The strangest thing about the double life Tottenham Hotspur are living right now is that they lived it last season too.
Remember how Spurs would march forward every Thursday night on their quest to Bilbao. And then they would lose every Sunday in the Premier League. They finished with the ultimate divergence: lifting the Europa League, their greatest triumph for a generation, while finishing 17th, their worst for 50 years.
At the time it felt like a blip, an anomaly, a historical quirk that would never be repeated again. Instead, even with a new manager, Spurs are following it almost to the letter.
Last season the real turning point, the moment when you realised this was a different Tottenham team on Thursday nights, came here in Frankfurt. It was the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final and Spurs needed a result to go through. They produced a performance unlike anything they had shown up to that point, a masterclass of discipline and efficiency, to win 1-0 and make it through to the semis.
And sure enough this season it was again in Frankfurt that the same impression was confirmed. Tottenham’s Champions League form up to this point had been built on their home record: four clean sheets, four wins. But they had done nothing away from Tottenham, fortunately scraping draws at Monaco and Bodo/Glimt, losing badly at PSG.
So it was a good time for Tottenham to deliver their best performance in months, probably their best since they won 2-0 at Manchester City in Frank’s second Premier League game. That was five months ago and yet it is hard to think of another result — maybe the 3-0 at Everton in October — comparable to this one.
Spurs controlled this game. They limited Frankfurt to one half-chance, just before the break. They created plenty themselves, from open play as well as set pieces. On another day they would have scored far more. But crucially they stayed patient when they were unable to take any of their early chances, which is something they failed to do in recent league games. And they defended well enough to ensure there was no sucker-punch of the sort they have struggled to recover from.
This performance was even more impressive given the limited options available to Frank. Injuries to Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven had only added to the sense of crisis. Dominic Solanke was the only fit senior outfield player on the bench (the next most experienced was 21-year-old academy graduate Dane Scarlett). And yet everyone did their jobs perfectly.
January has been a tough time for Frank so far, booed and abused after games against Brentford, Bournemouth, West Ham United and Burnley. But at least here in Frankfurt he could enjoy the applause of the away end after the game. And no-one could begrudge him looking back on this Champions League campaign so far — the first of his career — with real pride. Even though they have struggled badly in domestic football, Spurs finishing fourth out of 36 teams is a genuine achievement. They have only had two other Champions League campaigns since losing the 2019 final, and neither of them provided much to write home about.
The really interesting question is why this team still seems to have two separate faces like this, one for Europe and one for the league. Just as they did last season.
It is worth remembering that Spurs are not the only Premier League team to look much better in Europe. Liverpool finished third and Chelsea sixth, neither of them impressing in the Premier League this season. Manchester City, having a domestic wobble of their own, also scraped through to the last-16 in March. Newcastle United were the only English team to go into the ‘Punishment Round’, and they still came 12th.
There are some clear trends to look to. While the four richest clubs, according to the Deloitte Football Money League, are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and PSG, the Premier League is still clearly the richest league. And even Tottenham — whatever you think about their recruitment — can afford players who can make the difference. Cristian Romero, good enough to play for any team in Europe, has dragged Spurs through this campaign, even scoring Spurs’ first goal against Dortmund last week and setting up their opener in Frankfurt. Xavi Simons, one of the best players in the Bundesliga before Spurs bought him, had his best game for Tottenham on Wednesday night.
The real difference between the two competitions is not just in quality but in physicality. And that means that many English teams can steam-roll opposition, many of whom are trying to play an open, expansive game, which they simply would not get away with in the Premier League. The defining image of Spurs’ Champions League campaign was Van de Ven running the length of the pitch to score against Copenhagen, like an 18-year-old playing under-10s. Borussia Dortmund and Slavia Prague came to Tottenham and just could not live with their speed. Even last night, Frankfurt never got control of the athleticism of Kolo Muani, Wilson Odobert and then Dominic Solanke, who scored the second.
Perhaps most interesting was the psychological explanation that Frank offered when asked about this last week. He drew a contrast between glamorous floodlit Champions League games, and regular Premier League games where “it’s not as exciting” and “sometimes it can be more tricky to really hit the same” level. That said, in recent Premier League games, Spurs have looked not short in motivation, but short in confidence, lacking conviction in front of goal and struggling to respond to setbacks in games.
But if Frank is right and motivation is the decisive factor that would make perfect sense. Everyone knows that this time last year Ange Postecoglou decisively put all his eggs in the Europa League basket. That was how they won that trophy, but it also led to their dismal end to the league game. Frank has made no such declaration himself, far from it. But perhaps there is still a lingering sense in the ether at Tottenham, that European competition is bigger, and potentially more rewarding.
If that feeling does exist, then Frank and the players must shake it. Because the Premier League will still ultimately determine his future. And this month, when Spurs won two big Champions League games to seal fourth, has been a disaster in the league, as they only took three points from five winnable games. At least they now have Manchester City and Manchester United to come, games big enough to solve any possible motivational issue.
Skipping the Punishment Round means Spurs will not play in the Champions League again until the middle of March, six weeks from now. Which gives them plenty of time to rest, recuperate and try to fix their league form before they play in Europe again. If they can just fix the mystery of this disparity, and bring the two Tottenhams together, they might be able to save their season yet.