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Darren Ambrose praises Ryan Mason for call made on ‘average’ Tottenham man yesterday
Sky Sports pundit Darren Ambrose has praised Tottenham Hotspur boss Ryan Mason for the call he made on Pedro Porro yesterday.
Ambrose the Soccer Saturday team covering yesterday’s 3 pm Premier League kick-offs.
Tottenham made sure they kept their European hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The goal was scored by none other than Harry Kane just before half-time.
He got on the end of a Pedro Porro cross and became the outright second-top scorer in Premier League history.
Crystal Palace provided Spurs with plenty of problems throughout the game with their direct attacking threats.
Wilfried Zaha has been a problem for many full-backs when he’s played this season.
However, Mason has been praised for the role Porro played in Tottenham’s win yesterday.
He was playing alongside Emerson Royal as he returned from injury and they doubled up on the Ivory Coast international.
Tottenham boss Mason got Porro call right – Ambrose
After the full-time whistle, the Soccer Saturday panel were discussing the match, : “I dread to think where Spurs would be this season without Harry Kane.
“It’s not just the goal today, it’s the start of the goal. His vision to find Pedro Porro down the right-hand side.
“And they did handle the 4-4-2 extremely well for what I’ve seen of it. Porro, who’s an average defender in my opinion, even though he plays wing-back, is better going forward.
“So, to make that change shows Ryan Mason made the right decision.”
Stephen Kelly : “Porro on his own, or Royal on his own probably would have struggled, but together they were able to handle that threat.”
Porro’s defending has been called into question since his January to Tottenham, but Mason may have just fixed that issue.
The Spaniard is impressive going forward, but has shown he’s not defensively strong enough to play as a traditional full-back.
In contrast, Emerson Royal struggled under Antonio Conte because he was expected to contribute too much in attack.
Although it’s unlikely to be a long-term solution, Mason made the right call yesterday when faced with the threat of Wilfried Zaha.
The 23-year-old still has a long way to go before he’s justified the fee Spurs are obligated to spend this summer.