The Weekly Think Tank: Oriol Romeu

If you know anything about the beautiful game of football, you know that the results can easily diverge from the analytics. It is easy to find yourself at the losing end of a game with winning statistics. Why do these results appear in the box score?

People are breaking down football in a way that no one could have predicted. The math and science that is going into dissolving each individual moment is one that I think most of us would be confused about.

But what about the game breaks away from the analytics? Is it the failed executed play by one player? Was it that goal that should have been offsides? Is it the manager who made the wrong substitution? These are all things that can contribute to the win that got away. Most people will attempt to look at the analytics, only to find nothing makes sense.

An attribute that most people hate to look at will be the intangibles. It is an attribute that will annoy the casual fan. There is no way for us to measure them, but there is enough evidence to justify it’s worth.

These attributes that stem within an individual such as your passion, hard-work, leadership, and communication can be the difference between winning and losing. Southampton is a team with many different personalities.

These personalities make up the skeleton of the Southampton success, but each player has their role not only tactically, but mentally. This weekly segment will cover a selected player and hyper-analyze their role mentally to the team that statistics cannot show.

This week will be discussing Oriol Romeu. The star every team wishes they had. This was not always the case though. The 25-year-old was a Barcelona cast-off and neglected by Chelsea until he ended up at Southampton. He had yet to break the 30-game barrier at any point during his career until he arrived.

Southampton has always been a team to sell their top talent and replace them with untapped potential, but I do not believe Southampton knew that this was the kind of talent they were getting.

Romeu, tactically, is one of the most important pieces to the Southampton puzzle. He is the wall to our defense and the starting point to our attack. Everything goes through Romeu. In most players’ perspectives, this can be unfair to put so much pressure on one player.

Romeu, however, has taken this challenge head on and has yet to cause any sort of catastrophic error. Being able to deal with this pressure mentally and physically is a feat in itself. Taking on this pressure as successfully as he has produced, is another type of accomplishment.

So where does Romeu fit on the intangible side of the squad? The answer is exactly what you think it is.

The Spaniard is the heart and soul of this team. He is the technician of everything that happens on the field. He is everyone’s eyes and ears. When you watch Romeu play, he is the commander, telling everyone where to go and what to do.

There are many occasions where you will see him grab one of his own players by the jersey and direct them to the spot he wants them. He is not only caring about his own personal role, but everyone else’s role as well. When you are the focal point of every single play, and you are focusing on everyone else’s role, it must be mentally draining.

Having a player with the intangibles that Romeu has is a coaches’ dream. These are attributes that cannot be taught and must be instilled within a player.

His intelligence and focus throughout the game is one that most players do not have. One of the games that truly came off most impressive to me was the EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool.

Romeu was everywhere for Southampton. A lot of people love to talk about a striker’s movement and how intelligent they can be without the ball. The 25-year-old’s movement is more intelligent than any striker that I have ever witnessed.

Knowing that the center backs Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens were vulnerable, Romeu would slide-back when the ball was in the defensive third to shield them from any counter attack.

He also had the role of pressing Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum. Every time they received the ball he would step-up giving them no time to breathe.

This was a time when we still played a 4-3-3, in which Romeu was commanding Stephen Davis and Jordy Clasie. You would imagine this is a large task for a player to take on by himself, but it is just another day for Romeu.

His confidence is something that every player hopes for. When you watch him on the pitch, not one bit of movement is done without a swagger. The lead-by-example player in Romeu exerts a type of confidence that makes everyone on his team convinced they can win the game.

His unending work ethic is one that makes you want to be a better player. Without Romeu on the field, Southampton would look like a team belonging in the bottom half of the table rather than the top half. He is that important. It is amazing the sheer importance of one player’s presence can be to a game with 22 people on the field.

The former Chelsea man has something deep within him. A fire that burns for success. A passion for the game unmatched. It makes him a force to be reckoned with and that does not appear to be slowing down.

Barcelona and Chelsea saw it, but were not patient enough to tap that potential. Is it because of these moves that have brought out the best of Romeu? does his will to make his national team roster one day drive him?  Is it just the fact he has a love for the game unmatched?

You wonder why every player can’t work as hard as Romeu. He may not have the talent of Paul Pogba, but I would take Romeu every day of the weak. His understanding of the game of football is one that cannot be taught.

His love for the game is one that you could only dream of in a player. If Southampton are to keep someone for the next five years to build a dynasty around, Romeu is the one you want. I see this man as our future captain and one that I would like to see play out his career at Southampton. His purpose on the field tactically and mentally are one that you cannot replace.

Next: Southampton rumors: Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand, Mamadou Sakho