Ange Postecoglou has paid tribute to Tottenham Hotspur centre backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven having lined up against Manchester United.
Tottenham were back in action on Sunday afternoon, taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford – and they had the worst possible start.
United striker Rasmus Hojlund found the net just moments after the game kicked off, but Tottenham grabbed an equaliser with a Richarlison header.
Marcus Rashford fired United back in front but Tottenham didn’t lie down with Rodrigo Bentancur smashing past Andre Onana after the break.
Spurs couldn’t find a winner but a point was a decent result considering the lengthy list of absentees in the Tottenham squad.
Ange Postecoglou hails Tottenham defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven
James Maddison, Giovani Lo Celso, Ivan Perisic, Manor Solomon, Alejo Veliz, Ben Davies and Ryan Sessegnon were all ruled out through injury whilst Dejan Kulusevski missed the trip with illness.
Add in that Son Heung-min, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are all away on international duty and Tottenham were down to the bare bones again.
Centre backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both rushed themselves back from injury to make themselves available to face United.
The pair looked a little rusty in parts but largely did a fine job as they rekindled their outstanding partnership from earlier in the season.
Postecoglou has now paid tribute to both of them, calling his centre back pairing ‘ridiculous’ as they pushed themselves to play.
Speaking to Football London, Postecoglou suggested that Romero put himself into the mix two weeks ahead of schedule.
The Australian loves what he is seeing in terms of the mentality and dedication of his players, praising them for putting the team before themselves.
“Yeah ridiculous, both of them,” said Postecoglou. “Romero is probably two weeks ahead of schedule but that’s the thing about this group. Bentancur similar. They’re putting aside their own personal well-being in many respects to just make themselves available because they want to help this team.”
“They can see we’ve been going through a tough time for a long time. They both wanted to play and coming to a difficult place, Man United on transition are still a very, very good football team. The front four there, Fernandes and the front three, are a threat every time. For those two boys to perform like they did after being out for so long is a testament to their character,” he added.
Both Romero and Van de Ven are now under pressure to shine with a new centre back on board in Radu Dragusin.
Tottenham needed more depth behind their star centre backs and have certainly added it by luring Romanian Dragusin away from Genoa.
Dragusin’s arrival may well have made Romero and Van de Ven push themselves into contention, fearing losing their places to the new signing.
Competition keeps everybody on their toes and Tottenham have that now with Postecoglou no doubt delighted with his centre back options.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
