Tottenham Hotspur needed a point with a last-minute goal against Manchester United on Saturday and have won just one of their last four games in all competitions.
The Lilywhites turned the game around from a 1-0 deficit and took a 2-1 lead, but they fell asleep in stoppage time and allowed Matthijs de Ligt to head in at the back post, preventing them from gaining more than three points.
Since this result, Spurs have only won one of their last four Premier League games and have fallen out of the top four in the division.
Thomas Frank will no doubt be disappointed with the two goals conceded. That’s because they were both free headers in the box that should have been dealt with.
With Destiny Udogi scoring the second goal and Pedro Polo being denied by Brian Mbeumo’s header, the former Brentford head coach should look to his full-backs and demand more defensively.
In fact, Polo is one of the players who could be borrowed and start under Coach Frank, as his defense has been questionable multiple times.
Why should Pedro Polo be dropped?
The Spanish right-back’s marking, or lack thereof, for Mbeumo’s goal was simply not good enough. He was unaware of perhaps United’s biggest threat in the box and allowed a free header past Guglielmo Vicario.
But to his credit, the former Manchester City youngster responded to comments from supporters after the match and admitted he wasn’t at his best against the Red Devils.
This is not the first time Polo’s defensive qualities have been questioned. Former Ireland international Keith Treacy said last year: “Pedro Polo is a good footballer. He obviously plays in the Premier League and is a decent footballer, but he’s not a good right-back and he can’t defend.”
The former Blackburn star added: “If I was a coach playing against Spurs I would tell him to isolate and run at him all day.”
Back in 2023, former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood said Polo would be “everywhere” as he “just wants to run forward” and play as a winger. The Tottenham defender later responded to these comments by saying that he had just joined the club from Sporting and was not a “machine” who would fit right in.
Adding to the perennial question marks over his defensive ability, the 26-year-old full-back has been incredibly wasteful with the ball at his feet in the last two Premier League matches.
Pedro Polo | vs chelsea | vs Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
minutes | 73 | 67 |
tackle win | 0 | 1 |
won a duel | 3 | 3 |
Error led to shot | 2 | 0 |
key pass | 0 | 0 |
completed cross | 0/5 | 1/12 |
loss of ownership | 24 times | 29 times |
Pass accuracy | 58% | 64% |
Statistics by Sofascore | ||
As you can see from the table above, Polo have lost the ball 53 times in their last two league games, creating no chances for their teammates and creating two chances for their opponents with mistakes that led to shots.
This shows that the Spaniard has been dismal for the Lilywhites recently, both defensively and offensively, which is why Frank should be ruthless and remove him from the starting XI after the international break ahead of the North London derby.
The obvious short-term solution would be for Udogi, who assisted Matthijs Tell’s goal on Saturday, to move into left-back, with Jed Spence moving to right-back.
But the long-term plan, which could end Polo’s North London career, could be for Archie Gray to finally establish himself in the team as right-back.
Why Archie Gray could end Pedro Polo’s Spurs career
The England Under-21 international is currently sidelined with a calf injury suffered at the end of last month, and is expected to return at the end of this month or early December.
Gray signed for the Lilywhites from Leeds United in the summer of 2024 for a fee of £40m, while Joe Rodon returned in the opposite direction, but has not been able to establish a single position since joining the club.
England’s young players have had to play too much in the centre-back position under manager Ange Postecoglou, as there was an injury crisis in that position last season with injuries to the likes of Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
Archie Gray’s Tottenham career | |
|---|---|
position | begins |
center back | 20 |
right full back | 9 |
defensive midfield | 8 |
left fullback | 6 |
central midfield | 3 |
Statistics via Transfermarkt | |
As you can see from the table above, Gray’s second most played position at Spurs is at right-back, and despite growing up as a central midfielder at the West Yorkshire academy, he played the majority of his first-team football at right-back for Leeds.
The young defender played 44 of Leeds’ 46 league games in the 2023/24 Championship, primarily as a right-back, and won the Championship Young Player of the Year award.
Hailed as “ridiculous” by Como scout Ben Mattinson, Gray showed his defensive qualities as a right-back during his second-division season with Los Blancos, totaling 92 tackles and winning 186 duels.
According to FotMob, he ranks in the top 7% of fullbacks in tackles won and in the top 14% in duels won, while also ranking in the top 7% in ball recoveries (196), indicating that he is one of the best defensive fullbacks in his division on a team that finished third in the league.
These statistics suggest he has the defensive determination to secure the right-back position as Spurs’ reliable defender in the future. That’s why Polo could end his club career by providing Franck with a more consistent presence than the Spaniard, who struggles on and off the ball.
But it’s now up to Gray to deliver a quality performance when he returns from injury and is asked to prove he’s better than Polo defensively every week. Spence would then be free to compete with Udogie at left-back.