Tottenham Hotspur skipper Cristian Romero opens up on this season’s objectives at N17
Tottenham Hotspur are back in the Champions League, where they open their campaign against Villarreal at home on Tuesday evening.
Spurs have shown progress under new boss Thomas Frank, winning three of their opening four Premier League fixtures. They were comfortable victors over West Ham United at the weekend, winning the derby bragging rights and climbing to third in the league table. After the 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, Thomas Frank required a statement performance and he certainly got that from his players.
There have been several impressive performers in the Tottenham squad during the opening weeks of the new campaign. The Lilywhites have been rock-solid at the back, keeping three clean sheets, including in the win over West Ham. Of course, the partnership of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven has been crucial to the team’s solidity in defence. The former’s header against West Ham was controversially chopped off in the first half, but the latter’s calm finish had no debate after the break.
Cristian Romero opens up on what would be a successful season for Tottenham
Thomas Frank would no doubt be glad to see Cristian Romero deciding to stay put at Tottenham and sign a new contract last month amid heavy interest from Atletico Madrid in the summer.
The Argentinean international, Spurs’ new skipper, has led the team brilliantly and delivered quality performances. He has marshalled the troops from the back very well, something the central defender did against Manchester United in the Europa League final. For his flawless performance in the north Londoners’ Europa League triumph, the 27-year-old was awarded the Man of the Match.
Romero’s role was crucial in helping the club end their 17-year-long trophy drought in Bilbao, Spain. Ahead of facing Villarreal in Tottenham’s Champions League opener, the defender was asked what would represent a successful season. To which, he answered Football London:
“Sure, yeah. You always compete at the highest level to try and win. It would be easy to sit here and say ‘yeah, we’re prepared to try and win everything that’s ahead of us’, but you need to be realistic too.
“It’s all about competing, taking each game as it comes, fighting hard, have that spirit, that real winning mentality. The last thing that you ever lose is hope. We’ve got a fantastic group, we’ve got a manager, as I said before, he’s got clear plans and clear ideas.
“The group’s very happy and at ease with itself. I think we feel within ourselves that we can achieve big things. It would be amazing if we could lift another trophy, of course, for all of us and the fans too.”
Romero’s leadership and experience would be crucial vs Villarreal
Recently, Romero’s ex-international teammate Papu Gomez praised his character and mentality, claiming he has “never seen anything like the defender”. Indeed, the Cordoba-born star wears his heart on his sleeves and never shies away from the challenges, always giving his 100 per cent to the team’s cause.
He is a winner, leader and fighter, embodying the true Argentinean spirit every time he takes the field. Romero’s leadership skills and experience would be very important in midweek when Spurs host Villarreal in the Champions League. How he plays and leads the team will have a big say in the outcome of the fascinating European night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
