Heading into Tottenham Hotspur's clash with Liverpool in the Premier League, Thomas Frank would have been hoping for a response from his hot-and-cold troops.
Indeed, off the back of a demoralising 3-0 loss away at Nottingham Forest, the Dane remained under intense pressure to succeed in North London, and he hasn't helped his precarious job position by following up that humiliation at the hands of the Tricky Trees with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Liverpool.
Spurs' mission to pick up a much-needed three points was not boosted by Xavi Simons' reckless dismissal in the first half, as the number seven's bumpy start to life in England continued against the resurgent Reds.
How Xavi Simons let Spurs down
Simons' arrival in North London for £52m attracted a lot of fanfare in the summer, with the expectation that the former RB Leipzig man would instantly settle into life swimmingly in his new surroundings.
Having scored two goals against Brentford and Slavia Prague earlier in the month, the hope would have been that Simons could now kick on, having found the initial transition hard.
Unfortunately, though, he would only last 33 minutes against the Merseyside giants, with zero efforts attempted on Alisson's goal, before being given his marching orders for this mistimed challenge on Virgil Van Dijk.
Coming out after the 2-1 defeat with a public apology, Simons will pray, when he does return, that he can finally find some consistent red-hot form for Spurs, or he will surely fear that he's already been dismissed as an expensive flop.
He isn't the only flop in the attacking areas that will be frustrating the Spurs masses at the moment, though, as this other high-profile summer acquisition constantly spurned chances up against the reigning Premier League champions.
Frank must drop this other Spurs flop
Frank will know if he doesn't steer the sinking Spurs ship back on course soon that he could face the sack already, as the board will not want consistently poor results.
He does have plenty of time now on the training pitch, as his side's next Premier League test isn't until the 28th, but he will be hesitant to start Randal Kolo Muani up front against Crystal Palace in the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 defeat, after his wasteful showing against Liverpool.
In total, the France international would see four shots pass him by, with one header very close to beating Alisson, before Simons' red card dominated the narrative.
Away from looking lively in spurts when through on goal, Muani would - unfortunately - become isolated during large spells of the game, with only six accurate passes tallied up by the 27-year-old in total.
Moreover, come the end of his 80 minutes on the pitch, the hot-and-cold number 39 would amass fewer touches of the ball than Guglielmo Vicario in between the sticks, with the Italian's tally standing at 38 touches, next to Kolo Muani's paltry 17.
To make matters even worse for the Spurs loanee, who is breaking the bank with his £150k-per-week salary, Richarlison would only be on the pitch for a matter of moments as his replacement when he buried home this opportunity, leading to Spurs content creator Jonny Blain hailing his cameo as "superb".
Could Frank now be tempted to start the ex-Everton attacker over the 27-year-old for the short trip over to Selhurst Park?
With Richarlison boasting another six Premier League goals for the season, it does feel like an easy swap to make, with Muani still yet to break his league duck for Frank's men, ten games into his journey in the English top-flight.
His inaccurate display in front of goal against the Reds does make for a convincing argument to suggest he was as bad as Simons was, even with the Dutchman barely lasting only half an hour on the pitch, as Muani had far more time to leave his mark on the game, and he didn't.
Frank will just hope, whatever lineup he decides to field against the Eagles, that another Premier League win comes his team's way soon, with Muani likely to be cast aside from his starting XI plans if he continues to fire blanks.