Cristian Romero unique interview: Tottenham defender on combating for Spurs success and ‘infectious’ Richarlison

Cristian Romero walks via the door and the sound of laughter follows him. He has simply shared a joke with Hugo Lloris in one of many corridors of Tottenham’s Hotspur Way headquarters. He remains to be grinning as he takes a seat within the bustling canteen.

“I think the togetherness of the group is the best thing we have,” Romero tells Sky Sports. “We live together really well as players and get on really well every day. I think that’s the most important thing.”

We are assembly solely two days on from Tottenham’s Champions League loss to Sporting Lisbon, a setback which introduced an finish to their unbeaten begin to the season. But there’s little urge for food to dwell on it. Spirits are excessive following the morning’s coaching session.

“It was a difficult game, but losing is part of football,” says Romero. “Of course, we really don’t like it and, clearly, it wasn’t our best game. But it is just the beginning. We have to trust that things will turn out well if we keep working in the way we are.”

It is an perspective which has served Romero properly.

The centre-back, fiercely combative in the way in which he defends and but unerringly composed in possession, has turn into a key determine for Spurs since his arrival from Atalanta in August of final yr and his influence has not gone unnoticed.

“There is something special about him,” stated Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher when naming Romero his signing of the season in May. “He isn’t the biggest of defenders, but he is clever, he is switched on, he is cool on the ball. I think Tottenham have a real player there.”

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Spurs paid £42.5m to make his mortgage transfer everlasting this summer season, the Argentine signing a five-year contract with the membership having taken to the Premier League like a pure regardless of what he describes as a “big difference” in fashion from Italy’s Serie A, the place he had flourished over the course of the earlier three seasons.

“Serie A is much more tactical,” he says. “There is a lot more pausa in the game. That’s partly because of the referees, who don’t let play go as much. Here, the ball is in play all the time.

“All the groups are additionally very aggressive, and the vast majority of them have a great way of enjoying and are offensive too. Physically, they’re all at an excellent stage and which means the video games are at all times very, very aggressive between the 2 groups.”

It is right, in different phrases, for a participant who relishes the bodily aspect of the sport as a lot as Romero.

“Yes, yes, yes,” he says with a smile.

“The Premier League was always one of my favourite leagues, so when I had the option to come to Tottenham, it was an easy decision and I was very quick to finalise my transfer here.

“Fortunately, my first season went properly. I do know I’ve many issues nonetheless to enhance however I’ll attempt to do this.”

That first season, while an undoubted success – culminating in a fourth-placed Premier League finish which ensured Tottenham’s return to the Champions League ahead of north London rivals Arsenal – was not without its challenges.

Romero spent three months on the sidelines having suffered a hamstring injury soon after Antonio Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo in November. All the while, he was having to adapt to a new country and, most significantly, a new arrival at home.

“In the start it was troublesome, above all as a result of my spouse was in her seventh month of being pregnant and there have been a variety of adjustments,” he says. “Fortunately, she supported me within the determination I made, like she at all times does, and now the whole lot is nice off the pitch.

“Family is the always the most important thing for me. Obviously, football is my passion and I don’t take it for granted. I know I am lucky to do what I love. But the most important thing is family.”

His son, Valentino, arrived safely in December. So, how is he sleeping? Romero smiles. “Better now. He is great, he is growing. I don’t always have a lot of time away from the pitch because we train a lot and travel a lot, but whenever I am at home, I love it and we are always together as a family.”

Romero clearly has a delicate aspect however out on the pitch he’s a special beast, ferociously aggressive, unafraid of confrontation, and, at instances, he admits, responsible of overstepping the mark.

The 24-year-old arrived in England having acquired 39 yellow playing cards and three reds throughout his 102 appearances in Italy and there have been notable flashpoints in England too, together with the Marc Cucurella hair-pull for which he was lucky to flee punishment in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea in August.

“It really depends on the game,” he says of his fiery streak. “I always try to give opponents maximum respect. If something happens which isn’t good, I always reflect on it and I apologise.

“This season, I believe I’m doing higher in that sense,” he adds. “I do know it is one thing I’ve to enhance, however I’ve solely had one yellow card within the video games I’ve performed to date this yr.”

Spurs fans love Romero for his competitiveness – “I’m at all times grateful for the assist they offer me,” he says – and the same qualities can be seen in his new team-mate Richarlison.

The pair have historical past. They clashed when the Brazilian was enjoying for Everton final season. But all that’s firmly behind them now and Romero’s admiration for the 25-year-old is apparent.

“He has brought a lot to the team,” says Romero. “He is a player who is a little bit different to the ones we already had. He is a player who puts in absolutely everything, all the time.

“We have Harry Kane, who, for me, is a most expertise and among the best strikers on this planet. We even have [Heung-Min] Son and [Dejan] Kulusevski, who additionally make the distinction.

“But Richy is giving us different things and that’s something which I think is infectious.”

Richarlison is already thriving beneath Conte and the identical is in fact true of Romero. The defender remains to be attending to grips with English. This interview is being carried out in his native Spanish. But language has been no barrier to his progress beneath the Italian.

“He is a manager who has helped me a lot tactically,” he says of Conte. “The career he has had shows how good he is and I think we are on a good path. Every day I wake up with a desire to keep learning.”

That openness to studying has definitely helped at Spurs.

I simply need to repay the religion the membership has put in me. I hope issues will proceed on this method and I might be right here for a very long time

Romero performed in the midst of the again three for his earlier golf equipment Atalanta and Genoa however, beneath Conte at Spurs, he has been moved over to the right-hand aspect.

“It’s very different. My favourite position is in the middle, because that’s where I have always played, but I am playing on the right for the national team too now and I will happily play wherever I am asked to, so I don’t have a problem with it.

“At the start, it was troublesome, for certain, however I obtained used to it and I discovered the position. I’ve to continue to learn and maintain correcting many issues, however I’m good and I really feel comfy there.”

Romero has had that very same urge for food for self-improvement since his youth. As a youngster at his boyhood aspect Club Atletico Belgrano in Argentina, he studied Barcelona – “their team that won everything” – and, particularly, their central defenders.

“I always loved watching that team because I loved to watch Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, and also Javier Mascherano when he played there. Those three were beautiful to watch.”

What about today? “Today, the best defender for me is Virgil van Dijk, always, and Lisandro Martinez from Manchester United.

“For me, they’re the perfect within the Premier League.”

Romero knows Martinez well from the Argentina national team but his most glowing praise is reserved for Lionel Messi, another team-mate at international level.

“Messi, for me, is a special class of participant,” he says. “I have not seen a participant like him in my life. He does unbelievable issues and I do not assume there’s any comparability. It’s sensible to play with him.”

Romero hopes to observe up Argentina’s Copa America triumph final yr with extra success on the upcoming World Cup – “of course, that is on my mind,” he says – however for now his focus is on Spurs.

“I just want to repay the faith the club has put in me,” he says.

“There are a lot of years ahead if the club wants it and if all goes well. I hope things will continue in this way and that I will be here for a long time. Things have gone well. Last season, we achieved our goal of qualifying for the Champions League and we were very happy.”

And what subsequent? Does he see Spurs as contenders for main honours?

“Talking is easy,” he says. “But we have to show it on the pitch. We have a good group of players to win trophies. We only have to convince ourselves.

“It is early within the season. We are nonetheless a good distance from that. We simply need to go step-by-step, enhancing the issues we have to enhance. But I believe we’re on a superb path.

“We have to trust that if we continue like this, with the work we have done and the work we are doing, we can achieve big things.”

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