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Clive Allen not impressed by two Tottenham players in first pre-season friendly today
Clive Allen was left unimpressed with Tottenham Hotspur duo Sergio Reguilon and Pedro Porro during their first pre-season friendly today.
Spurs fell to a 3-2 defeat to London rivals West Ham United after dominating for large periods of the game.
Ange Postecoglou’s men carved out enough opportunities to pick up a win on the day but were ultimately let down by some lacklustre defending.
The Aussie boss will undoubtedly be encouraged by the performance, but he may have some concerns over Tottenham’s defenders.
And Clive Allen was particularly critical of two Tottenham defenders today – Sergio Reguilon and Pedro Porro.
Allen not impressed by Porro and Reguilon
Allen was speaking on ’s coverage of the friendly and was unimpressed with the defensive efforts from both Porro and Reguilon for West Ham’s first-half goals.
“It was poor,” he said. “We emphasised that we have to address our defensive frailties.
“Reguilon clears here from the corner but watch all he is looking at is the ball. The two full-backs are on the opposite sides to the positions that they are playing.
“Porro doesn’t get out quick enough to stop Jarrod Bowen [crossing]. Reguilon is not aware of where Danny Ings is off his right shoulder. Porro comes but stops.
“It allows Bowen to pick the pass and Ings comes off of the left shoulder of Reguilon and you can see here that he has no awareness of where Bowen is. It’s poor defending.”
Both Porro and Reguilon were given new roles for today as they often drifted into midfield while Tottenham had the ball.
It’s fair to say that Porro struggled defensively last season after making the switch from Sporting Lisbon in January.
The 23-year-old looked a real threat going forward once again today, but he will need to work on the defensive side of his game to play effectively in a back-four.
As for Reguilon, he struggled for minutes at Atletico Madrid last season and will undoubtedly take some time to get back up to full speed.
Both players looked promising in terms of their attacking play today, but Allen makes a great point that the duo will have to improve defensively.