Tottenham Hotspur's spineless defeat against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground last weekend was a mess.
Thomas Frank has since been entrusted by the Lewis Family with the responsibility of turning things around, but it's hard to see that Spurs have made headway after dismissing Ange Postecoglou at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
That being said, Frank has what it takes to lift this project off the ground, having exceeded expectations in west London with Brentford. He is steadfast in his belief that he will make discernible progress soon.
The Danish coach needs time, but, more importantly, he needs results, and he must navigate through a number of obstacles down N17.
The biggest problems facing Frank at Spurs
Frank was visibly incensed as his Tottenham team trudged off after defeat at Nottingham Forest. After all, it was a display littered with issues.
The likes of Pedro Porro have been abject all year. The Spanish right-back is a creative expert, but he's struggling to bring it all together, so flimsy and, it looks at times, disinterested.
Sofascore record that Spurs lost 57% of their aerial challenges against the Tricky Trees; moreover, only three of 19 attempted crosses found their target.
It's not just a struggle to implement Frank's vision. Individual errors are costing Tottenham dearly too. There are deep-rooted problems for the Lilywhites boss to wrestle with, but mistakes make up some of the biggest creases, and they need to be ironed out.
Perhaps this means certain members of the squad need to be evicted. We've seen before the hindrances that error-prone players can have, even against their natural talent, and Frank may have landed his own version of Serge Aurier in that regard.
Spurs' new version of Serge Aurier
Aurier spent four years in north London with Tottenham, enjoying highs and lows under Mauricio Pochettino and then Jose Mourinho's wing.
An athletic and creative right-back, Aurier arrived from PSG for a hefty £23m fee, and while he boasted a suitable athletic and technical profile for the Premier League, the Ivorian defender was culpable of many "ridiculous and rash" decisions, making many an "elementary mistake", as had been said by pundit Jamie Redknapp.
Talented but guilty of error-strewn displays? Tottenham may have their new version between the sticks, with Guglielmo Vicario having played an epicentral role in his side's mistake-filled performances this season.
Vicario, 29, is into his third campaign in north London after joining from Empoli for an initial £17m fee, and while has saved 70.6% of the shots he has faced in the Premier League this term, putting him seventh in the standings for that metric, he has also blundered on several occasions, drawing the ire of Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher and many Spurs supporters besides.
Also branded "embarrassing" and "in a tough spot" by former Premier League forward Nigel Reo-Coker after blundering against Forest, Vicario's job is not at risk yet, but he's ostensibly entered the beginning of his prime as a shot-stopper and needs to be producing more convincing displays.
He was at fault both times as Callum Hudson-Odoi worked his way onto the scoresheet, and it's hardly as if that dour defeat stands as an outlier.
In fact, the Italy international has made a sum total of 11 direct errors since moving to the Premier League, including a woeful return of six from just 24 appearances last year.
Aurier had his uses in a Tottenham shirt, but his strengths did not outweigh the weaknesses that bogged Spurs down after that post-Champions League decline.
Now, Vicario is proving himself to be the new version, and if Frank is serious about making sustained headway, it might be that the shot-stopper needs to be cut loose down the line.