Tottenham Hotspur have a formidable team, but among them there are a few assets that make it a difficult roster to come up against. When talking about those players integral to the current squad, one of the first names that pops up is Pedro Porro.
When the Spaniard initially made his way to Tottenham, the Girona academy graduate had his game quite structured around flying down the right wing. When it came to the defensive side of things, many Lilywhites faithful regarded him as a liability. And let’s be honest, that defensive setup under Ange Postecoglou left him horribly exposed on a consistent basis.
But after taking charge along the summer, Thomas Frank has quietly fixed that problem. The Dane head coach now tries to build with two centre-backs and then has one full-back tucking in to support. And this way it has acted as a barrier from all the defensive problems that Tottenham had last season. And more often than not, the fullback who is staying to support is Porro. So the Spaniard ends up holding his position. This has a domino effect. The Lilywhites get more sense of stability in terms of defensive transitions when they allow Djed Spence to carry the ball forward on the opposite side of Porro.
We are seeing how this simple switch has meant that there are fewer turnovers for Tottenham. This also gives Porro more space to run into (rather than getting into small passing combinations with midfield). So he still goes ahead and joins the attack, where he acts as a support to Kudus and the right-sided midfielder.
How Kudus has complemented Porro
Tottenham signed Mohammed Kudus in the recently concluded summer window. And that has been a game changer for Porro. The thing is, Kudus solves a lot of things that Porro was forcing himself into. The 25-year-old has this capacity to carry the ball into the final third on his own. So now Porro doesn’t need to bomb forward with his drives (where he often ended up getting caught out). Instead, Porro suddenly is more of a provider from the deep. Suddenly he is either giving through balls or pinging diagonals.
When Kudus goes on the inside, Porro maintains width. But even here, the width comes with support. Either a midfielder or centre-back (Romero) is ready to push into the space in behind if the possession is lost.
But… but… Porro is not a good defender
Let’s face it, Porro is never going to be that elite full-back who is good with his backtracking angles in 1v1s. When he is isolated, more often than not the opponents will find a way behind. But that is where the likes of Romero and Palhinha come in.
Tottenham under Frank are built to cover for these sorts of weaknesses. Romero is really good at stepping across and coming to bail Porro out. Then the duo of Palhinha/Bentancur (whoever is playing) can shift over to that right half zone to make sure there is cover if Porro is taken.
The Dane head coach has structured this side in a way where Tottenham are using Porro’s strengths and hiding his weakness in a structure in the most optimum way possible.
Then why don’t Frank start Spence for Porro?
We have seen Spence playing really well for a while donning the Lilywhites badge. And many would argue how Spence is a better fit if Thomas Frank wants to play in a more balanced manner.
But the thing is, Spence gives you defensive solidity and ball-carrying, but you lose a creator who can dictate from deep if you pull out Porro and swap him for the former Middlesbrough man.
So unless Tottenham are facing a team that is really good in transitions, then Porro will always give them more of an upside.
Author Opinion
Yes, Pedro Porro is far from perfect. But he has this ability to act as a creator from the deep, and if Frank gets his structure right, he can become too important to drop.