Tottenham will hope injury pattern is not repeating after Cristian Romero ruled out until the New Year

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP2 December 2021

Cristian Romero, who will miss the rest the rest of 2021 with a hamstring injury, was expected to be one of the few Tottenham players to quickly get to grips with Antonio Conte’s demands.

The summer signing was named best defender in Serie A as part of Atalanta’s back-three last season and was expected to be comfortable in reprising a similar role for Conte’s Spurs.

In Italy, Romero was regarded as something of a back-three specialist, and there were some at Spurs who felt his initial wobbles under Nuno Espirito Santo were as much down to adapting to a back-four as a new country, culture and league.

In losing Romero until late January or February, Conte has therefore been robbed of his best defender and one of the only players at Spurs who already knows his position inside out.

It is a frustrating blow for the head coach, who has admitted the level of his squad is currently middling.

Thursday’s home derby against Brentford is the first of 10 Spurs matches in 30 days, a run which should help to complete Conte’s “evaluations” of his players and make it clearer if this season can result in anything meaningful or be consigned to another year of transition.

In Romero’s absence, Conte is short of convincing options at the back. Davinson Sanchez is expected to start against the Bees, having been named in the XI for Sunday’s postponed match at Burnley.

The Colombian adds a physical presence, but his limitations were exposed in the embarrassing defeat by NS Mura last week, when he was thrown off balance for both their goals.

The hope is that Sanchez will be more assured in Romero’s position on the right of the three, but he is uncomfortable in possession and susceptible to lapses in focus.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank will likely instruct his forwards to press Sanchez and run at him when possible. Japhet Tanganga started on the right of the three against Leeds but did not appear to convince Conte, who hooked him for Sanchez after 68 minutes.

Tanganga can match Romero’s aggression but not the Argentine’s anticipation, timing or passing range, while Joe Rodon is thought to have been earmarked for a central role as Eric Dier’s understudy. Conte insisted he was not thinking about the January transfer window and played down the perception of him as an upwardly demanding coach who needs big money signings to succeed, saying he is focused on raising the level of the current squad.

Even before Romero’s injury, though, a centre-half was high on Tottenham’s wishlist and will surely have become even more of a priority for managing director Fabio Paratici in the New Year.

Romero’s injury, described by the club as a high-grade strain, came on Argentina duty last month, which is particularly frustrating for the club, although perhaps unsurprising, given he arrived in the summer nursing a minor knee complaint and has since faced a tough schedule for club and country.

A particular worry for Spurs is that the 23-year-old is following a pattern of high-profile signings who succumb to injury problems after joining the club.

Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho faced the challenge of managing expensive but often-injured Argentines in Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso, and Conte will hope the pattern is not repeating. Tanguy Ndombele, the club’s record signing, has also suffered from well-publicised fitness issues.

Lo Celso, incidentally, is also out of Thursday’s game, having injured his knee in the same Argentina match as Romero, but is expected to return to training on Friday.

On the plus side, Romero is effectively on trial at Spurs, who signed him on a season-long loan with a view to a £42.5m deal next summer, which is believed to be optional.

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