There's no question that new Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has been a considerable upgrade to this early point in the season - not just above Ange Postecoglou but above any of the managers that have been in charge since Mauricio Pochettino fell off.
Spurs fans are debating about the team's quality after three straight draws (not counting Doncaster in the League Cup), whereas, a year ago, three straight losses in the Premier League would have been the norm. Frank, though, is still learning about his new team, and he's also learning about what it means to coach Tottenham.
With all due respect to Brentford and the underdog story Frank so beautifully wrote with the local rivals, they aren't Spurs. The expectations at a club that belongs in the Champions League every year are way different, and, thus, Frank has to adjust his own outlook accordingly.
An early issue that has hampered Frank, particularly in recent matches, is taking a too negative approach against inferior competition. Tottenham should be beating Brighton, Wolves, and Bodo Glimt. They should be beating Wolves and Bodo Glimt handily, and, last season, they literally knocked Bodo Glimt out of the Europa League semifinals without breaking too much of a sweat.
Tottenham need to be more fearless
This season, Spurs couldn't beat any of them and relied on late heroics to get a point in all three cases. They started the game very slowly and lethargically against both the Seagulls and their Champions League foes on Tuesday night, and that's in large part because Frank set up his midfield and entire squad to play it safe.
Tottenham need their manager to project more confidence and select lineups that enable the team to play more fearlessly against teams when they have much better players than the opposition. There's no question that with their budget and with players of Spurs star quality, they should be owning Wolves and Bodo Glimt, even when they don't start the stars like Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons.
Frank didn't show fear as Brentford manager in leading players like Mikel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, and Ivan Toney to career attacking seasons. He can, therefore, do even more with Simons, Kudus, and even Richarlison and Brennan freaking Johnson.
A club like Tottenham is only leaving valuable points on the table in the Premier League title race and Champions League place battle when they don't set their team up for attacking success against smaller sids that are, naturally, going to play to counter and make goals very difficult. You'll always make mistakes against any opponent; the key, as Hansi Flick has shown us, to beating smaller opponents is to simply outscore them via superiority.