Tottenham Hotspur have only won one of their last four matches in all competitions after a last-gasp goal meant that they had to settle for a point against Manchester United on Saturday.
The Lilywhites turned the game around from 1-0 down to lead 2-1, but they were unable to get the three points over the line, as they were napping in stoppage time to allow Matthijs de Ligt to head in at the back post.
Spurs have only won one of their last four matches in the Premier League after that result, which has seen them drop out of the top four in the division.
Thomas Frank will surely be disappointed with the nature of the two goals that were conceded, because they were both unmarked headers inside the box that should have been dealt with.
The former Brentford head coach should look at his full-backs and demand more from them defensively, as Destiny Udogie was on the scene for the second goal and Pedro Porro was caught out for Bryan Mbeumo’s header.
In fact, Porro is one player who may be on borrowed time in the starting line-up under Frank, because his defending has come into question on multiple occasions.
Why Pedro Porro should be dropped
The Spanish right-back’s marking, or lack thereof, for Mbeumo’s goal was simply not good enough. He was not aware of arguably the biggest United threat in the box, and allowed him to have a free header to score past Guglielmo Vicario.
To his credit, though, the former Manchester City youngster did react to a comment from a supporter after the match and acknowledged that he was not at his best against the Red Devils.
This is not the first time that Porro’s defensive qualities have been called into question. Last year, former Ireland international Keith Treacy said: “Pedro Porro is a good footballer, obviously, he plays in the Premier League, he’s a decent footballer, but he’s not a good right-back, he can’t defend.”
The former Blackburn star added: “If I was a coach going up against Spurs I would say to isolate him, run at him all day long.”
Back in 2023, former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood said that Porro was “all over the place” because he “just wants to run forward” and play as a winger. The Tottenham defender later reacted to those comments by saying that he is not a “machine” who could integrate straight away, as he had only just joined the club from Sporting.
On top of the long-standing question marks over his defensive capabilities, the 26-year-old full-back has also been incredibly wasteful with the ball at his feet in the last two Premier League matches.
Minutes
73
67
Tackles won
0
1
Duels won
3
3
Error led to shot
2
0
Key passes
0
0
Crosses completed
0/5
1/12
Possession lost
24x
29x
Pass accuracy
58%
64%
As you can see in the table above, Porro has lost possession of the ball a staggering 53 times in the last two league games, without creating a single chance for his teammates, and creating two chances for the opposition with errors that led to shots.
This shows that the Spaniard has been dismal defensively and offensively of late for the Lilywhites, which is why Frank should ruthlessly ditch him from the starting XI after the international break for the North London derby.
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The obvious solution in the short-term would be for Udogie, who assisted Mathys Tel’s goal on Saturday, to come in at left-back and Djed Spence to move over to right-back.
However, the long-term plan that could put an end to Porro’s career in North London could be for Archie Gray to eventually nail down a place in the team as a right-back.
Why Archie Gray can end Pedro Porro's Spurs career
The England U21 international is currently sidelined with a calf injury that he sustained at the end of last month, and he is expected to be back in action around the end of this month or at the start of December.
Gray signed for the Lilywhites from Leeds United for a fee of £40m in the summer of 2024, with Joe Rodon heading back the other way, but he has failed to establish himself in one position since his move to the club.
The English youngster had to fill in at centre-back far too many times under Ange Postecoglou because of the injury crisis in that position, with the likes of Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven, and Cristian Romero all picking up injuries last term.
Centre-back
20
Right-back
9
Defensive midfield
8
Left-back
6
Central midfield
3
As you can see in the table above, Gray’s second-most played in position at Spurs has been right-back, which is where he played the majority of his first-team football with Leeds, despite coming up through the academy set-up in West Yorkshire as a central midfielder.
The young defender played 44 out of 46 league matches for Leeds in the Championship in the 2023/24 campaign, mainly as a right-back, and earned the Championship Young Player of the Year award.
Gray, who was hailed as “ridiculous” by Como scout Ben Mattinson, showcased his defensive quality as a right-back in that second tier season with the Whites, winning 92 tackles and 186 duels in total.
Per FotMob, he ranked within the top 7% of full-backs for tackles won and the top 14% for duels won, whilst also ranking in the top 7% for ball recoveries (196), which shows that he was one of the best defensive full-backs in the division, for a team that finished third in the league.
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These statistics suggest that he has the defensive resolve to eventually nail down a place at right-back as a reliable defender for Spurs in the future, which is why he could end Porro’s career at the club by offering Frank a steadier presence than the Spaniard, who has struggled on and off the ball.
It is now down to Gray, though, to return from injury and deliver quality performances when called upon to show that he can be better than Porro defensively week-in-week-out, which would leave Spence free to compete with Udogie at left-back.