Tottenham fans react to ‘strange’ Thomas Frank decision vs Doncaster, ‘the man is nuts’

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Tottenham Hotspur have kicked off their Carabao Cup campaign with a third-round tie against Doncaster Rovers.

Thomas Frank’s men are in good form right now, losing just one game this season so far, which came against Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The Dane named a very interesting line-up for the Doncaster match, deploying Joao Palhinha as a central defender. Having the midfielder on the pitch worked out, though, after he opened the scoring for Spurs with an overhead kick.

Tottenham signed Palhinha on loan but have the option to buy him at the end of the season.

• READ MORE: Joao Palhinha set Premier League season record in Tottenham’s draw vs Brighton

Tottenham fans react to Joao Palhinha playing in central defence

Palhinha has spent his whole career playing in the middle of the park and has done a very good job there.

So when Tottenham supporters learnt that he would be operating in central defence in the Doncaster clash, many were surprised.

One Spurs fan on X said: “Palhinha at CB is interesting, but loving that [Archie] Gray will be in mid.”

Another wrote: “Palhinha at CB doesn’t work, guy is too stiff.”

One Tottenham supporter described it as a “strange” move. “Palhinha starting at CB. Strange selection for me!”

Another Spurs fan thought they were hearing things! “Did I hear that right? Palhinha as CB???”

Another Tottenham fan thought Frank was “nuts” for starting Palhinha in the backline but was all for it. “Palhinha CB??? The man is nuts, I’m in.”

Someone else was not as convinced, though. They posted: “Only just seen this, Palhinha CB isn’t it, man, just play [Jun’ai] Byfield.”

Palhinha will just be glad that he was able to score and put Tottenham on course for a win. After their 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, Palhinha was gutted.

Palhinha experiment won’t last long

In Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, Frank has one of the best centre-half pairings in the Premier League.

Simply put, do not expect to see Palhinha playing at the heart of defence too often.

In the build-up to Tottenham’s Carabao Cup tie, there was a lot of talk about Harry Kane potentially returning to the club one day.

Kane hinted in his Tottenham farewell message two years ago that he could rejoin his former side in the future. With it being widely reported that his contract has a release clause in it, a homecoming does not sound impossible.