Phil Haigh
Published November 23, 2025 4:02pm
Updated November 23, 2025 4:02pm
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Jamie Carragher had some stinging criticism for Joao Palhinha (Picture: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher had some damning criticism for Tottenham’s Joao Palhinha and the combative midfielder has not taken it lying down.
The 30-year-old is on loan at Spurs from Bayern Munich and has been featuring regularly under Thomas Frank.
The Portugal international came to prominence in the Premier League with Fulham, where he spent two seasons, before a big money move to Bayern which was worth up to £47.4m.
Things did not work out in Germany and he is back in England in north London but Carragher, while he accepts he does his job as a defensive midfielder, has made it clear he does not rate his quality on the ball.
Analysing Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea earlier this month, Carragher said on Sky Sports: ‘We spoke about courage; now we can talk about quality. Palhinha hasn’t got the quality.
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‘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.’
Joao Palhinha feels he has made a good start to life with Tottenham (Picture: Getty Images)
He continued: ‘Again, Palhinha is on the ball, five touches because he hasn’t got the confidence or the ability.
‘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.
‘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.’
Palhinha has responded to the criticism, aware of what Carragher said about him, but aiming something of a dig back at the Sky Sports pundit.
"There was a reason teams in the Premier League didn't buy him" 😯Does Joao Palhinha have the skillset that Spurs need? 💬 pic.twitter.com/46z7lyQ72z
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 3, 2025
The midfielder also felt he responded well to a poor game against Chelsea, scoring in a 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League in Spurs’ next outing.
‘I saw it because some people sent it to me, I couldn’t say that I didn’t see it. But to be honest, about this, what can I say? I don’t care what the people say,’ he said.
‘If he says bad things about [Cristiano] Ronaldo, he can speak about everyone. Some people need to speak about another to be on the screens on the TV. My life is not about that, definitely.
‘It makes it a bit embarrassing seeing sometimes the ex-players speaking that the way that they speak and they look sometimes like superstars on their past, I don’t have problems to say.
‘I think he should have seen probably more games of me at Tottenham. I think I am doing a top season and the things that he says about me go to the back [of my mind].
Palhinha has scored four goals for Spurs so far (Picture: Getty Images)
‘But he’s not going to be the first and he’s not going to be the last one, you know?’
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He added: ‘The way is about how we react. And the way I react is scoring a goal, after he said this to me, against Copenhagen.
‘I will keep showing how I can do it. I don’t need to give these answers, but that’s what I feel. I don’t really care about this kind of thing. It’s not important for me.
‘I just want to keep doing my job and show what I am capable of doing because I am really proud of what I have been doing until now.’
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