Personally, it felt like all of the Thomas Frank chatter was way too premature given that the new manager had been in North London for just a few months, but it does look more and more likely that this will not be a long tenure. Tottenham Hotspur is arguably no better off than when Frank was appointed; even if improvement on the pitch would take time, stability off it was supposed to be more immediate.
Instead, every match somehow brings more controversy and drama, which is exactly the opposite of what this hiring was supposed to yield. With the European places drifting farther and farther away and the League Cup run already over, the FA Cup might become one of Frank’s last chances to earn back some goodwill. Spurs have not had a good performance in this tournament in a decade, and this season’s could end immediately against a quality Aston Villa side.
FA Cup Third Round
Date: Saturday, January 10
Time: 12:45 pm ET, 5:45 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: ESPN Select (US), BBC One (UK)
Spurs hosted Villa back in October having lost just one of their first seven league fixtures. It was a bright start thanks to Rodrigo Bentancur’s fifth-minute goal, though the rest of the affair was all too familiar. Morgan Rogers leveled the match at one apiece before halftime, and Emiliano Buendia broke the deadlock to give the visitors all three points. The results have not been pretty since then.
Two Things to Watch
Rotation strategy
Villa used eight straight Premier League wins to surge into the title picture, but has slowed down a bit with just one win in three to give Arsenal a little more cushion. Still, with this strong first half and solid ongoing Europa campaign, the FA Cup has to be quite low on the priority list of Unai Emery right now. The schedule is fairly manageable for the rest of the month, but that just means bigger fixtures are still to come.
As mentioned before, I do not think the sentiment will be the same in the other dugout. Spurs may have some critical Champions League fixtures remaining, but a win in the FA Cup would probably mean more than any Premier League conquest at the moment, especially with supporters getting angrier and angrier with the new regime.
It is impossible to predict how rotated each side will be, but there is every reason for Tottenham to be the one who is less willing to make big sacrifices. I would not expect Emery to start an entirely reserve XI, especially with an upcoming week off, but hard to not see that being one of the main considerations into how this match plays out Saturday.
High stakes
There are not many things that Villa is doing poorly. Seventh in goals, fifth in defense — Spurs have their work cut out for them. Both the Sunderland and Bournemouth fixtures offer a little hope, though, as the Tottenham attack is starting to show a little life, even as its members continue to join the injured ranks. Villa has allowed a single goal or none in six of the last eight, but there could be opportunities to score.
The challenge for Frank is figuring out how to generate more threat without being exposed on the other end. Both of the last two fixtures have seen his side give away the lead, coming from a combination of failures to kill off the match and maintain the advantage. Under Ange Postecoglou it felt like Spurs could either attack or defend but never both, and it is hard to argue that has changed.
Villa represents another test, but another opportunity. A quick peek at the upcoming fixture list shows dates with Dortmund, Frankfurt, City, United, and Newcastle, all teams that will require Tottenham to be at its best. After another controversial and unsatisfying week, the stakes feel high for this one. Crashing out of the cup leaves very few meaningful matches left on the calendar.