Pedro Porro overcame a difficult start to his Spurs career and now stands as one of the team’s key players. Reflecting on his first year at the club, the defender has discussed the low points, as well as the positive impact of Ange Postecoglou.
Rewind to last January, and Pedro Porro was the big new signing at Tottenham. But, the Spaniard struggled to fit into the restrictive system put in place by former coach Antonio Conte, and took a while to adapt to the English game.
Ironically, the main critic of Porro has been former Tottenham boss, Tim Sherwood (talkSPORT). Porro has improved massively since then, but Sherwood has doubled down recently and claimed the Spaniard will always be a point of weakness in the Spurs defence Premier League Productions (15/01/24 at 5:50 pm).
Defensive issues or not, Porro’s attacking returns speak for themselves. The 24-year-old has flourished under Ange Postecoglou, bagging eight assists and one goal already this term (Transfermarkt).
Porro plays up Postecoglou’s impact
Porro seems to be happy at the club now, but he did not shy away from the issues he faced at the start, when he gave an interview to AS (via Sport Witness) recently.
He said: “It has been a year that has involved periods of adaptation. When I arrived here, at first, it was a bit difficult for me, but in football it is normal. I think I have adapted. It has been a good year, on the individual side and especially now with the arrival of Postecoglou it has gotten better.”
Elaborating on Postecoglou’s influence, Porro added: “Postecoglou has managed to see such an important player [Harry Kane] leave and the family to be more united. It makes other players, who were also important, even more so.”
And, looking ahead to the future, Porro said: “I am clear, to continue fighting day by day as we are doing, and I am sure that good things will come. [I want to] win a title with my country. Let’s hope it is in 2024. And another with Tottenham.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It was always going to take Porro some time to adjust to the Premier League, just as it does any player coming in from another country. He has had that time now, and looks like a top, top player who is absolutely pivotal to our style of play.