Eric Dier explains how Cristian Romero perfectly embodies what Antonio Conte wants from his centre-backs
Eric Dier has conveyed that Cristian Romero is a perfect example of how Antonio Conte wants his centre-backs to play for Tottenham Hotspur. He spoke on the matter following his side’s impressive 3-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Conte has implemented a three at the back system where the centre-backs on the two sides push forward in certain moments while the remaining central defender plays as a sweeper to cover the spaces. Dier has slotted into the sweeper role while Romero and Ben Davies have stamped their authority in the remaining two spots. That being said, all three of them play on the front foot by being proactive with their style of play.
Speaking in an open interview (h/t Football.London), Dier has revealed how Romero perfectly embodies what Conte wants his centre-backs to do at Tottenham. The former expressed that Davies does the same, but he has specifically pointed out the summer arrival’s aggressiveness and proactiveness that suits the Italian boss’ tactics.
“That is what the manager wants in the centre-backs, especially on the sides, but from all three of us, he wants us to break the lines and be aggressive. We are playing a back five but it is rarely a back five, someone is always trying to break the lines for us to be more proactive and more aggressive and allow us to press up the pitch. I think that Cuti, one of his best qualities is that he is very aggressive and he reads the game very well and the same for Ben [Davies] as well.”
Romero’s a beast!
Even if Davies does a similar job, it is clearly visible on the pitch how Romero’s style of play matches the Spurs boss’ tactics in defence. After all, the former Atalanta man’s aggressiveness extends to the way he presses and challenges for the ball while creating numerical superiorities higher up the pitch as well.
Not to mention, Romero even pushes up at times to offer an option in the attack, which goes in line with his proactive style of play. That being said, there is still a lot of room for improvement in his game which is visible by the number of yellow cards he has racked up so far.
The Argentine defender already has picked up ten yellow cards this term from 24 matches across all competitions. That is an area that the centre-back definitely needs to improve upon, considering how he was out on the sidelines for a chunk of the current campaign.
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The Italian boss himself has suggested the South American improve on that aspect of his game. While being aggressive is always good for a centre-back, what differentiates top players is how they identify the moments where one needs to showcase their proactiveness.
Romero certainly possesses the potential to do the same so let’s hope that he can reach even newer heights and help us become rock solid at the back, similar to Conte’s previous teams. Whether that will happen or not would only be known in due time.
