Cristian Romero speaks exclusively to Sky Sports about how Tottenham are ready to end their 16-year wait for a trophy; the Argentine is confident the side are better prepared this season; Spurs host Everton on the second weekend of the new Premier League season
Saturday 24 August 2024 15:36, UK
It is GCSE results day across England. At Tottenham's state-of-the-art training ground in Enfield, academy players stroll down the stairs holding certificates with parents waiting anxiously in the main reception beneath them.
Making the grade as a first-team player here is the ultimate goal, but education is paramount along Hotspur Way. "Straight sixes," one young man exclaims.
In the new system, a six equates to a B grade in old money - just outside the A and A* bracket. Perfectly solid, but nothing special.
The same can be said of Tottenham's first season under Ange Postecoglou.
Eight wins and two draws in his first 10 games set a record for a manager new to the Premier League, but, from January until May, inconsistent performances resulted in the club just missing out on a Champions League place, two points short of Aston Villa.
Defender Cristian Romero has become accustomed to being his manager's star pupil. For Argentina, two Copa America titles either side of a World Cup has elevated 'Cuti' - as he is affectionately known - to one of the best defenders in world football.
Having been named in the team of the tournament, the challenge now is to convert international excellence to club football. With Everton the first visitors of the new season to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, the short turnaround has only kept the hunger burning.
"Being honest I've not had much of a pre-season as I arrived back right at the end of it, but the group is looking great," Romero tells Sky Sports, still basking in the afterglow of his country's second Copa in three years.
"Even though the first game [against Leicester] ended in a draw I think there were lots of positives on display.
"For sure there were other players who like me had not had much playing time ahead of opening day, but we're on the right road and all busy preparing hard to approach the second game in the best shape possible. We'll be looking to put in a good performance [against Everton] and pick up all three points at home."
Having scored five goals last season, more than any other Premier League defender, there are not many things Romero cannot do.
This interview, however, is being conducted in Spanish. Despite moving to North London for a fee in the region of £42m - initially on loan - three years ago, Romero is yet to conduct one in English.
Two seasons at Genoa and another at Atalanta helps the centre-back speak Italian with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and full-back Destiny Udogie, while Pedro Porro to his right and Rodrigo Bentancur in front of him speak his mother tongue.
But after his best friend in football Lisandro Martinez recently received plaudits for speaking on Friday Night Football, the hope is for the 26-year-old to soon show he too can communicate unaided by a translator.
It was Maurizio Sarri who, at the start of last season while at Lazio, said that 'football played in August was a liar', not wanting to be drawn on the significance of three draws from his opening three games.
"That's probably true," Romero admits when contemplating the veracity of Sarri's statement. "They're the first few games. You can't say such and such a team will win the league based on winning the first five or six games.
"It's a long season and a tough and competitive league not decided until the final few fixtures. There are usually still a few teams fighting it out.
"We have clear examples over recent seasons where three or four teams are battling it out for the title until the final few days. So no, you can't pick out a clear favourite now.
"You get all sorts of surprises where the bottom team can give a real game to the top sides. Every game is entertaining to watch as they are very competitive."
How Tottenham's 2023/24 season unravelled provided further evidence not to get overly excited by these early rounds. Twelve defeats in their last 28 games spoiled that blistering start that had them top heading into November.
So what have Tottenham addressed to ensure this season will be different? Romero says the club's aim has never altered.
"I really don't have a crystal ball to tell the future or what's going to happen next," admits Romero, who is set to make his 100th appearance for Tottenham against Everton.
"We're going to give everything and train at our best in every session so that every game can go our way. Our aim will of course be to try and lift a trophy this season. But it's easy to talk... the hardest thing is achieving that.
"I think we all know each other now. The coach and the group all know each other perfectly well. We all have to have the same basic approach on a day-to-day basis.
"This is football, so it doesn't just depend on the group of players and the coaching staff. I think that the ambition here within our club has to always be the very best, because if not, it's harder for things to go well.
"I think we're very much on the right track and let's hope that this season can be the one where we manage to win a trophy."
Postecoglou says he is used to winning silverware in his second season.
Monday's 1-1 draw at Leicester felt like two points had been left in the Midlands given Spurs' dominant first half - but when the manager's words on his own track record in term two are put to him, Romero does not see it as adding extra pressure.
"Let's hope that's how it will go, but I approach each season in the same way regarding my own personal opinion. I always want to win, and I have that focus to always turn up every day and try and improve and try and put in my maximum effort.
"But it totally depends on everyone. I hope my team-mates are listening to the message and together we can create something special this season."
Defending set-pieces was Tottenham's Achilles' heel last season. Only three teams conceded more than the 23 shipped from set-plays.
Postecoglou has dismissed suggestions that focusing on this weakness in training will solve those issues - but Romero says it is an area that must improve.
"I think honestly that last season we conceded a few too many goals from dead-ball situations," he says.
"That was one negative aspect about the team. It's not so much about training or criticism that the team's received, it's more about all the players trying to be totally focused and switched on during the game.
"Neither was it ever a question of height or being taller or smaller or anything else that may have been spoken about last season. But it's more about the focus and concentration of every player, in the end it depends on that. This season we have to improve in this area.
"In the first game [against Leicester] I think we started off by performing pretty well in that aspect and so now we have to keep that going throughout the rest of the season."
This weekend, they face an Everton side who scored all three of their goals last term against Spurs via dead-ball situations, including a dramatic late equaliser in February's 2-2 draw in which Romero could only divert his attempted headed clearance into the path of goalscorer Jarrad Branthwaite.
Only Arsenal scored more goals from set-pieces last season than Everton, so has this week seen any greater emphasis placed on nullifying their opponent's greatest strength?
Romero says: "We're working well in training currently and more than just focusing too much on our opponents we always try to improve anything that we did badly in the last game and look at ways we can hurt the opposition.
"We always look at ourselves, not concentrating so much on our opponents, but by focusing on ourselves, if we're on form, I reckon we can pick up the three points. That's the way we approach all our Premier League games."
Tottenham have developed a clear identity under Postecoglou. Only Manchester City (416) secured more high turnovers last season than Spurs (396).
According to Opta's PPDA metric which calculates the number of opposition passes allowed per defensive action, no team averaged fewer than Tottenham's 8.8.
Only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool had a higher average starting distance from their own goal at 44 metres.
On carrying out this high-line approach, Romero says: "It's really the coach who decides, but we all like playing the way we do. Like any system or tactic it has its benefits and can have its negatives.
"I feel it's a system that suits us and works for us really well, because we have the players who can win back possession really quickly.
"Like Rodrigo [Bentancur] who is currently not able to play down to the blow on the head he received. He offers us so much playing just in front of the two centre-backs in the way he wins the ball back for us so quickly."
Last season, Postecoglou prioritised transforming the team's style of play over finishing in the top four. His early remit was to lift the gloom that had set in under previous regimes.
Tottenham showed against newly-promoted Leicester they will continue to be adventurous and proactive, but as Postecoglou slumped to his haunches in time added on, that yearning for tangible growth still lingers.
The next stage of the project must show that Romero and his team-mates have matured into the A-star students capable of creating something really special in N17.
