Player Watch Player Watch: Pedro Porro

[NEVILLEB]

Come on they are both weak defensively.

What? We bought porro as Emerson was weak offensively!! There was no question marks about his defence lo

Oh wow

 

[easley91]

I’m taking into account everytime he’s played for us not just his last game.

So he has been fine defensively overall then? He was one of our most consistent performers along with Kane and Bentancur second half of last season. You have a clear bias towards him and I just don't understand it?

 

[jonnyp]

Yeah he was terrible defensively first half but improved a lot in the second half.

Don't understand how anyone can disagree with your post. Our right side was wide open time and time again and he almost gifted them a goal too. Got a lot better as the game went on but there is an incredible amount of improvement required of him defensively.

 

[NEVILLEB]

So he has been fine defensively overall then? He was one of our most consistent performers along with Kane and Bentancur second half of last season. You have a clear bias towards him and I just don't understand it?

I don’t think he’s a good defender so I’m biased?

Grow up dude.

 

[npearl4spurs]

I mean first half he was out of position literally every time. We were lucky it was a very out of form garnacho. If it was rashford at left wing we would have been a few down st half time. He was much better second half.

Yeah he was terrible defensively first half but improved a lot in the second half.

Yeah exactly this. People go so over the top with praise. Some many attacks came down his side because there was huge space first half.

Great reel. But is weird it's not edited chronologicallly.

He started the match with some mistakes and I was thinking, oh gosh, he will be roasted. But well credit to him, he grew into the game and really played well for the rest of the match.

Like Vicario, I like the mentality of these lads now. They never let some setbacks drown them. Not sure why, but I keep kinda think Jedinak as our assistant coach has a significant influence to how much tougher we are now in mentality, he's the guy I remembered when seeing him play he took no nonsense and also a leader, then with Big Ange the overall commander to who everyone looks up to and respect.

Yeah Neville was banging on about him losing the ball with his back to goal constantly (it happened twice) and said he should never play there again and the experiment should be scrapped.

Later on After Christian Eriksen lost the ball in a similar position he went on to say how he did the same last season (so twice)
Yet he didn't mention how the Christian Eriksen experiment had failed and that he should never play in midfield again...

He was on top Twatty form, also making bizarre comments about Vicario overplaying saves and swinging his legs about.

For those that let the two incidences in the 1st half color their opinion like they did for Gary Neville, this was an excellent and eye-opening read this morning (I'm able to read it wihtout subscription but just in case posted down below):

https://theathletic.com/4793374/2023/08/22/spurs-manchester-united-rewatch-pedro-porro/

Rewatching Tottenham vs Man Utd: A Pedro Porro redemption story​

By Charlie Eccleshare
Aug 22, 2023
136

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After a game in which so much happened, The Athletic decided to watch back Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Rewatching a game is often an illuminating experience, allowing you to pick up on things you didn’t spot in the moment (apologies to those who noticed all of the below the first time).
In this instance, a few things jumped out. Yves Bissouma and James Maddison were possibly even better than they seemed the first time around, while Cristian Romero was quietly outstanding at the back. Son Heung-min’s performance was better than it appeared live.
What was most interesting on second viewing, however, was the performance of Pedro Porro. On the face of it, in the first half especially, Porro had a tough evening.
For those watching in the UK, you will have heard Gary Neville’s withering assessment of the man playing for Tottenham in his former position. Neville, like many observers, was clearly sceptical about Ange Postecoglou’s system, in which he asks both full-backs to invert and at times play like central midfielders.

GO DEEPER
How does an Ange Postecoglou team play - and will it work in the Premier League?
There were two incidents in the first half which showed the risks of this system, and they were jumped on by Neville. As early as the second minute, Porro received a pass from Guglielmo Vicario in that inverted position and was dispossessed by Mason Mount.

United quickly work the ball to Antony who shoots over from just inside the box.

“The reason that 95 per cent of full-backs play as full-backs is because they can’t receive the ball on the half-turn in midfield,” a disapproving Neville said.
Just before half-time, something similar happened. Porro lost the ball in another dangerous position, this time to Alejandro Garnacho, and only Mount overhitting a pass to Bruno Fernandes spared his blushes.

