Tottenham stars James Maddison, Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero
Ange Postecoglou will be ecstatic after hearing the huge praise one pundit has for Tottenham Hotspur ace Cristian Romero, with the 25-year-old labelled ’10 times better’ than a Liverpool defender.
Tottenham spent £42million when signing Romero from Italian side Atalanta in August 2021, with the centre-back penning a five-year deal in North London. Since then, Romero has played 68 games in all competitions for Tottenham and netted three goals.
Romero is a tenacious defender who likes to step in front of opposition strikers to intercept passes, while he is also great at performing last-ditch slide tackles. The 25-year-old can be overly aggressive at times, but his aggression is also one of the traits which makes him such an effective player.
Romero played a pivotal role in Argentina winning the World Cup last year, starting six out of their seven matches and playing a full 120 minutes in the final.
Argentina legend Lionel Messi loves the Spurs man, having named him as the ‘best defender in the world’ following his top-class performance against Ecuador on Friday.
And now, former Argentina and Independiente midfielder Jorge Burruchaga has heaped praise on Romero, explaining how he is far better than Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
“They say Van Dijk and tell me he is the best defender in the world. Romero is 10 times more. If you look at the best defenders, they are not fast. And Cuti (Romero) has balance and speed. He’s extraordinary,” Burruchaga said during a recent radio appearance (via Sport Witness).
Spurs fans will be delighted to hear this praise for Romero. Van Dijk has established himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League in recent times, so for Romero to now be considered better than him is a huge achievement.
Cristian Romero miles ahead of Liverpool player – pundit
Of course, Burruchaga’s praise will have been exaggerated by the fact he is Romero’s compatriot, and therefore he holds no loyalties to Van Dijk. But nothing should be taken away from Romero, as he has been in fantastic form for both club and country and looks set to shine over the next few years while Postecoglou is in charge of Spurs.
While Romero’s stock to continues to rise, Van Dijk’s appears to be going in the opposite direction. On Tuesday, Dutch analyst Johan Derksen tore into the Reds man by saying: “I’m getting very tired of that captain of the Netherlands.
“If there is a lack of performance, he uses all kinds of clichés to explain what went wrong.
“Can he still handle the level? No, he’s on his last legs. I never thought of him as a star.
“He looks good, but I don’t think he’s a very good defender. He was only strong in the air.”
Meanwhile, a classy Liverpool star could secure an immediate transfer out of Anfield after one club ‘pressed the button’ to sign him, according to a report.
