Gary Neville has aired similar concerns about one Tottenham Hotspur player in the past.
Back in December, the Manchester United legend labelled the £42 million man ‘absolutely mad’ during a 4-1 hammering of Newcastle, insisting that Cristian Romero was very fortunate to avoid a red card after a thumping challenge on Alexander Isak.
Now, there was no familiar signs of ill-discipline on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season; Romero often a player who strays that very fine line between aggression and recklessness.
Instead, it was the sight of the Argentine switching off and leaving Leicester City dangerman Jamie Vardy free at the back post which left Neville open mouthed and shaking his head in disbelief.
Question marks this time over his defensive awareness, rather than his carelessness in the challenge.
Tottenham draw with Leicester as Jamie Vardy levels
As Steve Cooper’s Foxes battled their way into the game following a dismal first half, Vardy found himself in glorious isolation as the 37-year-old cancelled out Pedro Porro’s fine header with his 137th Premier League goal.
“I’m really surprised at that from Romero,” Neville tells Monday Night Football on Sky Sports (19 August, 10pm). “You’re thinking; ‘Right OK, if you’re Romero there, there’s Jamie Vardy’. He is the goalscorer. The one player you think you have to pick up.
“For some reason, (Romero) bizarrely runs past him. I bet he can’t believe his luck, Jamie Vardy. That is unbelievable.
“Romero is a good defender but his lack of awareness there does surprise me.”
Neville was a far more complimentary, however, when talking about another Tottenham defender. Well, that’s if you can really call Pedro Porro a ‘defender’.
Spurs’ rampaging right-back popped up in the middle of the penalty area to open the scoring at the King Power Stadium, glancing a picture-perfect cross from the exceptional James Maddison past Mads Hermansen with 29 minutes on the clock.
Ange Postecoglou’s system gives almost unprecedented freedom to his full-backs. And the sight of Porro driving towards the six-yard box to convert was typical really of the Aussie’s free-form approach.
“Quite often what we see with Spurs is that, when they do play down this (left-hand) side, Porro will take a position in and around the edge of the box,” Neville adds. “I think the trigger for him is where he sees Maddison here.
“He is absolutely brilliant. He takes a massive risk. It’s unbelievable that the right-back is in that position and he actually finishes it brilliantly.”
Ange Postecoglou disappointed with Spurs result
Tottenham were entirely dominant in the first 45 minutes, Leicester chasing shadows as Maddison and co danced through their backline again and again.
But, as the occasion transformed into the proverbial ‘game of two halves’, Spurs were left to rue a couple of missed chances from £65 million club-record signing Dominic Solanke as Leicester finally awoke from their slumber.
By the end, Guglielmo Vicario denying the hosts a late winner, Leicester appeared the most likely victors.
“Disappointing outcome,” Postecoglou sighed at full-time, via Football London. “Very dominant first half, really wasteful in front of goal. We started the second half similarly.
“First 15, 20 minutes, very dominant. Wasteful. You know at 1-0, there is always an opportunity for the opposition to come back into the game. That’s what happened and we lost our way for 15 or 20 minutes. We lost our composure and the crowd got behind them.
“Just really disappointed. We lacked a little cutting edge in the front third, made some poor decisions, lacked some composure and didn’t get the reward our football deserved.”
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