“I’m not having it, yeah I’m definitely not having it,” Neville said. “Honestly, Porro thinks he’s Rodri. If you’re a United player and you’re pressing, you want him to have that ball played into him all day long. It’s nearly cost them goals in this first half. If you’re not comfortable on the ball… Porro and (Destiny) Udogie do well when they get into the attacking part of the pitch, but in the defensive half they have to get out of there because it’s causing them problems.”
Most people watching the game would probably have agreed with Neville — and certainly anyone watching the highlights would have thought that Porro had a poor half and a poor game because of those mistakes. Especially since Porro is known for his defensive shakiness; he has looked out of his depth defensively when playing right-back previously for Spurs, including under Postecoglou when he was caught out by crosses for goals in pre-season friendlies against West Ham and Lion City Sailors.
Preconceptions undoubtedly affect how a player is viewed. Watching the game back, though, it becomes clear that Porro was actually largely excellent against United.
Starting with both of those mistakes, consider what happens just before and after them.
Before the first error, and in the very first minute of the match, Porro inverts and plays a lovely first-time pass to Dejan Kulusevski. It provides Kulusevski with the chance to run at the United defenders and put in a cross for Son that he should do better with.

In fairness to Neville, his point was that Porro shouldn’t be trying to pick up possession so close to his own goal. But you probably don’t get the kind of space that Porro gets here if you don’t take up a variety of different positions.
And a few minutes after losing the ball to Mount for that first mistake, Porro heads inside again, this time very nearly threading a ball through to Maddison.

As for the second error just before half-time, that comes after an outstanding few minutes for Porro.
In the 40th minute, Porro smashes a brilliant effort onto the crossbar from the edge of the box.

He then latches on to Maddison’s pass but misdirects a cross from inside the area. Seconds later he’s in his own box coolly heading Fernandes’s cross back to Vicario.
A few minutes later, Porro inverts again, almost over into a left central midfield position. He finds Pape Matar Sarr, who, as he did for much of the first half, has moved over to the right-back position (another advantage of Porro’s positional flexibility). Sarr finds Richarlison, who feeds Kulusevski on the right wing, the space freed up in part by Porro’s move infield. Kulusevski has a shot from the edge of the box saved by Andre Onana.
In the next passage of play, Spurs win a free kick and, when the ball drops to Garnacho, Porro nips in ahead of him and manages to dig out a cross that Romero can’t direct goalwards.

Then came the error that, for many, would have defined his half.
But just after that, in the early stages of the second half, Porro delivers his most telling contributions.
First, he intercepts a pass from Garnacho that is meant for an underlapping Luke Shaw.

This leaves Porro with the ball deep in his own half, and perhaps Neville and others would have liked him to just get rid of it.

Instead, he plays the ball inside to Richarlison. The Brazilian in turn passes to Maddison, who finds Bissouma, who gives the ball back to Porro. Thanks to Porro’s earlier interception, Shaw and Garnacho are out of position and Kulusevski is in acres of space by the right touchline.

Porro finds him, Kulusevski darts into the box and Sarr scores from his deflected cross. The ball hits the back of the net less than 30 seconds after Porro’s initial interception.

Looking at what happened either side of those two high-profile mistakes encapsulates the risk-and-reward approach of Postecoglou’s style. There will be times when Spurs lose the ball high up the pitch, but there is also confidence that the positives of this system far outweigh the negatives. It’s why Postecoglou felt not just willing, but excited, delighted even, to play both the similarly attacking Udogie and Porro from the start.
When asked last month if the two could play together, Postecoglou was almost bemused at why anyone would have reservations about it. “If you’re asking me if those two can play at full-back, yeah absolutely. I would love them to play full-back (together).”
On the rewatch, it was apparent that Udogie had more shaky moments than Porro even though, overall, the Italian also performed well.
Sticking with Porro, there were other moments that stood out from the game. From an offensive perspective, his inverting, coupled with Sarr drifting to the right, was an effective tactic in the first half, frequently allowing Kulusevski to get on the ball one-on-one against either Lisandro Martinez or Shaw. Kulusevski rediscovering the form of his first few months at Spurs would make an enormous difference to this team because the chances are going to be there for him to run at isolated defenders.
It was in defence, though, where Porro was surprisingly accomplished. In the ninth minute, for instance, he does well to deal with a two-on-one against him when Garnacho drives towards goal with Shaw on his outside.

Porro doesn’t commit and is then quick enough to make the tackle on Shaw.

This was especially impressive as, just minutes before, Garnacho had cut inside Porro from a similar position to get a shot away.
United also scored through Jadon Sancho from an identical situation in the early stages of this fixture four months ago.

On the half-hour mark, Porro showed his exceptional speed by winning a race against Garnacho and nodding the ball back to Vicario. Though in the next passage of play, he gave the ball away with a scooped pass to Maddison.
In the second half, once Spurs were ahead, Porro generally played more conservatively (and Neville and others might argue that Spurs were better once the full-backs stopped picking the ball up in such risky areas). But he was still able to burst into the box to try, unsuccessfully, to overlap Kulusevski and latch on to his threaded pass.
From a defensive perspective, Porro’s standout moment was winning this one-on-one duel against Marcus Rashford.

