong.

I definitely think he's right to challenge for the ball in the buildup to the Brighton goal. It's a deflection, the ball falls to them again. That kind of outcome can happen with a less aggressive style too.

I think we need to accept the downsides to his style, most often our overall setup will compensate.

If he starts being aggressive in situations where there's a low probability chance of him winning the ball I'll see a problem. I don't see that happening now. I think his decision making is very good already.
 
He's so good at that aggressive style though.

A less aggressive style can also lead to goals conceded. What is the "right decision" shouldn't be based on what the outcome was, but rather the likelihood of him winning the ball when being aggressive.

As good as he is at being aggressive he can't be expected to win the ball every time he's aggressive. He will lose some, he will concede free kicks, pick up cards. Even when he does that doesn't mean the decision was wrong.

I definitely think he's right to challenge for the ball in the buildup to the Brighton goal. It's a deflection, the ball falls to them again. That kind of outcome can happen with a less aggressive style too.

I think we need to accept the downsides to his style, most often our overall setup will compensate.

If he starts being aggressive in situations where there's a low probability chance of him winning the ball I'll see a problem. I don't see that happening now. I think his decision making is very good already.

And that's a fair point particularly on the Brighton goal.

But take the Villa one, it was a reckless challenge he had little chance of winning and it left a massive gap for them to exploit.

The City one is bad defending on two counts. He gets sucked under the ball and misses the header and in a panicked attempt to recover, dives in out of control and the ball hits his hand which is in a bad position. He holds his position and stays with the man and he heads it clear. He stands up, he'll actually block the cross and even if he doesn't, a CIty player isn't getting it anyway. He was brilliant against City but that was tinkle poor defending that could and should have cost us two points.

It's a very fine balancing act because you take out his aggression, you don't have as good a player. But if he wants to be top class, he has to temper it a little bit. Also, do not underestimate the effect Dier is having on that defence. He's a bit limited, granted, but he's organising things and he's covering really well when Davies or Romero push on. Playing in a 3 is really bringing the best out of him and he's helping Romero hugely.
 
seriously some of our fans man???

Yeah you'd hope that poster never complains about loyalty from players. Very poor comment.

Dawson spent a decade in the Premier League (most of it with us) and played for England and he's a donkey? If you don't rate him fair enough but the lad deserves a minimum level of respect that's lacking in that post. That sort of nonsense reflects more on the poster than Dawson's ability though.
 
And that's a fair point particularly on the Brighton goal.

But take the Villa one, it was a reckless challenge he had little chance of winning and it left a massive gap for them to exploit.

The City one is bad defending on two counts. He gets sucked under the ball and misses the header and in a panicked attempt to recover, dives in out of control and the ball hits his hand which is in a bad position. He holds his position and stays with the man and he heads it clear. He stands up, he'll actually block the cross and even if he doesn't, a CIty player isn't getting it anyway. He was brilliant against City but that was tinkle poor defending that could and should have cost us two points.

It's a very fine balancing act because you take out his aggression, you don't have as good a player. But if he wants to be top class, he has to temper it a little bit. Also, do not underestimate the effect Dier is having on that defence. He's a bit limited, granted, but he's organising things and he's covering really well when Davies or Romero push on. Playing in a 3 is really bringing the best out of him and he's helping Romero hugely.

I think the Villa one is debatable personally. If he's there a fraction of a second earlier he gets the ball or stops the attack through a free kick. The difference in timing between that and the tackles leading up to the goal against Leicester is probably very small.

That will happen. Everyone makes mistakes like that, doesn't mean there's a problem with the decision making. The alternative for me is an overall less aggressive approach, more safe. If a player has to be 100% certain to win the ball before being aggressive like that they have to play it a lot safer. I think that would be worse for him and us.
 
Think its a bit early to make those comparisons - I dont think you can talk about those things til someone has been at the club for say 3-4 years and you can differentiate between form and class. He has the potential to be right up there in my view given he's only just turned 24 and has all the attributes needed

The tackle at the weekend was excellent and should be allowed. However, do that in a European game and it risks a red given that the studs on his left boot were showing. That shouldn't be the case, but the opponent would be rolling around on the floor and the speed of the challenge could easily end up with him off. If that happens, everyone would be saying that he shouldnt take that risk half way in to the opponent's half
Imagine a Romero/King partnership.
 
Yeah you'd hope that poster never complains about loyalty from players. Very poor comment.

Dawson spent a decade in the Premier League (most of it with us) and played for England and he's a donkey? If you don't rate him fair enough but the lad deserves a minimum level of respect that's lacking in that post. That sort of nonsense reflects more on the poster than Dawson's ability though.

The post in question made me wish there was a dislike button on the forum.
 
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seriously some of our fans man???
Dawson objectively not a good defender. In his time we conceded less than 40 goals just once, and over 50 goals on for occasions. He was NOT a good defender. He was blessed to sometimes play with Lesley. Take King and we saw the real Dawson and that was not a good sight.

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Dawson objectively not a good defender. In his time we conceded less than 40 goals just once, and over 50 goals on for occasions. He was NOT a good defender. He was blessed to sometimes play with Lesley. Take King and we saw the real Dawson and that was not a good sight.

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That's a nonsense way to evaluate an individual defender...

In 2009/10, we conceded 41 goals in 38 games. Dawson played much of that season with Bassong alongside him. Seems decent to me.

This season, we've already conceded 39 goals. I assume Romero will objectively be "not a good defender" if we concede two or more goals between now and the end of the season?

