Tottenham Hotspur have solely received certainly one of their final 4 matches in all competitions after a last-gasp aim meant that they needed to accept some extent in opposition to Manchester United on Saturday.
The Lilywhites turned the sport round from 1-0 down to guide 2-1, however they had been unable to get the three factors over the road, as they had been napping in stoppage time to permit Matthijs de Ligt to move in on the again publish.
Spurs have solely received certainly one of their final 4 matches within the Premier League after that end result, which has seen them drop out of the highest 4 within the division.
Thomas Frank will certainly be upset with the character of the 2 objectives that had been conceded, as a result of they had been each unmarked headers contained in the field that ought to have been handled.
The previous Brentford head coach ought to have a look at his full-backs and demand extra from them defensively, as Future Udogie was on the scene for the second aim and Pedro Porro was caught out for Bryan Mbeumo’s header.
Actually, Porro is one participant who could also be on borrowed time within the beginning line-up beneath Frank, as a result of his defending has come into query on a number of events.
Why Pedro Porro needs to be dropped
The Spanish right-back’s marking, or lack thereof, for Mbeumo’s aim was merely not adequate. He was not conscious of arguably the most important United menace within the field, and allowed him to have a free header to attain previous Guglielmo Vicario.
To his credit score, although, the previous Manchester Metropolis teen did react to a remark from a supporter after the match and acknowledged that he was not at his greatest in opposition to the Crimson Devils.
This isn’t the primary time that Porro’s defensive qualities have been known as into query. Final yr, former Eire worldwide Keith Treacy mentioned: “Pedro Porro is an effective footballer, clearly, he performs within the Premier League, he’s a good footballer, however he’s not a great right-back, he can’t defend.”
The previous Blackburn star added: “If I used to be a coach going up in opposition to Spurs I might say to isolate him, run at him all day lengthy.”
Again in 2023, former Spurs supervisor Tim Sherwood mentioned that Porro was “everywhere” as a result of he “simply desires to run ahead” and play as a winger. The Tottenham defender later reacted to these feedback by saying that he’s not a “machine” who may combine immediately, as he had solely simply joined the membership from Sporting.
On high of the long-standing query marks over his defensive capabilities, the 26-year-old full-back has additionally been extremely wasteful with the ball at his ft within the final two Premier League matches.
Pedro Porro | Vs Chelsea | Vs Man Utd |
|---|---|---|
Minutes | 73 | 67 |
Tackles received | 0 | 1 |
Duels received | 3 | 3 |
Error led to shot | 2 | 0 |
Key passes | 0 | 0 |
Crosses accomplished | 0/5 | 1/12 |
Possession misplaced | 24x | 29x |
Go accuracy | 58% | 64% |
Stats by way of Sofascore | ||
As you possibly can see within the desk above, Porro has misplaced possession of the ball a staggering 53 occasions within the final two league video games, with out making a single likelihood for his teammates, and creating two probabilities for the opposition with errors that led to photographs.
This reveals that the Spaniard has been dismal defensively and offensively of late for the Lilywhites, which is why Frank ought to ruthlessly ditch him from the beginning XI after the worldwide break for the North London derby.
The apparent answer within the short-term could be for Udogie, who assisted Mathys Tel’s aim on Saturday, to return in at left-back and Djed Spence to maneuver over to right-back.
Nonetheless, the long-term plan that might put an finish to Porro’s profession in North London could possibly be for Archie Grey to finally nail down a spot within the workforce as a right-back.
Why Archie Grey can finish Pedro Porro’s Spurs profession
The England U21 worldwide is at the moment sidelined with a calf harm that he sustained on the finish of final month, and he’s anticipated to be again in motion across the finish of this month or at the beginning of December.
Grey signed for the Lilywhites from Leeds United for a payment of £40m in the summertime of 2024, with Joe Rodon heading again the opposite method, however he has failed to determine himself in a single place since his transfer to the membership.
The English teen needed to fill in at centre-back far too many occasions beneath Ange Postecoglou due to the harm disaster in that place, with the likes of Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven, and Cristian Romero all selecting up accidents final time period.
Archie Grey’s Tottenham profession | |
|---|---|
Place | Begins |
Centre-back | 20 |
Proper-back | 9 |
Defensive midfield | 8 |
Left-back | 6 |
Central midfield | 3 |
Stats by way of Transfermarkt | |
As you possibly can see within the desk above, Grey’s second-most performed in place at Spurs has been right-back, which is the place he performed the vast majority of his first-team soccer with Leeds, regardless of arising by the academy set-up in West Yorkshire as a central midfielder.
The younger defender performed 44 out of 46 league matches for Leeds within the Championship within the 2023/24 marketing campaign, primarily as a right-back, and earned the Championship Younger Participant of the 12 months award.
Grey, who was hailed as “ridiculous” by Como scout Ben Mattinson, showcased his defensive high quality as a right-back in that second tier season with the Whites, profitable 92 tackles and 186 duels in whole.
Per FotMob, he ranked throughout the high 7% of full-backs for tackles received and the highest 14% for duels received, while additionally rating within the high 7% for ball recoveries (196), which reveals that he was among the best defensive full-backs within the division, for a workforce that completed third within the league.
These statistics counsel that he has the defensive resolve to finally nail down a spot at right-back as a dependable defender for Spurs sooner or later, which is why he may finish Porro’s profession on the membership by providing Frank a steadier presence than the Spaniard, who has struggled on and off the ball.
It’s now right down to Grey, although, to return from harm and ship high quality performances when known as upon to indicate that he may be higher than Porro defensively week-in-week-out, which would depart Spence free to compete with Udogie at left-back.
