©IMAGO
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank is unquestionably on borrowed time at the North London club, following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to struggling West Ham in the Premier League. The result now means that Tottenham languish in 14th spot in the English top-flight, with just two wins from their last 13 league games. In all competitions, Frank’s record at the club stands at just 1.28 points per game - which is a notable drop from predecessor Ange Postecoglou’s 1.52 average and in fact the worst return for any full-time manager at Tottenham in the last 20 years. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Danish tactician will be in charge for the club’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday but it remains to be seen whether he’ll last the month.
Whether Frank deserves to be sacked less than a year into the job is certainly up for debate. Few Spurs fans are enamored by the former Brentford manager’s tactics or player selections, but many are willing to admit that Frank is working with one of the weakest Tottenham squads in recent years. Whether it be Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane or Heung-Min Son, a number of star players have departed the North London club in recent years and the club have undoubtedly struggled to replace them. So how far have Tottenham fallen behind their domestic rivals in terms of quality off the pitch and how much of that should factor into Frank’s inability to get them up the league table? Let’s take a look.
Tottenham have struggled to keep up with the “Big Six”
As most Spurs fans will begrudgingly admit, the club’s fortunes in the Premier League begun to take a nose dive when Mauricio Pochettino departed the club in late 2019 and when we compare Tottenham’s overall squad market value to the rest of the so-called “Big Six” in the English top-flight we can see how much the North London club have struggled to keep up. In January 2020 (just a few months after Pochettino’s departure), Tottenham had a squad market value of €966 million. That figure then took a steep decline to a low of €643m in January 2022 and has steadily increased in value to €873m. However, that still works out at a 10% drop in market value since January 2020. And in that time the club’s rivals have seen their market value rise far higher.
When we compare that to the average squad market value of the other “Big Six” clubs in the Premier League, it shows how far off the pace Tottenham have been in the last six years. In total, the average squad value of the club’s rivals has increased from €937m in January 2020 to €1.09 billion. Not only does that €162m increase work out a 16% increase compared to when Pochettino was calling the shots at Tottenham, but eagle-eyed fans of the club will note that back that Spurs’ squad market value was actually €28m higher than the "Big Six" average in January 2020, but is now €227m less than it at this moment in time.
Club Comparison
Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal FC
Premier League
Premier League
€873.50m
Market Value
€1.31bn
First Tier
League Level
First Tier
€250.60m
Expenditures 25/26
€294.60m
Thomas Frank
Managers
Mikel Arteta
Full Club Comparison
As if to rub salt in the wounds, it’s also worth noting that in this period of time no other “Big Six” club has excelled more than Tottenham’s rivals Arsenal. While Spurs’ squad has lost €92m in market value since January 2020, Arsenal’s has gained a whopping €630m in market value. And what’s truly damning about that remarkable contrast in fortunes is that Arsenal’s net spend on transfer fees is just €140m more than their North London rivals in that period of time. In fact, Tottenham have the fourth highest net spend among all English clubs since the start of the 2019/20 season but certainly don’t have a top-four squad to show for it.
Mid-table challengers causing chaos for Spurs
But the reason why Tottenham’s squad is in such a mess right now is largely due to the fact that they’re not only struggling to keep up with the best teams in the league, but are also struggling to keep the clubs below them at bay. Since the start of the 2019/20 season, Tottenham sit sixth among all Premier League clubs for points won. Just below them are Aston Villa, Newcastle and Brighton. And over the course of the last six years the three “mid-table” clubs have made huge gains on Tottenham on and off the pitch.
As we can see in the table above, in the period in which Tottenham’s squad market value fell by €93m, Aston Villa’s squad gained €270m, Newcastle’s gained €306m and Brighton’s increased by a remarkable €443m in squad market value. In January 2020, the average squad market value of the three mid-table clubs was roughly €720m less than Tottenham’s. Now it is only €288m less than the squad Frank has to work with. And that has had huge ramifications on Tottenham’s standing in the league table.
Since the start of the 19/20 season, Tottenham have won seven and lost six league games against Aston Villa, won six, drawn one and lost six games against Brighton and won just four, drawn three and lost six games against Newcastle. That means, on average, Spurs have picked up just 1.41 points per game against the three clubs breathing down their neck and on the hunt for a top-six finish each season. Or, in other words, the North London club typically picks up just 33% of the available points against all three clubs each season.
Of course, none of this will come as startling news to Tottenham fans, who’ve watched their side struggle against the aforementioned trio in recent years, all while bemoaning the manner in which Arsenal, Manchester City & Co. have pulled away from them on the pitch. In no uncertain terms, this Tottenham squad is hardly fit to call itself a team that should be comfortably finishing in the top six. But it remains to be seen whether those considerations will be taken into account when Frank’s future at the club is finally decided.