Tottenham could sign this Bundesliga midfielder who has the capacity to be Frank’s Norgaard – Opinion

If we go back to Brentford and how Thomas Frank built his midfield at Gtech Community Stadium, then the Dane’s tactical identity was around being resilient in the mid-blocks and having that sharpness when it comes to counter-pressing whilst also having the ability to absorb pressure before going forward. And to implement this, they have to have a player in the midfield who has that capacity to win the ball in compact shapes whilst having that spatial awareness to protect the backline. There should also be the capacity to make calculated tackles and interceptions. And then when it comes to passing, he should have that ability to distribute safely under pressure in transitional zones.

And Joao Palhinha fits this profile perfectly. But the thing is that he has not been used as much at Bayern, but he has still shown similar efficiency. So if Tottenham were to sign him, he would bring that composure and steel in the middle of the park, and that is something that the North Londoners have lacked, especially given that Bissouma is quite erratic while Bentancur is unavailable quite a lot.

And with Thomas Frank likely to use a 4-3-3 or 3-4-2-1 hybrid, Palhinha would be deployed as the single pivot in the midfield or in a more defensive role in a double pivot alongside someone like Bentancur or Sarr.

Strengths

At Fulham he showed the running capacity that he possesses alongside the ball-winning capability where his positional sense alongside his timing had made him ideal for defending deep zones. And his abilities (in a way) bode well for the mid-block systems which don’t rely on high pressing but instead on tight lines and layered coverage (more like how Thomas Frank is expected to play at Tottenham).

Weakness

The thing with him is that he tends to pick up bookings every now and then, which could be a problem, especially if Tottenham are to rely on him too much.

Author Opinion

If Thomas Frank is going to be deploying a tidy yet zonal-pressing system, then he needs someone who can shield the high-risk build-up of figures like Maddison, Udogie, and Johnson in the current squad, and this is where Palhinha comes in. Essentially, if you look at it, Palhinha would be a Norgaard upgrade in Frank’s system at Tottenham. What Frank had in his Danish midfielder at Brentford, Palhinha will be able to do that and add more within a bigger system given how the Portuguese brings a sense of positional understanding alongside defensive technical maturity and world-class ball-winning capacity while freeing up the more creative players to play higher up the pitch.