‘Don’t give too much importance’ – Pedro Porro responds to Gary Neville criticism

Pedro Porro says he does not pay too much attention to the criticism he gets from the outside after he was informed that Gary Neville was not too complimentary about his ability to play as an inverted right-back.

Neville said in the first half of Tottenham’s clash against Manchester United last month that the Spaniard was not good enough to receive the ball on the half-turn, and even mockingly remarking that ‘Porro thinks he’s Rodri meets Xavi’ (Sky Sports).

The Spurs star responded resoundingly by putting in a superb second-half performance to help the Lilywhites emerge 2-0 winners in that game, and has subsequently impressed in the same role against Bournemouth and Burnley.

This is not the first time that Porro has received scathing criticism at Tottenham, with the former Spurs interim manager Tim Sherwood claiming after the right-back’s Premier League debut that he is ‘so bad it’s unbelievable’ (Guardian).

Pedro Porro is not bothered about outside criticism

When asked about Neville’s words, the former Sporting Lisbon man told Sky Sports: “To be honest, there’s so much said about football and as to how we’re playing.

“At the beginning, there were times where I felt a little unloved in that sense, but not because of anyone in particular, just because of the noise.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to me. I’m the one who has to change people’s minds. The criticism itself, I don’t give it too much importance and I just focus on my own game because I’m the one who can change these things.”

Porro certainly had a difficult first six months at Spurs, owing to the team’s struggles on the pitch and managerial upheavals, but the 24-year-old admitted that he is now enjoying life at the North London club.

When asked about Tottenham’s impressive start to the season, he said: “I think it’s more the work that we’re doing as a team. We’re all together and I think that’s the most important thing.”

“I’m really, really happy with how things are going. Since he [Postecoglou] has got here he’s given us so much positivity to the team and it’s something very important for players to have, and I think you can see that when we’re playing.”

Spurs Web Opinion

In fairness to Neville, he was calling it as he saw it as Porro was giving away the ball a lot in the first half against Man Utd and was struggling to receive it on the half-turn, which led to Spurs being hit on the break time and again.

However, the Sky pundit should have been a lot more measured in his criticism and could have chosen his words carefully rather than aiming insults at Porro or Postecoglou.