Jamie Carragher believes Joao Parinha “doesn’t have what it takes” to play for Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank knew exactly what he was getting when he signed Palinha from Bayern Munich: a midfield disruptor rather than a playmaker.
João Parinha: 2025/26 Premier League statistics
Progressive passes completed 25 (=110th) 3 progressive carries (=250th) Expected goals 0.1 (=233rd) 2 key passes (208th) Pass completions 303 (=83rd) Tackles 44 (1st) Interceptions 8 (52nd)
Parinha was ignored by the Premier League’s elite during his glorious spell at Sporting and then Fulham, before Bayern Munich snapped him up for around £45m after two seasons in England.
The Portuguese midfielder did not do well in Germany, but won the Bundesliga title in his only season with Bayern.
Spurs signed him on loan in August, looking for further midfield depth and strength. All things considered, Palinha has performed well in his first few months at Tottenham, topping the Premier League for tackles, 12 more than Tyrick Mitchell, but his long-standing risk factors at the big club have come to the fore.
Read: Thomas Frank has bad timing for his job at Spurs and it could kill him
Thomas Frank knows Joao Parinha ‘lacks quality’
Parinha is not a number six in the same way as Martin Zvimendi, Rodri or Ryan Gravenbirch. As you can see from the statistics above, Spurs head coach Frank was aware of this when he signed him from Bayern.
He’s hardworking, physical and strong in the tackle. Frank has always appreciated his attributes as a midfielder. That style may work at Brentford, but not at Spurs.
Parinha is an excellent player and it will be interesting to see if he can develop into a more possession-oriented role in the flanking midfield. But Liverpool legend Carragher is clearly not convinced.
Analyzing Spurs’ loss to Chelsea on Monday Night Football, Carragher highlighted Parinha’s performance, mainly his “ability” and lack of “qualities” to pass forward or break lines to find players like Xavi Simmons, Lukas Bergvall and Mohamed Kudus.
“We talked about courage and now we can talk about quality. Parinha doesn’t have quality,” Carragher said.
“For a player who plays in the center of Tottenham’s midfield, for me it’s a pass that he has to be able to make, and he can’t make passes.
“So even though I’m being critical and say he’s not good enough, the fact is he’s done well for Tottenham in terms of work but they go back and hear the boos.
“The only reason he makes smart turns on the ball is because of the boos. Again, Parinha has the ball and takes five touches because he doesn’t have the confidence or the ability.
“Danso has seven touches now. They don’t handle the ball enough and there are situations where Polo is closed with the ball and Xavi Simmons is in that position.
“What you have is a lack of courage and confidence from certain players, but also a lack of ability from certain players.”
Asked by host David Jones if Spurs’ biggest problem was the lack of midfield players who could break through the lines, Carragher said: “That’s the problem. And for me, for Thomas Frank, it’s something he’s got to develop.”
“The worrying thing is that one of his first signings is Parinha. I don’t think he has the ability to do this (line-breaking pass) right now.”
“There’s a reason why Premier League players and teams didn’t buy him from Fulham and there’s a reason why Bayern Munich didn’t buy him and play him, so that would be a worry.
“But for Thomas Frank, it was always going to be a question of whether he could coach rotations and build-up play to break up the lines, given his past pragmatic managers who have made the jump from small clubs to big clubs.”
Read more: Why are Spurs the best for the Prem away, but at home they’re relegation fodder?