The United forward tries to get on Porro’s outside, but he’s not quick or strong enough to do so.

It was fitting perhaps that, given it’s been a weakness of his, Porro’s last contribution before his 88th-minute substitution was dealing with Facundo Pellistri’s back-post cross.
Especially in an age of three-minute highlight packages, it can be easy to judge players on one or two incidents. It’s instructive to look back and see the whole picture. There were other incidents as well that, on a personal level anyway, I hadn’t appreciated at the time. Son’s role in the second goal, for instance, with the way he drops deep to collect the ball and lays it off first time to Maddison. Or just how good Maddison’s swept pass out to Ivan Perisic then was.
There were certain incidents that one could only appreciate with a bit of distance. In the first half, for example, the momentum of the game completely changed when Bissouma received a pass in his own box, dropped the shoulder to get away from Fernandes and Garnacho and drove forward. Antony was given a yellow card for his tackle on Bissouma, and Fernandes was then booked for complaining about the decision. The mood at the ground was instantly lifted, and two minutes later Porro hit the bar as Spurs created a flurry of chances.
Bissouma’s bravery in picking up the ball so deep and taking on a couple of players was exactly the kind of thing Postecoglou was talking about when he said to the squad ahead of the Brentford game: “If you do something in the group that inspires the other players: that’s leadership.”
Hopefully, other players will be similarly inspired by the way in which Porro, supposedly someone who struggles to defend, improved in that area as the game went on. Perhaps Porro was inspired by his rival for the right-back position, Emerson Royal, who is supposedly not great going forward, smashing one in from outside the box against Brentford a week earlier.
Watching the United game back was a reminder of the way in which Postecoglou is helping his players and team challenge preconceptions, ushering in a new era of optimism at the club in the process.
(Top photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)

 

[theShiznit]

Love the way Saar slots in seamlessly when Porro goes wandering (Skipp was doing the same Pre-season)

Already seem so well drilled on their new roles.
I feel that Udogie isn't afforded the same level of protection/cover though.

Great to be confident in such a fluid system though as to me that is the key to good passing football.
Long may it continue.

 

[npearl4spurs]

I feel that Udogie isn't afforded the same level of protection/cover though.

shows how ridiculously good he is already? He had one recovery tackle in the 2nd half before the goal that was really impressive

 

[chas vs dave]

I don’t think he’s a good defender so I’m biased?

Grow up dude.

He was a good defender 2nd half of last season.

His defensive qualities were never in question.

 

[theShiznit]

shows how ridiculously good he is already? He had one recovery tackle in the 2nd half before the goal that was really impressive

Agree that his physical attributes (almost beast like ) Maybe allow Ange to leave his side a little more open, especially with the pace of VDV alongside him...

 

[ajspurs]

Have not been a fan of Porro at all if I'm honest but have really liked what I've seen in the last few games from him. Looks so comfortable on the ball and hasn't looked a liability defensively.

 

[delawarespur]

Hope this performance doesn’t go unnoticed. Defensive beast today again being faced with a ton of overloads and 1v1s. Received so well in midfield with great awareness and progressed the ball well. And the technical quality is off the charts with the touches under pressure and some of those lofted passes infield with both feet.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

So it turns out he can play RB! Am sure there will be slip ups, but this guy is class

 

[easley91]

He's getting better in this role. Offered the out to ball to Vicario on several occasions. It's starting to click.

 

[Super_spurs25]

He was great today. Really Love his passion too. There was a few chest pumps after making a tackle today. We have 2 very good RBs in him and Royal.

 

[delawarespur]

What he is also is a ceiling raiser with his quality on the ball. There are floor raisers who provide security, but Pedro really enhances the potential of this system. And continue as he has defensively you have genuinely one of the best fullbacks in the game.

 

[jonnyp]

A lot better recently, may it continue.

 

[EQP]

Crazy that we've yet to see him use his IMO best ability with his crossing to good use so far.

 

[SandroClegane]

Amazing how coaching can fit a "specialist wing back" into a back four. He's been excellent. His passion is contagious

 

[kent brockman]

His ability on the ball is such an asset in our build-up play.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Amazing how coaching can fit a "specialist wing back" into a back four. He's been excellent. His passion is contagious

Yeah. The guy clearly gives a shit and it’s great. Really want him to succeed.

Delighted with how he’s started the season