Gary Neville slammed Pedro Porro’s performance despite Tottenham’s 2-0 win against Manchester United.
Tottenham vs Manchester United was nothing short of a thrilling affair.
The game was extremely open with a number of chances at both ends.
In particular in the first half, Manchester United came close to scoring several times while Spurs looked threatening every time on the counter.
And while Spurs came out as 2-0 winners in the end, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was critical of Pedro Porro’s performance, in particular in defense.
In the first half, Porro lost possession several times, and just before the first half concluded, Neville emphasised why United’s players should be closely marking him.
While commentating on the game for Sky Sports, he said (via TBR):
“Not having him. I’m definitely not having him. Honestly. Porro thinks he’s Rodri meets Xavi. Honestly all day long if I’m a United player pressing you want that ball played into him and it’s nearly cost them goals today.”
“It doesn’t work if you’re not comfortable enough with the ball. Udogie and Porro are doing it well in the attacking third but when it’s in the defensive half they’ve got to get out of there because it’s causing more problems.”
TBH Says:
Gary Neville may be right about his assessment of Porro defensively but the Spaniard offers so much more going up front.
Ange Postecoglou’s style of play requires the fullbacks to play a more attacking role similar and Porro is an ideal player for his style of play.
That said, Postecoglou also has strong demands of being defensively tight and that’s an area of the game Porro needs to improve.
Overall the manager will be please with the performance. The players are still adapting to the new manager’s style of play and they have done a great job so far.