It wasn’t a pretty match, but it was a win — a 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur victory over Everton, snapping the Toffee’s four match winning streak and sending Tottenham into the top four, at least through Christmas.
But it came with a slight catch — central defender Cuti Romero was subbed off at halftime for Eric Dier, presumably for an injury, which raises all sorts of terrifying scenarios for Tottenham supporters, considering Micky van de Ven is also out with a hamstring injury.
Ange Postecoglou was asked about Romero in the post-match press conference, and while Big Ange didn’t give a big update, it was one that can be construed as… hopeful? Maybe?
“He felt tightness in his hamstring just before half-time so we had to take him off.”
Why is this hopeful? Well, “tightness” is not “he pulled his hamstring”, so it implies that while Romero certainly felt something by the end of the first half, his substitution was likely just precautionary. Ange has a history of making precautionary, proactive substitutions and we’ve seen that already a couple of times this season as Postecoglou has belief that his reserve players can step up when needed.
But it does put Cuti’s status for Thursday’s match at Brighton into question. It’s a short turnaround, and if Romero does have a bit of a hammy tweak then the same impulse that led Ange to sub him off might keep him out of the match. We’ll just have to wait for updates.