Romero: “It’s a pleasure to play alongside Micky” | Matchday programme exclusive

From one key player in our back line to another, Cristian Romero has built a formidable central defensive partnership in no time at all with newcomer Micky van de Ven.

Micky’s calmness next to the passion of ‘Cuti’ is a wonderful juxtaposition of styles that complement each other so well, with the centre-backs raising the overall level of our defence and the team as a whole, especially during our best-ever start to a Premier League season as we collected 26 points from our opening 10 games.

It is still only their first season together, so they are still developing an understanding of each other’s game, but that hasn’t stopped them leaving a glowing endorsement of one another – with Dutch international Micky calling his team-mate ‘world class’ and the Argentine following that up with similarly high praise for his partner as they continue to blossom at the heart of our back four.

Speaking in an exclusive interview in our matchday programme for the visit of Crystal Palace today, Cuti explained: “It's a real pleasure to be playing alongside Micky. I think as a footballer you know when you've got a good connection with someone and a good relationship.

“As players, we are similar in how we play, our styles complement each other. Every training session and game, I'm getting a better relationship, our rapport is getting better.

“He's a good person, form can come and go, but I would say, currently he's one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. Hopefully this relationship will continue to grow.”

The Crystal Palace programme is available to buy at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today and also online at the link below.