Clinton Morrison has lauded Cristian Romero following one first-half incident during Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Newcastle United on Sunday, telling BBC Sport that his block from Joe Willock was ‘fantastic’.
Another dominant performance from Cuti. Denied Joe Willock a certain goal with a flying block and lifted the crowd with two crunching tackles of Allan Saint-Maximin. (image: Getty Images)
Spurs were far from their best during the first-half against the Magpies. They struggled for any fluency in their play. And they were ultimately punished just before the break with Fabian Schar’s free-kick going in after some poor goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris.
But Newcastle could have taken the lead much sooner. And they may well have done were it not for Romero coming to the rescue for Tottenham.
The Argentinian did brilliantly to deny Willock and block his attempt. And Morrison suggested that it was outstanding from the centre-back to deny the former Arsenal man.
Fantastic defending by Romero. He has started the game really positively,” he told BBC Sport.
“Newcastle can cause problems. They have a lot of attacking options. That was fantastic defending.”
As per SofaScore, Romero won a whopping match-high seven tackles, which was three more than any other player on the pitch and more than his defensive peers combined.
He also won eight of his ten ground duels (80%) and one aerial duel, as well as one clearance and one block too, proving to be a big influence defensively but the £36m-rated colossus was also cool and collected on the ball, making 94% of his 82 passing attempts.
Romero continues to prove that he has brilliant future ahead for Tottenham. (Getty Images)
Romero has really grown over the last few months and has continued to prove that he has brilliant future ahead for Tottenham
His temperament can be a problem at times. But it is the fire that he plays with that arguably makes him such a superb defender, particularly in last-ditch situations such as the one involving Willock.
It is almost remarkable that he is only 23 years of age. He has the potential to improve further in the years to come.