Thomas Frank is now enemy No. 1 for most Tottenham Hotspur supporters after an embarrassing North London Derby defeat, 4-1 to Arsenal, on Sunday. At no point in the game did Spurs look like they were capable of winning, and they honestly didn't belong on the same pitch as the Premier League leaders.
It was a new low for Spurs this season, who had already infuriating their fans with a near-0.00 xG performance against Chelsea in their first big rivalry fixture of the Thomas Frank era. After this defeat to Arsenal, there are serious questions about Frank's competency as manager.
So what did Frank do in the immediate aftermath of the worst loss of his entire coaching career? He decided to try to protect himself by taking a shot at Ange Postecoglou, and any self respecting Spurs fan can see through his attempt to sugar coat this obvious pot shot with fake diplomacy before hand. He is clearly making an excuse for himself by bringing up Big Ange's last season, via The Spurs Watch:
"We are very disappointed and unhappy with the performance today. Definitely a lot to work on still. It's worth remembering that we finished 17th last season."
Ange Postecoglou got thrown under the bus
Look, even if he is technically right and any fair analysis from a third party perspective should bring up the fact that Tottenham were historically poor in the Premier League last season, that's clearly not the refrain Spurs fans want to hear from their manager after he got drubbed 4-1 by the club's biggest rivals.
What Frank and Tottenham produced on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium in the North London Derby is nothing less than 100 percent unacceptable. It cannot happen, not at this level and certainly not in this game against this opponent.
And yet, Frank gets in that little last shot and excuse, throws his predecessor under the bus, and makes no attempt at accountability. To bring up Postecoglou, since Frank wants to go there, yes, Big Ange came in 17th in the league and sometimes got annoying with his drawn out press conferences and chest pounding, but at least he was the one taking on the responsibility, being accountable, and protecting his players with the buck stopping with him.
Frank doesn't show that same leadership, and it is actually quite ironic and worth pointing out that he decided to go after Postecoglou instead of going after himself the very first time he faced a true crisis point defeat in his Spurs career.