Tottenham’s Pedro Porro could be forgiven for thinking: at least someone loves me, if he’s picked for Spain in their Euros qualifier with Norway on Saturday.
It has been a baptism of fire at Tottenham for the talented 23-year-old but he says having his debut dubbed ‘so bad it’s unbelievable’ by Tim Sherwood, and then hearing of current coach Antonio Conte’s blow-up post match at the weekend, has done nothing to dim his desire to make his move to Spurs a success.
‘I have taken a lot of stick. There was the coach, I don’t remember [his name] now,’ he says of Sherwood’s brutal assessment of his first game for Tottenham.
After the 4-1 defeat to Leicester Sherwood said on Sky Sports: ‘I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because it’s his debut but Pedro Porro is so bad it’s unbelievable. I don’t want to keep picking on the kid but he needs to be relieved of his duties.’
Sherwood described Porro’s positioning as ‘absolutely disgusting’ and concluded: ‘What I’m looking at is a player who doesn’t want to defend.’
Pedro Porro experienced something of a difficult start to life as a Tottenham player in February
The defender has shown his abilities since then and is striving to shut up his critics
His attacking qualities have been on show to Tottenham supporters in various appearances
It’s a good job Porro has only just started learning English.
‘I’ve had four or five classes,’ he says. ‘I’m integrating as quickly as I can. I understand some things.
‘The manager speaks English differently, as an Italian, so it’s easier to understand him.’
He will still have heard the Sherwood comments translated to him though.
‘I try not to take any notice but it’s impossible because people will say: “Did you see that?”.
‘I’d never played in England in my life. What do you want, for me to score five goals and cut out seventy balls in my first game? Anyone can have a bad day.’
The international call-up is a reminder of how highly regarded in Spain he is.
And even though he could hear Conte bawling him out on Saturday when he and fellow wing-back Ben Davies failed to swap back to their natural flanks the Italian coach rates him highly.
Not that that will be much help if Conte leaves Tottenham. Which brings us to rant number two.
Porro says he didn’t see Conte’s performance at the weekend. He’s not aware of what he said.
And when it’s relayed back to him that the Tottenham manager had attacked the culture of the club and suggested its players have grown too accustomed to living without pressure, there is a guarded silence broken only by: ‘Well it’s his opinion. I’m not getting involved there. I have nothing to say. It’s really not for me.’
Does all this not make him think: What have I got myself into?
‘No, I don’t think that. I’m clear about the fact that I want to be a success. It’s true that we are out the cups and that in the last game, the result got away from us. But I have absolute confidence in myself and in the team being able to sort it out.’
Porro has said that he is not aware of what Antonio Conte said after the Southampton draw
The Tottenham boss flew into an astonishing rant which criticised the club and players
At least when he next plays for Spurs he is likely to do so with a second Spain cap to his name.
His career path has been strange so far. He was a promising 19-year-old right-back at Girona when Manchester City signed him for £5.5m in 2019, but it wasn’t to play him.
‘I didn’t even train with them,’ he says. He was loaned back to Spanish club Valladolid and then to Sporting in Portugal who eventually signed him last summer.
City made an extra £10million when Sporting then sent him to Spurs in January on a loan deal that will become permanent for £40m at the end of the season.
Of the City experience he says: ‘You’re there, but you’re not there. I took it as a [sign that] I had to grow as a player still.’
He said he was happy in Lisbon but Spurs represented an opportunity too good to turn down.
‘I couldn’t let a moment like that pass. I felt that I was ready to take that step. I want to play in the best league in the world, the best players are there, and it was a dream for me.’
And that dream is still in tact despite events to date.
‘You know that people are going to have their opinion, they’re going to say you played badly, that you’re no good when you’ve only been at the club two days,’ he says.
And laughing to himself he adds: ‘It will make me stronger. Hopefully he will keep saying bad things that make me strong.
Porro’s debut against Leicester saw him lambasted by Tim Sherwood in particular – during and after
He already has one goal and one assist for Tottenham having signed on an initial loan in January
Tim Sherwood said on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports that his defending was ‘so bad, it’s unbelievable’
‘I don’t know him [Sherwood]. I don’t know what had happened for him to speak [like that]. People passed on things saying he had spoken badly about me. But he won’t be the first who then has to shut his mouth.’
In the mean time Porro can enjoy some home comforts with the games against Norway, and Scotland next week.
Spain’s right-back spot is up for grabs with Cesar Azpilicueta left out of Luis de la Fuente’s first squad and Porro knows the new manager from Spain’s youth ranks.
‘I have spent a lot of time with the U21s and they gave me a lot of confidence. He will have seen that I have played well at Sporting and that I fit his ideas. If he brought me in, it’s because he thinks I can play well and that I can offer something.’
He could say similar things of Conte, although for how long Conte is his club coach remains to be seen.
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