Joao Palhinha has generally been good for Tottenham Hotspur since his move from Bayern Munich, but against Chelsea, one of his biggest flaws was highlighted.
Thomas Frank’s honeymoon period in North London is well and truly over following what was a shocking defeat at home to Chelsea.
Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 1-0 by their London rivals and failed to put up much of a fight following Joao Pedro’s opening goal.
One of the biggest talking points from Frank’s reign at Spurs has been his midfield selection and its issues reared their head in the derby defeat.
Joao Palhinha is causing Tottenham’s attack issues
Joao Palhinha’s stats against Chelsea showed that he is hindering Tottenham’s ability to move the ball forward.
There’s no doubting that, on the whole, Palhinha has been a strong signing, but when a midfielder like Moises Caicedo strutted his stuff at the Spurs stadium, it showed the Portuguese’s limitations.
The Chelsea midfielder, much like Palhinha, specialises in breaking up play and winning the ball back, but he also offers so much more to Enzo Maresca’s side.
In possession, he has shown himself to be very comfortable, which is quite the opposite of Palhinha, who too often looks for the safe option.
Not many number six midfielders in Europe can compare to Caicedo, but it does highlight the importance of having someone in there who can also create.
Against Chelsea, Palhinha completed 28 of his 37 passes, along with a pass progression rate of just 1.9 and a carry progression rate of 0.3.
In short, Spurs’ struggles to create meaningful attacks are not being helped by the 30-year-old’s reluctance to play forward.
For balance, he looked great away at Everton the week prior, doing a great job screening the likes of Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso.
But when Tottenham want to play with a bit more authority in attack, Frank needs to consider his midfield choices, especially when Palhinha is partnering Rodrigo Bentancur.
As TBR Football reported back in September, Tottenham are keen to sign Palhinha permanently, but perhaps they should remain more open-minded about other targets.
Tottenham set a record low for xG against Chelsea
Tottenham set a record low for xG against Chelsea as the Lilywhites managed just 0.05, which is just unacceptable at home.
Never has a Spurs side offered such little threat to the opposition’s goal, and it just exposed the team’s weakness in moving the ball forward.
It’s not the first time Tottenham have looked toothless under Frank, and this is something the Dane will need to address quickly.
His team were booed off in the London derby, and patience is starting to wear thin amongst supporters over their inability to attack.