The ordeal of Oriol Romeu

GIRONA"Oriol is the key. He's the player who best understands what I want, in terms of attack, defense, and transitions. He's able to do everything for me, he balances things out for me. The team's structure is built around him." These words from Míchel Sánchez, spoken in June 2023, seem like decades ago. Back then, Romeu had had a spectacular first season at Montilivi. The Girona midfielder was the big summer signing of his return to the First Division and one of the season's standout performers. Two years later, his performance (and that of the team) has plummeted.

The first goal conceded in Pamplona is further evidence of the Ulldecona native's decline, having lost sight of Budimir and allowing him to finish completely alone inside the box. Romeu is no longer the cog that Míchel used to fit into the system. He still plays, yes, but his lack of pace and reliability, along with his inconsistency, have made him prone to error. And the Girona team is seeing this in their destruction, where they are continually outclassed, and in their slow and idea-free construction.

It would be unfair to blame all the woes on the Catalan midfielder, who is penalized by the poor collective performance. In the aforementioned goal, Danjuma was passive in Aimar's cross, and Abel ignored Budimir, which left Romeu feeling sold out. Romeu, like most of the locker room, isn't functioning because Girona has serious organizational problems, which Míchel hasn't remedied. It's no coincidence that virtually no footballer performs at a high level: individuals can hardly shine if the team is failing.

The Catalan returned on loan to Montilivi this summer, disappointed and frustrated with his time at Barça and with his physical condition in question due to constant knee problems. "There have been times when I've had a bad time and I've had the feeling that I wasn't enjoying playing. I haven't shown Xavi that he could trust me game after game, and it's been hard for me to overcome disappointing my teammates or the coach. In fact, I've thought that I wasn't good enough for football. Neither physically nor mentally, I haven't been as good as I could be," he confessed. That's why, when Míchel called him, he didn't think twice. "Perhaps the word that describes what it means to return to Girona is happiness," he assured at the presentation. But happiness has turned into ordeal.

"Weak in concentration"

In La Liga, Romeu has only participated in 20 of the 31 matches, starting 16 and completing the full 90 minutes in five. Curiously, four of those matches were between Matchdays 8 and 11; this means he hasn't played a full match since early December, with the exception of the Champions League clash with Milan. The Ebrense native doesn't stand out when looking at the statistics: he's barely the tenth player in the squad with the most ball recoveries (65) and the one with the most duels won (61), even surpassed by Asprilla, who isn't known for his defensive work. In the analysis by Whoscored, the website that details the characteristics of footballers according to current parameters, he is described as "weak in concentration."

Just like other notable names like Iván Martín and Miguel Gutiérrez (Yangel Herrera is a separate issue), Romeu also yearns for Aleix Garcia, the man who gave meaning to the idea and who hasn't been successfully replaced: he's only been somewhat relieved by art. The security everyone felt knowing his presence covered up their major flaws has vanished.

On Monday, Girona hosts Betis (9 p.m., DAZN) with the need to end the bad run once and for all. Relegation, five points behind, looms if they don't get their act together. A scenario no one would have imagined. Nor would Oriol Romeu, far from the player he was in during his first spell with Girona.