Xavi Hernández already has the pivot he wanted to replace Busquets’ departure. Finally he will not be one of his first options but he will be a very reliable player. Oriol Romeu returns to Barça when he least expected it and with the mission of being the balancer:
Oriol Romeu has been. he is and will always be a defensive pivot. And it is that we are facing a specific prototype to play six in any dominant team that wants to play with a positional midfielder in front of the defense. A footballer who has been educated as such and who always acts on the field from this perspective. In addition, he has the ability to adapt both to 4-3-3 (he has only played as a pivot for Girona) and sharing the midfield with another teammate (many times for Southampton).
One of his best virtues are the quick cuts of the opponent’s exit attempts. He follows the game very closely and swings offensively to always be in a good position in case the team loses the ball. And when this happens, he jumps into court with speed and determination. He is very good at correcting these types of actions and disrupting dangerous transitions. With a total of 37 in 34 games, he finished as the eighth most recovering midfielder in the 2022-23 League. A factor that allows linking attacks and a very important factor for Barça’s usual game.
He is a player who sits very well among central defenders. When the opponent progresses outside, he only goes to foreign aid if he sees that cutting is a real possibility. Otherwise, he analyzes very well where and when he stands between central offices. Defensively, he is the best ally for the central pair. And it is that the best of all is that the pivot is not located there unnecessarily but, when he decides, he does it to be an active part of the defense.
With the ball he is a facilitator of the collective game. He touches easy and is always offered as a support option behind the ball when the team is in the opposite field. His good understanding of the whys and wherefores of football make him swing before anyone else towards the area where the ball is most likely to go. And when the team needs him in his own half, he is very practical: either he plays with a close teammate without complicating himself, or he stands between central defenders to start three and decide with the face game. To Xavi’s premise that a defensive midfielder doesn’t have to lose balls, Oriol Romeu will respond perfectly. His pass reliability last year was 87.3% and he came into contact with the ball an average of 48.6 times per game. He is the third in participation of the entire squad, only behind the two usual center-backs.
He is very good at playing with the body. He has a large body span and knows how to take advantage of it in many situations in the game. With the ball, he uses it so that nobody agrees to steal the ball from him. In extreme situations, it is the trunk game that gives him the solution that he does not find through the game. And without the ball, he knows how to get the most out of his body to win the static fights before the shot or the recurring actions before the jump that occur in a match.
There have been many press conferences in which Xavi has demanded that the team make more tactical fouls. Well, Oriol Romeu has a doctorate in stopping dangerous actions through small punishable actions. In fact, with a total of 59 in the 34 games he played, he was the tenth most fouled midfielder in the League. Most of them are super productive, stopping the opponents’ exits or stopping the game in contexts of superiority on the scoreboard.
It is difficult for him to complete inside passes that cross lines. Both for assiduity and for daring. The reality is that he dares little in the vertical pass or the progressive diagonal pass. He prioritizes too much not losing to the potential danger pass. This is his pass map for the match against Madrid, where this aspect can be clearly seen.
A factor that, in his case, does not vary even in very favorable matches. Also in these situations it costs him excessively. This is his passing map in Girona’s win against Almería (6-2).
They cost you demanding returns. His positioning is always impeccable and his willingness to help backwards is maximum, but he is not a fast player for turns. His corpulence adds seconds to turn and quickly gain meters backwards. If the rival’s transitions are fast and the ball passes away from him, the game overtakes him. He is a very smart footballer so he can minimize this personal weakness.
