Pedro Porro's joke with Igor Tudor, Mason Melia update, Pochettino truth and Xavi problem

Here's a behind the scenes piece with Tottenham Hotspur as football.london covers their time in Madrid and their Champions League tie

Igor Tudor's boat has become a talking point in recent days as the interim Spurs head coach navigates a course to end his losing start to life at the helm.

He declared after the defeat to Crystal Palace that you were either on his boat or off it. Some might suggest that HMS Tottenham Hotspur is in danger of sinking so various players might just be leaping into lifeboats. The Croatian is expected to change up his starting line-up in Madrid on Tuesday night with Premier League survival the priority but it could still reflect who he believes wants to be on his floating vessel.

When football.london put that to Tudor in the Spanish capital on Tuesday night, he seemed a bit coy about naval analogies and had mentally prepared to answer a team news question that wasn't really asked.

"First of all, as you know, I never said, but the players who are in this position, I saw this morning in training, so we are happy that Romero is back, Djed is back, Bissouma is not and Souza, because of the rules of the Champions League," he said.

"So the players are coming back, that's important, because it's the first time that I'm here and we'll have, let's say, available the players to play in defence, the players who usually play.

"So in the whole three games, we missed the players on their positions, and we missed the players who are usually playing. So, beautiful game to play tomorrow, against a totally different competition than the Premier League. It's a good experience from this season, past games. So, let's see what happens tomorrow."

Yet later on the Tudor boat did float back into view.

"I saw that more the time has passed, the sessions are always better, there's more quality in everything. Especially because important players are coming back in the team. So that's the key, of course. As I said before, lots of old habits, sometimes take more time than you expected to change," said the 47-year-old.

"This is also very interesting. This is the thing we are speaking about, me with the staff every day, how fast we can make the changes. Sometimes it's not easy. It's still a good effort, which usually we are not able to do.

"When I'm speaking about changes, when I'm speaking about boats, when I'm speaking about that, because it's not easy to change the things you are doing for months or for a year. So, something is moving."

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One player who appears to be on the boat is Pedro Porro. The Spaniard took his frustration about all things Tottenham out on his dugout seat after raging at the fourth official as he was substituted in that Palace defeat. The right-back was at pains to make sure nobody thought he was imagining his seat was Tudor.

He smiled when football.london brought up the battered chair before saying with a grin: "You want me to respond in English or Spanish?"

He proceeded in his native tongue, explaining: "It was my own reaction and I just want to make it clear it was not about the manager. I am a player who gives it all on the pitch, 200 per cent and we never like losing. It is just about that. So, just to end all the speculation that it was about the manager. It is a situation, we have never seen ourselves in this situation and it was just my reaction."

Normally at manager and player joint press conferences it is the coach who will face most of the questions but back in his homeland it was Porro who had the bulk aimed at him.

The defender was keen to back Tudor at every opportunity although the duo did look like what they are, two people thrown together who do not know each other very well yet.

Tudor confirmed Richarlison will start for the first time under him, but would not say in what position. Porro leaned in and quipped: "Centre-back no?"

Tudor took a moment to get the joke, although it was quite a topical one with Porro himself and Joao Palhinha drafted in to play out of position there in recent weeks under the Croatian.

Other changes could happen with Cristian Romero finally back in the fold against the team and manager Diego Simeone who openly courted him last summer before the defender signed that bumper new contract.

The World Cup winner will be the difference-maker, according to both Spurs men at the press conference.

Djed Spence could return to the left wing-back role if fit enough and perhaps even Antonin Kinsky could play his first proper Champions League game to gain some experience.

One player who will be very notable by his absence or inclusion will be Xavi Simons. The Dutchman is someone who wears his emotions on his face in every moment and he will not have been impressed by his lack of real involvement or improvement under Tudor.

Some take Xavi's emotions as sulking when he makes his feelings clear but those around him claim that with his Barcelona and PSG upbringing it has been drilled into him to be ambitious and never accept failure.

Spurs are lacking in creativity yet the 22-year-old has been a marginal figure under the new head coach and is yet to play in a more natural central position when he does start.

Xavi has only been in English football for five months. Tottenham are used to their creative players starting slowly. It took Luka Modric and Christian Eriksen months to find their feet and even Gareth Bale, who only moved from Southampton, went on that long winless run when he first arrived.

