Credit: Imago/Sky Sports News

James Barker

Mon 4 May 2026 15:10, UK

Tim Sherwood thinks Joao Palhinha would “get the ball off” his grandmother if he had to, after the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder shone against Aston Villa.

The 30-year-old has been one of Tottenham’s best players this season, having joined last summer on loan from Bayern Munich.

An experienced campaigner, the Portuguese international has brought bite to Spurs’ midfield, and is playing a pivotal part in their fight against relegation.

Indeed, it was his goal that made all the difference in the win over Wolves, and whilst he didn’t get on the scoresheet at Villa Park, his all-round performance was equally as impactful.

Palhinha helped Spurs to a big win over Aston Villa, and Sherwood has made a hilariously accurate claim that summed up his performance, and indeed his profile as a player, perfectly.

What did Tim Sherwood say about Tottenham’s Joao Palhinha?

Palhinha was tipped to be crucial against Villa, with Unai Emery’s side typically very strong down the middle of the pitch.

However, that wasn’t the case on Sunday, and whilst that was in part down to Villa players showing very little appetite for the football match, a lot of credit has to go to Palhinha and his comrades for sapping their will to fight.

Speaking on Sky Sports News on Monday, former Tottenham player and manager, Sherwood, waxed lyrical over Tottenham’s midfield performance, and Palhinha’s role in the win in particular.

“That protection in front (of the defence) was vital,” Sherwood said.

“Two midfield players; (Rodrigo) Bentancur can pass it. I think he’s been told by (Roberto) De Zerbi ‘let’s pass it forward more than sideways and backwards.

“Palhinha knows his job. He tackles. He will tackle anyone. If his grandmother had the ball he would go and get it off her for the team.

“He plays for the badge. You want players who are going to play for the cockerel on their shirt.”

How good was Palhinha in Tottenham’s win vs Aston Villa?

As per FotMob, Palhinha has won 7.80 duels per game in the Premier League this season, which ranks him in the top 4.8 percentile of defensive midfielders in the top flight in 2025-26.

He’s also won 4.62 tackles per game this term, which places him in the top 2.4 percentile of his positional peers, so Sherwood is absolutely correct in his observation that he’d tackle just about anything or anyone.

Against Aston Villa, he took 77 touches, won two tackles, made four recoveries and three clearances, as well as winning four of his six ground duels and committing one foul.

He also made one block, didn’t lose the ball once, played eight passes into the final third, completed 10 total defensive contributions and registered a 90 per cent pass success rate respectively.

In short, Palhinha was absolutely everywhere for Tottenham at Villa Park, and he proved simply far too much for Villa’s players to contain, as he Conor Gallagher and Bentancur ran the middle of the park.

All of a sudden, this Tottenham team is looking every bit of a top Premier League outfit once again, and huge credit has to go to De Zerbi for clearly making some quality adjustments as well as being able to get his message across.

Spurs players swarmed Villa from minute one to 90 on Sunday, showing effort and hunger levels the likes Lilywhites fans haven’t seen anywhere near enough of this season, and if that keeps up, they should be just fine.