Jamie Carragher believes Joao Palhinha “hasn’t got the quality” to play for Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank knew exactly what he was getting when he signed Palhinha from Bayern Munich: a midfield destroyer, not a playmaker.
Joao Palhinha: 2025/26 Premier League statistics
- 25 progressive passes completed (=110th)
- 3 progressive carries (=250th)
- 0.1 expected goals (=233rd)
- 2 key passes (=208th)
- 303 passes completed (=83rd)
- 44 tackles (1st)
- 8 interceptions (=52nd)
Palhinha was overlooked by the Premier League elite during his impressive time at Sporting and later at Fulham, until Bayern Munich bought him for around £45m after two seasons in England.
It didn’t work out for the Portuguese midfielder in Germany, but he did win a Bundesliga title in his only season at Bayern.
Spurs, searching for more midfield depth and steel, landed him on loan in August. All things considered, Palhinha has done well in his first few months at Tottenham, leading the Premier League for tackles — 12 ahead of Tyrick Mitchell — but his long-standing risk factor at bigger clubs has come to the fore.
Thomas Frank knows Joao Palhinha ‘lacks quality’
Palhinha isn’t the same type of No.6 as Martin Zubimendi, Rodri, or Ryan Gravenberch. Spurs head coach Frank was aware of this when he signed him from Bayern, as highlighted by the statistics above.
He is industrious, physical, and strong in the tackle, traits Frank has always valued in his midfielders. That style works at Brentford, but maybe not at Spurs.
Palhinha is a good player, and it will be interesting to see if he can grow into a more possession-oriented role in Frank’s midfield. But Liverpool legend Carragher clearly isn’t convinced.
Carragher analysed Spurs’ defeat to Chelsea on Monday Night Football and highlighted Palhinha’s performance, mainly his lack of “ability” and “quality” to play forward passes and break lines to find players like Xavi Simons, Lucas Bergvall, and Mohammed Kudus.
“We spoke about courage; now we can talk about quality. Palhinha hasn’t got the quality,” Carragher said.
“For a player playing for Tottenham in central midfield, for me, that’s a pass you have to be able to make. He can’t make it.
“So even though I’m being critical of it, saying he hasn’t quite got the ability, he’s actually done okay for Tottenham in terms of his job, but they go back, listen to the boos.
“The only reason he does a clever turn on the ball is because of the boos. Again, Palhinha is on the ball, five touches because he hasn’t got the confidence or the ability.
“Danso now takes seven touches. They’re not good enough on the ball, and you now get a situation where Porro is getting the ball, getting closed down, and Xavi Simons is in that position there.
“What you’ve got is you’ve got a lack of courage and confidence from certain players, but you’ve also got a lack of ability of certain players.”
Asked by host David Jones if Spurs’ biggest problem is the lack of a midfield player capable of breaking lines, Carragher responded: “That’s the problem. And for me, for Thomas Frank, that is something he’s got to grow.
“A worry would be, one of his first signings is Palhinha. Now he is not capable, I don’t think, of doing this (line-breaking passes).
“There was a reason why players and teams in the Premier League didn’t buy him from Fulham, and there’s a reason why Bayern Munich bought him and didn’t play him, so that would be a worry.
“But for Thomas Frank, going forward, when you think of pragmatic managers in the past who’ve made that jump from a smaller club to a bigger club, that has always been the problem in terms of, can they coach the rotations, the build-up play, to break the lines?”