£85k-a-week Tottenham man has to improve before season starts, he keeps repeating the same mistake

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro must improve defensively to excel in Ange Postecoglou’s starting side.

That’s on the back of reports of Spurs failing to impress defensively on their Australia and Asia tour.

Spurs conceded three goals against West Ham and then failed to keep a clean sheet against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors.

And whilst Porro was by no means the only Tottenham defender at fault, he will need to improve in some key areas.

There’s undoubtedly going to be a lot of adjustment for Spurs players this summer – especially those already at the club under Antonio Conte.

Spurs will undergo quite a significant adjustment from Conte’s rigid 3-4-3 to Ange Postecoglou’s much more fluid back four.

And there lies the biggest adjustment, Spurs have a squad full of attacking full-backs who were earmarked for a wing-back role under Conte.

No more so that £85k-a-week Pedro Porro.

The full-back signed from Sporting Lisbon in January has an excellent skill set, and so many attacking qualities, but he will need to change for a back four.

When you think of Porro’s best moments in a Spurs shirt, they mostly have been around the edge of the opposition’s box.

And whilst he will have the freedom to maraud, something Postecoglou will encourage, he will have a lot more defensive responsibility.

Pedro Porro must improve defensively to excel at Tottenham

Spurs signed Pedro Porro for a fee of £40m and he was much coveted across Europe.

And yet when he arrived in North London he occasionally found himself dropped to the bench.

It wasn’t because of his attacking displays, but rather failing to take responsibility in the other direction.

Judging by pre-season it seems that Emerson Royal is likely to take one of the full-back spots in the back four, be it right or left, and Porro will need to compete for the other.

With more defensively stable options like Ben Davies available on the left, Porro won’t want to be solely seen as an offensive option for an open game.

Porro needs to improve his defensive work to present a more well-rounded option for Ange.

Otherwise, the defender may struggle to keep up with this fresh Spurs side.