I also assume Ledley was "objectively not a good defender" given his record is probably the same as Dawson's.
 
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Not so sure about that. When Romero played in a two, we looked anything but solid. Don’t underestimate Dier who I think excels in this system and really helps Romero. I thought he was quietly brilliant again yesterday and he’s clearly the leader in that back 3.

I’ve consistently rated Romero from the moment I saw him. You look back on this thread and match threads and youll see a lot of posters saying “not sure I get it with Romero, is he all that?” Now it’s swung completely the other way.

The lad is very good, has great potential but he still has a way to go.
I think it's the other way around.
Romero helps Dier look good.
Imo, Romero can get better in his current position if we get better CB than Dier, or move to CCB and upgrade on our LCB and RCB. CCB is where I think Romero will truly shine with his vision and ability to ping balls forward.

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That's a nonsense way to evaluate an individual defender...

In 2009/10, we conceded 41 goals in 38 games. Dawson played much of that season with Bassong alongside him. Seems decent to me.

This season, we've already conceded 39 goals. I assume Romero will objectively be "not a good defender" if we concede two or more goals between now and the end of the season?

I also assume Ledley was "objectively not a good defender" given his record is probably the same as Dawson's.

No he just wasn't a good defender. Mediocre would be a good description of him. The stats just back that up. By all means rate his enthusiasm and mentality but he was average and wouldn't get into most backlines we've since the era he joined. He was poor on the ball and incredibly easy to dribble past if you had any degree of trickery.

And yes 40+ goals conceded in any season is objectively poor. We can and need to do a lot better than that if we want to take our league season seriously.

Lesley had to play with the likes of Dawson, of course his record isn't great. [emoji28][emoji1787]

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I think it's the other way around.
Romero helps Dier look good.
Imo, Romero can get better in his current position if we get better CB than Dier, or move to CCB and upgrade on our LCB and RCB. CCB is where I think Romero will truly shine with his vision and ability to ping balls forward.

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I think RCB in this system is perfect for him. Allows him to do his aggression thing while having a player covering for him. He's very good on the ball and also good on the ball under pressure. It's a good use of his qualities to have him play in a role where he is often put under more pressure rather than the central CB that often gets a bit more space and time.

He's even useful roaming forward when we attack from this role.

No doubt he could play CCB. But to get the most out of him we would have to tweak our system with him still being more aggressive and the wider centre backs doing more covering.
 
No he just wasn't a good defender. Mediocre would be a good description of him. The stats just back that up. By all means rate his enthusiasm and mentality but he was average and wouldn't get into most backlines we've since the era he joined. He was poor on the ball and incredibly easy to dribble past if you had any degree of trickery.

And yes 40+ goals conceded in any season is objectively poor. We can and need to do a lot better than that if we want to take our league season seriously.

Lesley had to play with the likes of Dawson, of course his record isn't great. [emoji28][emoji1787]

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Wrong. (if it really is an honest view and not just a Mr Controversial fake opinion)
He played well for a top ten club in the highest tier of English football, being first choice for a number of years. He was at least a good defender.
Not the best, not world class. Not quite international class. But certainly good.

Maybe you're spoiled/distorted by only watching the best clubs and the very best players, but across the spectrum of professional football, he ranks highly.
 
No he just wasn't a good defender. Mediocre would be a good description of him. The stats just back that up. By all means rate his enthusiasm and mentality but he was average and wouldn't get into most backlines we've since the era he joined. He was poor on the ball and incredibly easy to dribble past if you had any degree of trickery.

And yes 40+ goals conceded in any season is objectively poor. We can and need to do a lot better than that if we want to take our league season seriously.

Lesley had to play with the likes of Dawson, of course his record isn't great. [emoji28][emoji1787]

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No one is trying to make out he was Maldini but if you haven’t picked up on the general tone, allow me to explain - Perhaps it’d be a positive thing to show some respect to a great servant of the club, who gave his best every week leading to some of the most exciting times for our club in the modern era. Might be a bit more classy than emojis, nicknames and illogical arguments.
 
I think RCB in this system is perfect for him. Allows him to do his aggression thing while having a player covering for him. He's very good on the ball and also good on the ball under pressure. It's a good use of his qualities to have him play in a role where he is often put under more pressure rather than the central CB that often gets a bit more space and time.

He's even useful roaming forward when we attack from this role.

No doubt he could play CCB. But to get the most out of him we would have to tweak our system with him still being more aggressive and the wider centre backs doing more covering.

Thing is he is too busy to ping balls forward at rcb so a bit wasted there.
Also if I recall correctly Conte's Chelsea had a marauding and sometimes reckless CCB that won the league.
With Romero at CCB and contributing to midfield presence, It will allow centre mids to focus more on supplying the forwards
 
Wrong. (if it really is an honest view and not just a Mr Controversial fake opinion)
He played well for a top ten club in the highest tier of English football, being first choice for a number of years. He was at least a good defender.
Not the best, not world class. Not quite international class. But certainly good.

Maybe you're spoiled/distorted by only watching the best clubs and the very best players, but across the spectrum of professional football, he ranks highly.
No one is trying to make out he was Maldini but if you haven’t picked up on the general tone, allow me to explain - Perhaps it’d be a positive thing to show some respect to a great servant of the club, who gave his best every week leading to some of the most exciting times for our club in the modern era. Might be a bit more classy than emojis, nicknames and illogical arguments.
I'm sorry I offended you but I called him a donkey in 06 and I'll still call him a donkey in 2022. That's just my opinion of his playing ability. He was distinctly mediocre. [emoji2369]

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