Let’s face it: Tottenham Hotspur have been strikingly unimaginative from open play under Thomas Frank thus far.
From a side as capable of blowing top teams away as they were dropping points against relegation candidates under Ange Postecoglou, Frank, to his credit, has changed the profile of this Tottenham team in remarkably quick time. They are visibly organised, compact and a physical match for anyone. With these principles, he turned Brentford into a stable top-flight outfit, capable of upsetting giants who spend as much money in one window as the west Londoners have in their history.
But long throws (complete with sideline towels) and orchestrated set pieces can only get Spurs so far. Expectation is greater at the Europa League champions. As soon as results could no longer justify performances, it was inevitable that seeds of discontent would begin to flower, as evidenced by boos at the final whistle of Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.
The outcome of the match was somewhat telegraphed by the Dane in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “I expect an unbelievably tight game on Sunday that we’re very positive about and that we will do everything to edge,” he said. It proved instructive on how he’d set up to face Unai Emery.
Like Frank, the Spaniard revels in devising specific game plans for tight matches, allowing individual quality to prove the difference. With that in mind, it was no surprise to see the game played in the margins. Spurs scored from a set piece, and Villa won the match with two excellent strikes from outside the box that Frank later suggested he was content to let them have. Setting up a side to play in the margins can work, as evidenced against Villarreal in the Champions League and against Leeds at Elland Road, where long-distance efforts from Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel gave Spurs three points.
But the numbers speak for themselves. Tottenham rank 12th in the Premier League for expected goals (xG) from open play and 15th for big chances created, but fourth for goals scored and first for shot conversion rate. In other words, they’ve created like a lower mid-table side and finished like champions. That discrepancy tends to level itself out across the course of a full season.
Perhaps with serial xG over-performers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min still in their side, those numbers could be moderately sustainable, but it’s unreasonable to expect their replacements will ever reach a comparable level in a Spurs shirt. Dominic Solanke has been out injured for all but 39 minutes of the league season, and his attacking deputies are either inexperienced, inconsistent, or both.
The absence of creativity from open play is a pressing issue, and the inability to find Xavi Simons, Tottenham’s €60million (£51.8m; $70m) summer signing, is at the heart of it.
As the pass network demonstrates below, Simons was left on an island against Villa, positioned far more centrally than in previous games this season, but rarely connecting with his team-mates or receiving punched passes forward from his midfield team-mates.
His only notable connection was with Wilson Odobert — an extension of their promising interactions against Leeds — but the narrow line indicates it was not particularly frequent.
As the ball shuttled within the “horseshoe” from Odobert to Kudus through the midfield and defence, Simons was not given much of an opportunity to stamp his authority on the game. Whether Simons started or not, the pattern in Spurs’ most recent three games looked similar in their aesthetic — working possession from side to side without any penetration through the centre of the pitch and rarely finding their No 10.
Without Cristian Romero, who sustained a minor adductor injury in the warm-up and was replaced by Kevin Danso, Bentancur dropped into the back line and assumed ball-progression responsibility. That meant one fewer player in the middle of the pitch to find between the lines.
Here’s an example. If Bentancur had played the pass into Palhinha, who was not showing to receive the ball, Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara would have engaged, opening space for Simons or Odobert to attack the space in behind.
Expecting Palhinha to receive a pass on the half-turn, draw in Villa defenders, and thread a sharp pass into Odobert is to ask a seasoned Portugal international to operate outside his strengths, but without that, it’s difficult for the No 10s to thrive. Instead, the Uruguay international passed to Danso, who sent the ball long down the wing. This tactic can prove fruitful, with Kudus very capable of manufacturing goalscoring opportunities from long balls sent in his direction, but it became predictable, and Villa’s defence got to grips with it quickly.
Here’s another instance shortly after. Simons, who finds himself in space here, is completely disconnected. A pass into his feet from that position is one that perhaps only Romero and Porro have the vision and quality to pull off.
It’s in contrast to Simons’ previous game in a Spurs shirt against Leeds, which Frank described as his best so far. The example below highlights one instance when Destiny Udogie’s sprint down the left side opened space for Simons and Odobert to craft opportunities from the half-space. While Djed Spence has had an outstanding start to the season, he prefers to dribble with his stronger right foot, which can lead to a less fluent and interchangeable left side.
Spurs’ most effective moments from midfield were not crafted with the ball, but earned without it. Palhinha’s tough tackling on the halfway line set Tottenham away on transition opportunities on several occasions, but Spurs’ young attack was wasteful and lacked the physicality to impose themselves against Villa’s strong and athletic defence.
There are mitigating factors. James Maddison was central to Spurs’ ball progression last season as one of the league’s most gifted line-breaking passers, but he will miss most, if not all, of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Frank was in the market for another No 10 before Maddison went down on the pre-season tour, perhaps indicating he envisioned the 28-year-old feeding another creative type from deeper.
Dejan Kulusevski, who would shoulder much of that responsibility, is also out with a long-term injury. Lucas Bergvall is more forward-thinking than Palhinha or Bentancur, but he is only 19, as is Archie Gray. Still, to unlock Simons, who was virtually absent on the offensive end last weekend, Spurs must give him the ball. That requires higher-risk passing from deeper positions. Reading between the lines, it’s something Frank recognises.
“I want him to a little bit more dictate the game and get on the ball when it’s tough because he’s so good on the ball,” Frank said about Bentancur ahead of the Leeds match. “He is so composed and so good to get the ball in tight areas and get out of situations.”
Tottenham have been excellent away from home this season, with the win at the Etihad Stadium the signature result of Frank’s early tenure. In that match, as well as the Super Cup penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, the midfield made their stamp with hard tackling and aggressive pressing. That may also prove to be the case against Monaco this evening.
But to make the significant outlay on Simons worthwhile, fewer sideways passes and more high-risk balls between the lines into his feet seem essential.