The Chelsea centerback scouting series continues with an in-depth look into the report of Atalanta’s Cristian Romero and his style of play.
A detailed profile of Dayot Upamecano was given in part two of this series, here’s a recap. The Frenchman’s strengths were discussed, parts of his game that could be improved were highlighted, as was how he would be expected to impact games both offensively and defensively. Centerbacks can impact games offensively, and not just by scoring either. Part three of this series would give us a detailed profile of another potential target, Atalanta’s Cristian Romero, who is currently on loan from Juventus.
It may seem odd that Champions League statistics are not factored into this analysis. This is not to ignore cup games as a part of players’ performances, but it is more the fact the league games help to evaluate players better not just for performance, but for consistency. Cup games are tricky, and players don’t take part in them as much as league games. The motivation for Champions League games are a bit different, it’s easy to be motivated playing against Bayern Munich once in a while, but how motivated and how consistent can you be against the top and bottom teams of your league? It’s also tricky because there are centerbacks who would do just perfectly in a top European team, that currently don’t play in the Champions League. An example of that is Virgil van Dijk, who was at Southampton when Liverpool bought him.
Cristian Romero is a very intelligent player, the fact that Juventus felt it could do without him might make some question Romero’s ability. Atalanta is his second loan in two years, and he has been getting better. Like Leipzig’s Upamecano, Romero plays a style that has similarities to Chelsea. Add to that Romero’s individual traits and you can see why he would be magnificent for the Blues.
Romero is a type of defender that would play a role more like that of Thiago Silva rather than Kurt Zouma, should he arrive at Chelsea. This is because he is less of a sweeper and more of a stopper. He would be the man to play slightly ahead of his fellow centerback, intercepting and making tackles, leaving his other centerback to sweep up behind him. His role at Atalanta, interestingly, also shows that he can be the sweeper, as he plays in the center of a back three.
Let’s explore many of the factors that make him a good candidate. We would also compare his defensive numbers, with nuance, to Zouma and van Dijk. Zouma because he’s Chelsea’s best centerback, and van Dijk because he has been the best centerback in the Premier League over the last two years and beyond.