The sound was deeply enjoyable, a thick, hard thud as Cristian Romero’s boot made contact with the ball. It seemed to create its own echo despite being in open space. Caglar Soyuncu, dispossessed in midfield, for a moment considered staying on the ground and claiming a foul. He decided against it. Who was he fooling? He loves a challenge like that.
It will not go down as an assist. It will be forgotten by many Tottenham supporters in the coming weeks, over a series of desperately important matches that will determine the success of their season and, potentially, the future of their manager.
But Antonio Conte will remember that tackle. Ten yards away from him, Romero seized control of the game. Seven seconds later, his team were 2-0 up and safe.
This was not vintage Tottenham; it barely needed to be. Before the game, former midfielder David Howells (of their 1991 FA Cup winning team) was interviewed on the pitch and identified the biggest frustration of this Tottenham team – the slow starts. He dutifully admitted that he was speaking in cliches, but cliches made sense.
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And they did it again. Brendan Rodgers had made wholesale changes, reflecting Leicester’s away second leg against Roma on Thursday, and yet his team enjoyed the opening 20 minutes.
Tottenham’s players cleared the ball from danger but accepted the turnovers in possession that would result. The front three again struggled for cohesion, this time with Lucas Moura in for Dejan Kulusevski. Moura’s gripes about a lack of game time seem to be without logical argument, given his wandering, weak performance. Spurs ticked over 220 minutes without a shot on target.
That front three did click, eventually. It took Kulusevski’s introduction, a phenomenally complete footballer given that he only turned 22 last week, to change the game even though they already held a lead. Kulusevski’s industry, Harry Kane’s runs to create space and Son Heung-min’s exquisite composure eventually made Leicester’s stiffs look foolish.
But given that Tottenham’s three forwards seem to produce in all or nothing quantities, rarely one of them peaking without at least one of the others joining them, the temptation now is to view them as a complete collective. First it was Kane; then Kane and Son; now Kane, Son and Kulusevski.
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Which makes the case for Romero as Tottenham’s most important individual. He is a fabulous blend of calmness and frantic energy. For every thrusting challenge to take the ball by force, Romero will dance in front of a forward and step clear with the ball like a pickpocket strutting in celebration. Like Kulusevski, he is also extremely rounded given his youth; a 24-year-old central defender is still a baby.
Romero is not able to control the chaos that occasionally appears in Tottenham’s defence, those times when his teammates manage to be simultaneously panicky and casual – it is quite the combination to witness.
But he is increasingly becoming their most able emergency service, right place right time when a fire breaks out or a water pipe bursts open. It is on his shoulders, as much as on Kane’s and Son’s, that Tottenham’s Champions League hopes rest.
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