Tottenham have had a pretty poor 2025 by their own standards, even despite winning the Europa League back in May, and Thomas Frank will be hoping he finds some help under his Christmas tree before the end of the year.
After replacing Ange Postecoglou in the summer, the Dane started the season in great fashion and had the team flying near the top of the division. But in recent months, the team have struggled for creativity going forward, stability in defence, and a connection with the fans, which has led to speculation over his future.
Spurs now won't play until Sunday, December 28th when they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace, and Frank will be hoping that he has had a successful Christmas Day, which will have seen him unwrap some much-needed help for the year ahead.
A Run of Positive Results
Tottenham are currently on a poor run of form with just two wins from their last nine games in all competitions, but more worrying has been the nature of some of those defeats - against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool, in particular.
That has seen fans begin to turn on him and the team, and as a result, the manager will now be desperate for a positive run of results to ease that pressure and also get him back in favour with the fans as he was at the start of the campaign.
The next six games will see matches against Palace, Brentford, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Aston Villa in the FA Cup and West Ham. Avoiding defeat in all of those will surely help, and would likely be the first request if someone asked what he wanted for Christmas.
Common Sense from Cristian Romero
While there is no doubting that Cristian Romero is the right choice to be captain for the north London club, and he is one of the better defenders at the club, he lets the team down far too often.
The Argentine was sent off against Liverpool for two yellow cards despite not conceding a foul in the game, one for dissent and one for kicking out at Ibrahima Konate for no reason at all. But it's not the first time that he has seen the red mist descend in his Spurs career, and it means he's becoming a liability for the team.
Frank will be praying that while he keeps the aggression and intensity in his game, he can find some common sense to go alongside it and stop those moments from becoming too frequent.
Backing From The Tottenham Board
With some poor results and plenty of criticism, Frank needs some backing from the Spurs board heading into the new year to ensure that he can carry on doing his job.
The manager was backed in the summer transfer window with several new arrivals, and they have all struggled to hit the ground running. But with a bit more time to work with them, implement his ideas and fine-tune things, Frank will be able to show why he was so highly coveted in the summer and ultimately selected by Tottenham to come in and lead them.
With some backing from the board, it will allow him to get on with things without being worried about the sack being around the corner after another bad result, so it could give him a good peace of mind.
Xavi Simons to Come to Life
The biggest signing of the summer for Spurs was their surprise acquisition of Xavi Simons, who had seemingly been on the verge of a move to Chelsea for weeks before eventually agreeing to move to north London instead.
But the Netherlands international has really struggled to make an impact, registering just two goals and three assists in 22 appearances for the club so far. His lack of impact has undoubtedly made things more difficult for Frank, and if he is going to get Spurs firing once again then he needs his star playmaker to find some form.
Before his recent red card against Liverpool he seemed to be finding his groove, with two goals and an assist in his previous three games, so coming back from his suspension to find his form again would be great for Frank and Tottenham.
A New Number Nine in the Transfer Window
Spurs were keen to find a new striker in the summer and eventually settled on a loan move for Randal Kolo Muani on deadline day. The France international has struggled for form, scoring twice in the Champions League but failing to find the net in the Premier League so far.
Richarlison has been their most reliable threat in front of goal so far, but his overall play and injury record remains a problem, while Dominic Solanke has barely featured this season due to a number of injury problems himself.
A new number nine is arguably the priority for Frank heading into the January window, and if you gave him the option to secure one deal then it would surely be that.