Gary Neville questioned the role of Pedro Porro as Tottenham Hotspur inverted their full backs against Manchester United.
Pedro Porro attempting to play as an inverted full back against Manchester United didn’t impress Gary Neville.
Ange Postecoglou has made it clear that he is going to play his way at Tottenham with no backing down.
That means expansive, attacking football – a far cry from the brand of football served up under Antonio Conte.
Sometimes that will mean exceptional attacking play, as we saw at times against Manchester United on Saturday.
Tottenham were well worth their 2-0 win over the Red Devils as Pape Matar Sarr and a Lisandro Martinez own goal sealed the three points.
From the confidence of Yves Bissouma to the driving and creativity of James Maddison, Tottenham were superb in the second half.
Postecoglou will be delighted with a big home win and a promising performance, but there were some issues too.
Gary Neville unconvinced by Tottenham’s Pedro Porro
Postecoglou’s season features full backs inverting into the middle of the pitch to act as extra midfielders in build-up play.
This is a real phenomenon at the moment with many coaches taking this tactical approach.
Postecoglou did the same throughout his time at Celtic, so he’s not just jumping on the craze now he’s at Tottenham.
This is a new role for Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro, who are more used to playing as wing backs, never mind full backs in a four-man defence.
Udogie, Porro and Emerson Royal are learning on the job and that means there are bound to be mistakes.
The first half wasn’t ideal in this regard as Porro and Udogie seemed to get a little stuck on the ball whilst facing their own goal.
One moment saw Porro lose the ball just outside his own box, leading Gary Neville to share his doubts.
Neville told Sky Sports (19/08, 6:15pm) that he’s ‘not having’ using Porro as an inverted full back.
Neville slammed the Spaniard for acting like he’s Rodri or Xavi in the middle of the park, urging opposition players to press him.
United legend Neville added that the idea just ‘doesn’t work’ if the full backs aren’t comfortable enough on the ball, believing Porro isn’t a good fit for Postecoglou’s approach.
‘I’m not having it, I’m definitely not having it,” said Neville. “Honestly, Porro thinks he’s Rodri meets Xavi! Honestly, all day long, if you’re a Manchester United player pressing, you want him to have that ball played into him and it’s nearly cost them goals. It doesn’t work if you’re not comfortable on the ball,” he added.