Tottenham Hotspur icon Glenn Hoddle has had a go at Cristian Romero for his role in Aston Villa’s opening goal yesterday.
Spurs fans were hoping for a great start to 2023, but Unai Emery’s men ruined their New Year’s Day with a 2-0 win. Emi Buendia and Douglas Luiz got on the score sheet, but both goals could’ve and should’ve been avoided.
Hugo Lloris and Romero have come under a lot of criticism since.
Glenn Hoddle criticises Cristian Romero after Tottenham lose to Aston Villa
Everybody was hoping for a great start to football in 2023, but the first half between Tottenham and Aston Villa was just shockingly bad yesterday.
Both teams had to come out firing after the break, and although Spurs started well, it was the visitors who took the lead following mistakes by Lloris and Romero.
The Frenchman saved a decent strike, but instead of parrying it away for a corner, he put it straight back into play. Romero was the closest clear the danger, but the World Cup winner barely moved, which made it easy for Buendia to smash the ball into the back of the net.
Hoddle was angry with Lloris for his mistake, but he was absolutely furious with Romero, who just did not react.
The pundit said on Matchday Live on Premier League Productions (04:37 pm, January 1, 2023): “It’s poor goalkeeping, it’s really poor. He (Lloris) has put it back in the danger zone.
“Also, Romero was not alive, he was sleeping. He was the one that was the closest. If you look at it again, Romero was on his heels and I think it was Lenglet that had to make more distance to get back.
“It was a dreadful goal from Tottenham’s point of view. Romero’s not even aware of that second ball. He doesn’t react, he’s dreaming of cleaning his World Cup medal.”
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Once again, Spurs were awful for most parts of the game. They’ve gone a goal or two down and have come from behind on multiple occasions this season, but they just can’t keep doing that.
Last night’s performance was simply not good enough, and if they want to get back in the Champions League, they will have to make some changes very, very quickly.
As for the goal, it really was shocking from Romero, who is usually very aware of second balls following a shot. He was completely lost yesterday, and that cost Spurs dearly.
The 24-year-old Argentinian, who is on a high after winning the World Cup, probably needed that reality check. Antonio Conte would’ve definitely let him know that he had to be better, and we expect him to get back to his best soon.
