Tottenham Hotspur was forced to settle for points at the Amex on Saturday when he was held in a 2-2 draw by Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.
Thomas Frank’s side defeated West Ham United and Villarreal in the last two matches without acknowledging goals, but they were unable to add to those wins with their third consecutive victory.
The late goal from Jan Paul Van Hecke ensured that the Lily White people would not leave the match without showing anything for their efforts.
Despite that being a rather disappointing result, they were mostly beat-beated and only picked up one point, so there were some positive performances across the pitch.
One player caught his eye in the middle of the park was the summer signing Joao Palhinha, who started in the Spurs’ sixth place position.
This marks the fourth start of the Premier League season since signing a loan from Bayern Munich, and it is already clear what players the club has brought.
Why Joanne Parshinya isn’t the best player for the Spurs
Pargigna is an out-of-the-road defensive midfielder. If he is told to list the attributes required for a pure defensive midfielder, he has all of them.
Portugal International is tall, mobile, strong, well-taken tackles, competes in the air, covering the midfield gap. Everything you associate with a defensively oriented midfielder.
So far, this season per Sofa Scole, Parshinya averaged 4.2 tackles and interceptions per game, earning 65% of his ground duels and 54% of his air duels in the Premier League.
However, despite being on the scoresheet against Manchester City, the former Fulham star has left a bit of what is desired in the use of the ball.
The six best types in world football are not purely defensive midfielders. Because they are expected to instruct play and have an impact on owning it as a member of a team that wants to win the biggest award.
Parkhínya vs. other DMS’ final full league season | ||
|---|---|---|
Selected midfielder | Progressive Passes per 90 | Percentile Rank vs CMS |
Rodri (23/24 Premier League) | 11.55 | Top 1% |
vitinha (24/25 call 1) | 9.87 | Top 2% |
Frenkie de Jong (24/25 Lariga) | 9.45 | Top 3% |
Declan Rice (24/25 Premier League) | 6.12 | Top 17% |
Rien Grain Bellch (24/25 Premier League) | 5.16 | Top 27% |
Aurelien Tchouameni (24/25 Laliga) | 5.15 | Top 33% |
Joao Palhinha (24/25 Bundesliga) | 3.94 | Bottom 33% |
Statistics via FBREF | ||
As you can see in the table above, Parkigna is clearly falling as a progressive passerby compared to some of the best defensive or deep midfielders, whether he plays as the sixth or eighth in all of Europe.
This does not mean that Portugal International is a bad player in any way, but the lack of progressive play he owned may have made Bayern happy to lend him out and send him in the first place.
So, Pargigna may not be the best player to deploy in matches where the Spurs are the dominant force and are expected to need to destroy their teams, but it may be ideal in the biggest game when wall defense is needed, like Manchester City.
The Spurs once had a promising young player, but could become a defensive monster like Parshinya, but there was a progressive passing to make him the club’s own version of Declan Rice.
Given what has happened to him in recent years, it may seem ridiculous to propose, but Oliver Skip may have been Tottenham’s own US in a variety of circumstances.
Why are Spurs selling Oliver Skip?
English number six climbed youth rank with Spurs and spoke their first team appearance before being loaned to Norwich for the 2020/21 campaign.
Skip played in 45 of Norwich’s 46 championship matches of the season on a sofa score, playing a pivotal role in his promotion to the Premier League, winning the title in the process.
20/21 Championship | Oliver Skip Around 90 | Percentile Rank vs CMS |
|---|---|---|
The path that was attempted | 59.32 | Top 8% |
Accuracy | 87.6% | Top 1% |
Progressive Pass | 4.86 | Top 28% |
Progressive Carry | 1.63 | Top 29% |
Move to the last third | 4.93 | Top 16% |
Made tackle | 2.33 | Top 19% |
The shot was blocked | 0.49 | Top 11% |
Statistics via FBREF | ||
As you can see in the table above, England U21 International offers quality as both a progressive passerby and a career, and is defensively excelling in his ability to create tackles and blocks in a third of his own.
After that season with the Canary, former Spurs striker Paul Stewart claimed he was at West Ham United at the time and was as effective as Rice, ranked above Parchinya at the previous table for Arsenal’s progressive pass last season.
The critic said: “You want him to do what Declan Rice does. I think he has it for him. I think he showed it in Norwich. The praise that came out of East Anglia was massive about Oliver Skip.
Unfortunately, Skip started 37 Premier League matches over the next three seasons, with fewer league starts than he managed in one season against Norwich.
Ange Postecoglou parted ways with the British midfielder in the summer of 2024 and sold him to Leicester City. That’s a decision they should regret.
Skip failed to impress with the fox and was thrown into a season that ended with a club being kicked out of the Premier League, but things could have been very different for him.
It’s all hypothetical now, but what if the defensive midfielder was given an actual game to show him what he could do after returning from his fantastic loan spell with Norwich? Maybe he became the club’s own version of Rice, in the sixth place position, as a player who can not only thwart it but advance.
Instead of cashing him, the Spurs may have given him the opportunity to nail the spot on the side and regain confidence. Now playing in the championship, his career seems to be heading in the wrong direction.