Southampton 2017/18 season review: Oriol Romeu
By Marc Walker
After earning a reputation for being Mr Consistent in the Southampton team in his first two , 2017/18 was a fairly difficult campaign for Oriol Romeu.
The Spaniard has always gone about his work relatively quietly but his performances this season were sometimes affected by Southampton’s poor displays as a team; giving him an almost impossible job to both link attacking play and shield the defence.
It was clear from the start that Romeu would have a key role in the team. He suited Mauricio Pellegrino’s possession-based style of play and has very good passing ability after coming up through the ranks of Barcelona’s La Masia academy.
However, it became clear that this style was not going to suit the current Saints side and the Premier League as a whole.
According to whoscored.com, he maintained his high passing completion rate in 2017/18 with 82.6% finding a teammate. Along with his fellow midfielders though, he struggled to create from deep and produced just 0.6 key passes per game.
From defensive midfield, Romeu’s main job is to keep the centre of the pitch solid and reduce any threats to Southampton’s goal.
Next: Cedric Soares makes Portugal World Cup squad
More from Saints Marching
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
- It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
- Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
- A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse
His accumulation of 2.7 tackles and 2 interceptions per game ranked him in the top ten in the Premier League for both categories, whilst his 2.9 aerial duels won in each match was higher than Maya Yoshida, Wesley Hoedt and Jack Stephens.
One side of his performances that isn’t so glamorous is his proneness to a cynical tackle to break up play. This can sometimes help his team, but he managed to reach a total of 11 yellow card in the league; the highest in the whole Premier League and in the Saints squad.
His style in midfield did seem to match well at times with Mario Lemina, with the Gabon international providing much needed forward bursts and powerful runs. If Saints can find a way of fielding him with both Lemina and Hojbjerg next season and adding more attacking threat, they could be onto a winner.
A potential important contribution attacking-wise did come from Romeu in Southampton’s away game at Manchester City. He arrived in the box to plant home his only goal of the season and a vital equaliser, but Raheem Sterling’s late winner meant a strong defensive performance went unrewarded.
Overall, an unremarkable season for the Spaniard and his role in the team is perhaps only highlighted in a positive way when he’s got attacking players in front of him that are on form. He does a job that isn’t pretty at times, but must be a key player again next year as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League.
A step up in performances from Romeu and the team is needed though and it will be vital for the new manager – Mark Hughes or somebody else – to find the right combinations throughout the starting 11 for the team to thrive again.