A new Tottenham signing has revealed what Thomas Frank is “demanding” of him, which is seeing him near a personal record within his first few Spurs games.
The north London outfit are flying high at the moment. In the Premier League, they are third, having lost just one game, and have registered just one point fewer than second-placed Crystal Palace.
They also beat Villarreal in their Champions League opener, and saw off League One Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup.
New boy Joao Palhinha has played a big role in some of those victories, scoring three goals already this season, against Manchester City, Rovers and Wolves.
Palhinha grabbed a point for Tottenham in the last of those games, curling an effort from just outside the box into the bottom corner.
Against Rovers in the week, he capitalised on defensive uncertainty to score an overhead kick, and his first goal of the season against City also saw him on hand to tuck away after Spurs won the ball back in the opposing box.
The midfielder has revealed the demand from manager Frank which is seeing him get his name on the scoresheet so often.
“First of all, I feel glad to score these goals, but I think also the coach is demanding sometimes in the game for me to be more inside the box,” he told Tottenham’s social media.
“These goals happen because I am there, if I am not too far from the box, and I tried to get the chances, and today I scored a good goal.
“But if you ask me if I would change the goal for the victory, for sure I would do it, but it is like this.”
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The three goals Palhinha has scored this season leave him just one shy of his record for a single season. He scored four times in both of his seasons with Fulham, and clearly has a chance of surpassing that total with Spurs.
The last time he scored four goals in a campaign, he did so in 39 games, and this season he has three in eight.
As such, it would be a massive surprise if he were not to break his personal record, and he’ll have Frank’s demand to thank for that.
Palhinha is only on loan at Tottenham, but they have an option to buy him and at the moment, it seems very likely that will be taken up.