Richarlison and Emerson Royal claim Cristian Romero can be brutal at times in Tottenham training, with the Spurs star having a reputation for going in for full-blooded challenges (Desimpedidos).
Since joining Tottenham Hotspur, Romero has garnered a reputation for rash challenges, silly bookings, and shocking red cards, but the Argentine appears to be a changed man this year.
Romero is yet to be booked in 2024 and recently claimed that he is making a conscious effort to cut needless bookings and fouls out of his game, while remaining front-footed and aggressive (Standard).
However, it appears the centre-back is still not pulling any punches at Hotspur Way, with both Richarlison and Emerson Royal recalling tails of crunching challenges in Spurs training.
Cristian Romero is a menace in Spurs training
Emerson even added that Romero has a particular talent for getting the ball cleanly while also leaving you in a lot of pain, with Richarlison being on the end of a few of them when he first joined Spurs.
Richarlison recalled: “I played against Romero, Tottenham vs Everton, the rivalry was already there between Brazil and Argentina, and I think I had already played against him in the U20s, in the South American Championship. I promised myself that I would hate Argentineans, Uruguayans for the rest of my life, for goodness’ sake, those guys are too cocky.”
Emerson said: “He doesn’t hit everyone in training. Romero fixates on something and then he wants to get the guy, but it’s not just anyone he hits in training. He won’t hit you (nods to Richarlison). In the beginning, when he arrived, he would hit Richarlison, because they had a kind of rivalry, but then it became calm.
“I’ve seen few people hit like him in my life. He almost breaks your leg, but he gets the ball and comes out clean. He does it on purpose, but he knows how to hit. Like, there are people who hit but they commit a lot of fouls. You can see that he hit, that he hurt the guy, but you only see it later that he turned the guy’s ankle.”
Richarlison added: “He knows how to hit. He hits without getting booked. It’s ball and shin,”
Spurs Web Opinion:
I do always wonder how professional footballers play in training sessions. Do the centre-backs go into challenges with the same force as a real-game situation? It appears Cristian Romero definitely does. Well, he’s got to practice his technique somehow, I guess! As long as the lads remember their shin pads.