The sudden withdrawal of skipper Cristian Romero during the warm-up before Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Aston Villa. It made worse some existing weaknesses in a game decided by small details. As captain and key defender, Romero’s absence due to a minor adductor strain, which had bothered him in recent training, left the side without their strongest leader at the back.

His replacement, Kevin Danso, did a decent job overall, but at the end of the day, what the eyes see is the loss of three points after scoring a goal as early as five minutes into the game. Whether or not Cuti‘s presence could have changed the overall outcome of the game is not certain, but in moments, things could have been different, for sure.

Without him, the defence seemed a bit less united, especially during changes of play when Spurs lost the ball high up the field. His skills were badly missed during Villa’s two long-range goals by Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia. Those shots, taken from unlikely positions, took advantage of brief moments of lost focus that a fit Romero might have stopped with his quick actions and clear instructions. (Major Copium )

Tottenham boss provides injury update on Cristian Romero.

Here...