The magical start to Thomas Frank’s tenure came crashing down rather quickly on Saturday, as Tottenham Hotspur were incredibly lucky to lose 1-0 to Bournemouth at home.
WATCH — Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth full match replay
Evanilson put the visitors ahead in the 5th minute, and the Cherries continued to create chance after chance while Spurs didn’t have their first shot of the game until the 55th minute (only 5 total, 1 on target, 0.17 xG). It was the kind of performance that became a depressing norm last season under Ange Postecoglou.
MORE — Thomas Frank reaction
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made 5 saves (a couple of them fantastic) to keep the scoreline at 1-0 throughout, but Spurs couldn’t do anything with all the possession they had (62 percent) until the final 15 minutes. Even then, it amounted to 3 shots for 0.10 xG. Spurs head into the international break with some soul searching to do, once again.
Abomination, or abberation?
Wow, that was bad from Spurs. Not just bad, not Ange bad, not Mourinho or Conte or Stellini or even Nuno bad. From the high of last week’s comprehensive victory over Manchester City, to this kind of face-plant against Bournemouth, is a shocking turn of events — even for this club. It’s clear that Spurs still need a midfielder who can move the ball forward and find a teammate in the final third, because it was far too easy for Bournemouth to usher Spurs out to the wings, at which point Bournemouth’s defenders dropped deeper to deny the immediate ball in behind, at which point Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Mohammed Kudus and Brennan Johnson had few options and even fewer ideas.
What’s next?
Bournemouth vs Brighton — Saturday, Sept. 13 (10 am ET)
West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur — Saturday, Sept. 13 (12:30 pm ET)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth live updates - by Andy Edwards
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth final score: 0-1
Goalscorers: Evanilson (5')
HALFTIME! Spurs without a shot in 1st half, lucky to only be 1-0 down
Possession: 59-41
Shots: 0-10
On target: 0-2
xG: 0.00-0.77
Corners: 0-3
Whole lotta nothing from Spurs. Thomas Frank is going to introduce them to a new (furious) version of himself at halftime.
GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Bournemouth: Evanilson’s shot deflects off Romero and in (5')
Spurs starting lineup
Vicario - Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence - Palhinha, Bentancur, Sar - Kudus, Johnson, Richarlison
Bournemouth starting lineup
Petrovic - Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert - Adams, Scott, Tavernier - Brooks, Semenyo, Evanilson
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10 am ET, Saturday
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur — London
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock
The former Brentford boss beat Burnley 3-0 on opening day, as expected, before really turning heads with a 2-0 victory away to Premier League title contenders Manchester City last weekend. Frank has been in charge for three games at Spurs (2nd place, 6 points), including the UEFA Super Cup defeat to PSG, and prepared the team with a very different game plan for each game — all three resulting in strong, balanced performances from a side that lost 22 times (twice as many as they won), conceded 65 goals in 38 games and finished 17th last season. New midfielder Xavi Simons, who Spurs just signed from RB Leipzig for $69 million, won’t be available to make his debut but the 22-year-old is expected to be in attendance and unveiled to the home crowd before kickoff.
As for Bournemouth (9th, 3 points), Andoni Iraola’s new backline has its first clean sheet as a unit after they beat Wolves 1-0 last weekend — a stark improvement on the four goals they conceded to Liverpool in the opener. Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez left for Real Madrid, PSG and Liverpool, respectively, for a combined $195 million this summer. Another player who was linked with numerous moves away this summer is Antoine Semenyo, but he remained at the club and has 2 goals, 1 assist after scoring twice against Liverpool and assisting Marcus Tavernier’s winner agains Wolves.
Tottenham Hotspur team news, focus
OUT: James Maddison (torn ACL - MORE), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Radu Dragusin (knee), Manor Solomon (calf), Bryan Gil (knee), Kota Takai (foot) | QUESTIONABLE: Destiny Udogie (knee), Yves Bissouma (undisclosed)
Bournemouth team news, focus
OUT: Julian Araujo (suspension), Lewis Cook (knee), Enes Unal (knee)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth prediction