Roberto De Zerbi was right about changing his mind on Joao Palhinha after all
Tottenham Hotspur fans will always have Joao Palhinha in their hearts after his heroics last season. Not only did he start the season well for the team even under Thomas Frank and all of his issues, but he was stellar under Roberto De Zerbi and played a crucial role in saving Spurs from relegation, including scoring the winning goal on Matchday 38 against Everton.
De Zerbi rode Palhinha to safety, emphasizing the veteran midfielders to right the ship for the team. But even as De Zerbi boldly proclaimed that the Portuguese international would 100 percent be staying and seemed to be pushing for him to remain at N17, he ultimately chose against keeping the veteran Premier League midfielder. Since then, Palhinha has moved back to his home country of Portugal with another European giant in Benfica.
Palhinha was one of the bright spots of Tottenham last season, and it really shows how far the club has come that fans are no longer starving to praise his grit and ball winning when they have a lot more technical quality on the ball in the middle of the park.
Joao Palhinha would not have had a place
At the time, Roberto De Zerbi going back on his decision not to keep Joao Palhinha was a controversial one, but time has proven the Itailan manager right again. Nothing against Palhinha, but the 185 million pound pivot of Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali has been incredible, and they are obviously a lot better on the ball and offensivelly in terms of creation and progression than the admittedly one dimensional and highly defensive Palhinha.
The backups behind Tonali and Fernandes are an even bigger reason why there is no Palhinha regret. Sure, Palhinha could have been useful depth as a bulldog, but Spurs already have a bulldog in Conor Gallagher. And they have a couple of better midifelders, too.
Rodrigo Bentancur was amazing at the start of the season before Tonali and Fernandes revved it up, Lucas Bergvall has looked reborn in the middle of the park, and Archie Gray is playing so well at the right back position in almost a supplementary midfieid role that there should be no doubts that he will be even better than he was last season - and he was already one of Spurs best players.
Palhinha will always be honored and missed, but Spurs have an elite midfield duo starting for them and three even better backups, including two with massive upside in Gray and Bergvall who need those minutes even more. De Zerbi made a tough decision but was right again.
