Pedro Mendes falls down pecking order at Portsmouth

Redknapp assures midfielder he will soon return to team

One year ago the thought of Pedro Mendes failing to earn a place in the Portsmouth starting eleven would have been difficult to comprehend.

Indeed, for manager Harry Redknapp and the vast majority of the fans at Fratton Park, the Portuguese midfielder was one of the first names on the Pompey teamsheet.

However, just seven games into the new Premiership season, Mendes appears to be undergoing an unexpected change to his status at the south-coast club.

Mendes arrived at Portsmouth in January 2006 from Tottenham Hotspur and quickly became a fans’ hero, contributing crucial goals and superb individual performances to help the club escape from relegation.

The former Porto man saw his season interrupted by injury last term, but would have expected, like most of his adoring supporters, to return to his role as an automatic first choice and mainstay of Redknapp’s side this year.

Midfield competition

It has not proved to be the case, though, with new signings Sulley Muntari and Papa Bouba Diop joining Sean Davis in the team’s three-man midfield. The situation has become more serious for Mendes in recent weeks, starting when he was left out of the squad for a league match with Liverpool.

“We’ve ended up with Pedro not even on the bench and he’s a good player, he was inches away from being in my team,” Redknapp said after the 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

“But I needed to balance my subs up against Liverpool. You’ve got a defender in Noe Pamarot, David Nugent as a striker and then Taylor, Kranjcar. I couldn’t get Pedro in.

“He’s a terrific player and it was a tough choice but there was just no room for him in that match. There’s absolutely no problem with Pedro. He will get back into the side.”

Despite Redknapp’s downplaying of the situation, Mendes again found himself out of the squad for the weekend trip to Blackburn and, although afforded a Carling Cup runout at Burnley on Tuesday, the Champions League winning midfielder could be set for a testing period in the coming months.


PortuGOAL would like to hear from Portsmouth fans and other admirers of Pedro Mendes. Should the Portuguese midfielder be given more playing time at Fratton Park? To add your opinion to the discussion click here.