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‘No shots, no dribbles’: Spurs will be pleased they missed out on £30m signing after WC performance – opinion
Tottenham Hotspur fans would have been keenly watching on to see how Cristian Romero fared on his return from injury for Argentina.
The tenacious centre-back lined up alongside Nicolas Otamendi, and it’s safe to say he had a game to forget.
The 24-year-old wasn’t the only Argentine criticised for his role in one of the World Cup’s biggest ever shocks.
Even Lionel Messi was handed a 4.5 rating as Lionel Scaloni’s team started the tournament in the worst possible way.
Another player who had was seriously poor for Argentina was midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.
De Paul, wearing the number seven shirt despite being a central midfielder, failed to control the game in the middle of the park.
The 28-year-old had no shots, no successful dribbles, no completed crosses, and played zero key passes.
It was a disastrous performance from De Paul, and Tottenham will be glad the Argentine didn’t arrive in north London in the summer.
De Paul was seriously poor for Argentina
– the same as Messi – but were scathing in their assessment.
“Unknown. Confused. Without the intensity of other parties.
“He had a hard time playing and it was hard for him to score.
“De Paul missed a clear court by receiving the ball at the door of the area, after a corner.
“He improved in the second half, but was not enough.”
De Paul, , was linked with Spurs in the summer.
that De Paul rejected an approach from Spurs in the summer.
However, he’s since fallen out with manager Diego Simeone and wants to leave the club.
De Paul was fantastic for Udinese two seasons ago, scoring and assisting nine goals to earn his move to Spain.
He’s been much less effective in La Liga, and only had a goal and assist to his name this season.
De Paul was poor for Argentina yesterday and wasn’t able to pick up his form for the national team.
It’s hard to see how he would break into Antonio Conte’s side anyway, given the brilliant form of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Tottenham appear to have avoided spending some unnecessary cash on De Paul.
He’ll now be fighting to keep his place in the Argentina team, and his side in the World Cup.