Xavi shows all the inconsistency of someone still adapting to a new style of football and it's even worse at a club that is struggling.

Yet he does try to drive the team on. He did it against Palace when he eventually got on the pitch, winning numerous free-kicks around the opposition box.

The Netherlands international is desperate to keep improving. He has his own data analyst and video analyst, as well as a strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer and even a mindset coach.

He has been spotted at Hotspur Way on days off, looking to train and improve himself physically for the Premier League's tougher challenge.

Xavi has turned up in some of the bigger games for Spurs, like the draw with Manchester City and he got back- to-back man of the match awards in the Champions League.

In Europe this season, he has an 86% passing accuracy with more runs into key areas (16) than other Premier League playmakers like Florian Wirtz (15), Eberechi Eze (9) and Martin Odegaard (8), albeit the latter missed three games in the competition through injury.

Xavi has made more passes into the penalty area with 18 than Bruno Fernandes and Wirtz for example and his dribbling, tackling and ball recovery stats rank higher than many of his Premier League counterparts as well as distance covered.

Spurs have won only three games in all competitions when Xavi has started on the bench and he ranks top for chances created at the club.

His goals and assists need to improve with just two and five respectively, but there's little doubt Xavi makes an impact beyond that in the way the team pushes up the pitch. That's so key in a shot-shy team suffering from the long term absence of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

One player set to finally make his mark at Tottenham, although not registered for Europe, is January arrival Mason Melia.

The 18-year-old is one of the biggest young talents in Irish football and Spurs saw off competition from top Premier League and European clubs to agree a deal with St Patrick's Athletic in February last year for the forward, worth an initial £1.6million - a record transfer for the League of Ireland - with the potential for add-ons to double that figure.

However, Melia, who put pen to paper on a long-term contract until 2031, arrived in January with a back injury that he had been playing with at St Pats in the final months of their season.

It was decided to let that fully clear up before getting the Irishman into the action. However, football.london understands Melia then picked up a chest infection that further delayed his attempts to get to work.

The rest might not have been a bad thing, though, for a very young player who has played a lot of football. At 18, Melia has already taken part in 98 senior matches, including Europa League games, and been directly involved in 33 goals, scoring 25 and recording eight assists.

There are high hopes for him and football.london understands that Melia stepped up his efforts on the pitches at Hotspur Way on Monday and is hoping to begin full training in the near future.

Like his fellow January arrival James Wilson, from Hearts, Melia will spend his initial time with both the U21s and first team but is expected, with his exposure to first team football and his physique and ability, to quickly catch the eye of the senior players and staff.

One person who will be watching Tottenham's senior players closely on Tuesday night in Madrid is Mauricio Pochettino.

For the first time since he was sacked by the club in 2019, the Argentine will sit and observe Spurs in action live from the stands.

The 54-year-old has long been linked with managing the north London club again one day and has repeatedly admitted that it's a burning desire he holds.

His attendance at the game in Spain will only further fan those flames, although there is more to it than that.

Pochettino is believed to have travelled to Madrid with his wife Karina for some family matters and will use the game to watch USA international Johnny Cardoso, who is back playing regularly again for Atletico after an ankle injury.

All the attention will be on Tottenham but Real Madrid are also believed to be considering the Argentine as their next head coach after years of flirtations. That he is in the same city right now also has to be taken into consideration.

Those around the former PSG and Chelsea boss claim that Spurs have made no direct contact with him in recent times, even after the sacking of Thomas Frank last month.

His involvement with the USA at the World Cup would be problematic, dependent on how far they progress in the competition, in terms of the preparation work required for next season.

The World Cup will be all consuming for Pochettino and his staff. However, the Argentine would be the popular choice among the Spurs fans and an easy win for the beleaguered hierarchy at the club.

Whether Tottenham are in the Premier League next season could also play its part, as will just how real that Real interest is. It's difficult to turn down the world's biggest club, even if managerial tenures there are as short as they are at Spurs.

The shadow of Pochettino has loomed over all the Tottenham managers who have come since his departure from N17 and now he will quite literally sit above Tudor at the Metropolitano on Tuesday night.

The Argentine will no doubt watch on and wonder what his old club have become since he was forced to hand over the reins six-and-a-half years ago. Hopefully it's not too late for the Spurs ship to be fixed, revamped and navigated back in the opposite direction.