Paris Saint-Germain 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Vitinha 45′, 53′, 76′ pen, Ruiz 59′, Pacho, 65′, Hernandez red card 90+3′ | Richarlison 35′, Kolo Muani 50′, 72′)
PARC DES PRINCES — That’s more like it. That’s the way Tottenham Hotspur supporters want their team to play. Fledgling starlets fronting the youthful revolution.
On paper, conceding five goals in defeat is hardly the panacea to Spurs’ recent ailments. But, as has been said in many a north London pub in the past few days, there is a way to lose, and in Paris, to the vivaciousness of European champions Paris Saint-Germain, this was it.
Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal saw the side of Thomas Frank that Tottenham supporters have fervently insisted they never want to bear witness to again: death by near-zero passes.
Frank had to take a long, hard look at himself. His beliefs. His ethos he lives by – building a team in his way, from the bottom up.
Sunday had to be an aberration. Not the result, the manner of the performance. One of the myriad damning stats to emerge from Sunday’s derby disaster was that in the opening period, Spurs made the fewest number of passes in the opposition half ever recorded in the first half of a Premier League match since such records began just over 20 years ago.
Wednesday’s trip to Paris represented the most opportune platform Frank could have wished for. No better a stage to rethink the formula, wipe the slate clean.
The Champions League has been a happy hunting ground for Frank so far, with Spurs one of four sides unbeaten going into a match against the might of PSG that, given this rather tepid new Champions League format negates much jeopardy, gave the Dane what is commonly known as a free hit, licence to swing the bat.
Defeat wouldn’t end hopes of a top-eight finish, with three very winnable games to come. Victory would be memorable, if only for a few days afterwards.
A positive performance regardless of the outcome however was imperative for Frank and his managerial reputation, given the vitriol that has come his way amid some of the most turgid attacking displays the Premier League has ever seen from Spurs of late.
And, after everyone had recovered from one of those seizure-inducing light shows at the Parc des Princes, endeavour was the order of the day from a Spurs side bustling with youthful exuberance.
“It was the reaction I wanted from the players,” Frank said. “We’ve been working very hard on that, the players, the staff, me, to make sure that we responded well and bounced back because that’s crucial after a bad performance.
“Today I saw more identity of the team I want to create, we want to create. Much more character, personality, aggressiveness.”
Gone was that stifling five-man defence. In its place came the effervescence of Lucas Bergvall and the fleet of foot of Archie Gray to give the Spurs midfield some nicely balanced vibrancy.
When Spurs finally composed themselves, their quality did show through. Those two fledgling talents in midfield played a huge part in setting up Richarlison’s aesthetically pleasing opener – nothing more than the visitors deserved.
What they needed to do was to get to half-time in front. They did all they could to achieve such, but when you are facing the European champions, who possess some of the best midfielders in the world, give them an inch and they will take a mile.
Vitinha’s sumptuous strike from a quickly-taken corner caught Spurs off guard, and it could not have been better timed for the home side, right on the cusp of half-time.
The Spurs of four days ago would have gone into their shell and crumbled. But Randal Kolo Muani bulleted the visitors back in front – the striker’s first goal for Spurs, against his parent club.
Those inches were still on offer down the other end and in the blink of an eye, the result in one of Spurs’ best recent performances was taken away from them in 12 unhinged second-half minutes.
Nonetheless, a thrilling defeat suggests there is some life in Frank’s project after all.
“We all want to play entertaining football, but sometimes you might have to adapt that for certain games and we’re 100 per cent with the coaching staff and the manager,” Gray said.
“Sunday was so tough, but we can take positives into Fulham.”
It would be very, very Spurs to now go onto lose, in the limpest possible way. For his own sake, Frank cannot allow that to happen. Not after Paris.