The first job of any new Tottenham Hotspur manager is to avoid comparisons with Juande Ramos.
Months after ending a long trophy drought, the Spurs side of 2008-09 veered into infamy by taking just two points from the opening eight games. Thomas Frank’s tally of 22 from 16 matches is now their lowest at this stage of the season since that nadir which saw Ramos sacked.
Patience is understandably wearing thin. Originally a Daniel Levy appointment, Frank’s fate now rests in the hands of a revamped board spearheaded by the Lewis family – Vivienne, brother Charles and son-in-law Nick Beucher – alongside chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and non-executive chairman Peter Charrington.
There is sympathy with Frank, who took over a side which finished 17th under Ange Postecoglou and has been derailed by injuries to James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke. It is also accepted that only Wolves players are making more individual errors leading to goals and that cannot be pinned solely on the manager.
Frank insisted after Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground that there was “no quick fix” but his job is under mounting scrutiny.
The ‘Brentford mindset’
There is often a condescension towards “midtable managers” in the Premier League, the kind which used to be reserved for David Moyes and Sean Dyche. Old-school British coaches are back in vogue; instead suspicion now abounds towards managers who have punched above their weight but have yet to work with one of the “Big Six”.
That said, Frank has given ammunition to critics who believe he is still operating with the same mindset as at Brentford, going into games believing his side will not have much of the ball. Starting the north London derby with five defenders and a double-pivot backfired spectacularly and laid bare a lack of confidence which has become ingrained. So did the substitutions at 2-0 down against Forest – rather than Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel or Wilson Odobert, Frank turned to Ben Davies, Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall.
The axis
It explains why Frank has relied on midfielders whose strengths lie out of position. Rodrigo Bentancur and Palhinha have started together nine times in the league, with Spurs winning just 33 per cent of those games. It has left the No 10 isolated – Xavi Simons the biggest victim – and has limited opportunities from open play. Nor is it reserved for trips to Manchester City and Arsenal – the same approach was taken in a 1-1 home draw with Wolves. It is hard to argue it has made them more solid either – they have conceded more goals than at the same stage last season.
The xG
Twice this season Spurs have recorded their lowest xG (expected goals) in a match since records began. Against Chelsea and Arsenal they registered 0.05 and 0.07 xG respectively, but they have managed below 1xG on 10 separate occasions. And it matters particularly because Frank himself is a stickler for the metric. In a recent Sky Sports interview, he discussed discouraging players from taking long-range, lower-quality chances.
Relations with players
There is no serious suggestion yet that Frank has lost the dressing room, but there have been exchanges belying his insistence that the group are united. Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence appeared to snub him at full-time against Chelsea, and Spence reacted angrily again to being taken off at Forest. The rest looked despairing at Ibrahim Sangare’s goal from 20 yards out – a shot he was able to take despite there being eight outfield Spurs players in and around the box.
The rotations
Only twice all season have Spurs named unchanged line-ups in the Premier League. With the exception of Yves Bissouma, who is likely to leave in January after another video of the midfielder inhaling nitrous oxide, only three fit members of the senior squad are not into double figures for league appearances. They are Gray, Randal Kolo Muani, whose campaign has been disrupted by injury, and Ben Davies.
The fans
There have been two occasions when tensions have boiled over – against Manchester United, when Frank’s decision to leave on Richarlison and take off Simons was jeered, and when he told supporters they were “not true Tottenham fans” for booing Guglielmo Vicario for his error against Fulham.
Frank spoke with similar clarity at Brentford, but has not built up the good will to enjoy the same authority with a fanbase who are yet to warm to him.
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Who isn’t playing
Despite their attacking problems, last season’s top scorer Johnson – a cult hero ever since his winner in the Europa League final – has started just six league games and is now beginning to attract interest from Crystal Palace, among others. Simons has started just over half of Spurs’ Premier League games since his arrival, often on the left rather than in his preferred role as a No 10 – that is partly a tactical choice, partly an inevitable consequence of failing to properly replace Son Heung-min.
There is still an intention behind the scenes at Tottenham to persevere with the project, but it is accepted that things have to change quickly. It is not only the number of defeats but the manner of them.