Thomas Frank faces an uncertain future at Tottenham after a disappointing defeat to London rivals West Ham
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Thomas Frank’s future as Tottenham Hotspur boss is reportedly hanging by a thread following his side’s demoralising home defeat to relegation strugglers West Ham United.
The home side fell behind after just 15 minutes when Crysencio Summerville scored but looked on course to get back into the contest when Cristiano Romero levelled on the hour mark. However, the visitors, who hadn’t won a match since 8th November, consigned Spurs to another disappointing home defeat by scoring a dramatic winner in the last moments through Callum Wilson.
Frank, who left Brentford to join Tottenham was the subject of jeers from his own supporters, with some chantinh about him getting ‘sacked in the morning’. It’s the latest in a long line of damaging results for Frank in what has been a grim first seven months in charge for the Dane.
Will Tottenham sack Thomas Frank?
Frank earned his big move to Tottenham after seven impressive years at Brentford which saw him lead the club to the top-flight for the first time since 1935 while consolidating the Bees’ position as a competitive outfit. However, he’s so far failed to achieve expectations at Tottenham with the club languishing 14th in the table, ten points above the drop zone.
The north London side are also out of both domestic cup competitions, meaning that the Champions League is their only possibility of silverware, although that seems highly unlikely at this stage given the team’s current form. Frank has been backed in January transfer with the signing of ex-Chelsea star Conor Gallagher, and he’s also been allowed to bolster his backroom team by bringing in ex-Liverpool coach Johnny Heitinga.
But neither had the desired effect on Saturday as Spurs were embarrassed by their relegation-threatened London rivals, and with his win record at home currently sitting at 18.2%, it’s going to need a huge turnaround for Frank to even see out the remainder of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur’s ideal next manager choice is clear
It might appear far-fetched for a club in the bottom half of the table and who finished 17th last season, but during the summer the Spurs hierarchy outlined that their ultimate goal was to be challenging for the Premier League title in the near future.
Levy, who has since departed, said via Sky Sports: "You saw the outpouring of emotion with the parade. It was just incredible. We've won a European trophy. But it's not enough. It's what we haven't done that is more important. We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League. We want to win the Champions League. We want to win."
These were seriously ambitious comments and and outcome which feels like a pipe-dream at the moment, however, it’s worth noting that from a commercial standpoint the Lilywhites are in a fantastic position while they also boast one of the best stadiums the country has to offer. Based on that alone, Tottenham should still be able to attract the best-in-class when it comes to managers if they can show the right ambition and sell their project.
In the past they’ve had names like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, so it perhaps might not be too much of stretch from them to at least try to attract ex-Liverpool favourite Xabi Alonso if Frank does depart. Alonso is currently out of work after leaving Real Madrid earlier this month, but is regarded as one of the most exciting young managers in world football.
He’s achieved most of his success at a club with a similar kind of reputation to Spurs in Bayer Leverkusen, who were often ridiculed for their failure to get over the line in vital moments and ultimately turned them into a well-oiled machine with a never-say die mentality and an ability to win trophies.
Alonso joined Leverkusen for his first managerial gig in October 2022 with the club in 14th position, which is ironically where Spurs are at present. He led Leverkusen to a sixth place finish during the remaining months, and in his first full season won the league and cup double whilst also reaching the final of the Europa League.
His side, who were mockingly referred to as ‘Neverkusen’ due to their long-standing reputation for repeatedly finishing runners-up in major competitions became the first team in history to win the Bundesliga without losing a single match, finishing the competition with 28 wins and 6 draws, while across all tournaments they managed to record 51 matches without a defeat.
That team had a reputation for scoring late, netting 17 goals during stoppage time and 34 goals from the 80th minute onwards. They assembled a rock-solid team without spending huge sums of money and were able to completely outclass an imperious Bayern Munich side that had dominated the league for a number of years.
Alonso’s availability should be something that every top club is keeping an eye on. Liverpool have been linked but for the time being are standing by Arne Slot, and at the moment there’s not a lot of openings at top Champions League clubs although that could change in the near future.
Tottenham could use this to their advantage by acting quick to try and attract Alonso if they don’t feel Frank’s the man to take them forward. He’d arguably be more popular with the fanbase than Oliver Glasner despite his incredible career at Crystal Palace, and wouldn’t cost anything in terms of compensation to another club after losing his job at the Bernabeu.