Hotspur HQ

When Thomas Frank first took over as Tottenham Hotspur manager this summer, every fan was trying to connect the dots to see which current players, especially the young crop of talent, would benefit the most from the switch from Ange Postecoglou to the former Brentford boss.

And one player everyone kept circling was 2024/25 Tottenham leading scorer Brennan Johnson, who was fresh off scoring the winning goal in the Europa League Final against Manchester United in Bilbao. Johnson, after all, was pursued heavily by Brentford the same transfer window that he ended up at Tottenham, and if it were not for the fact that Spurs have a lot more money to spend than the Bees, Johnson may have ended up with the local London rivals instead under Frank back then.

Frank gave Johnson opportunities to start at the beginning of the season, and while he does throw the Wales international a bone here and there, it is pretty clear that Johnson has no real path to the starting lineup under Frank. And that is without Dejan Kulusevski back from his knee injury yet.

Mohammed Kudus has made Brennan Johnson a non factor

Mohammed Kudus immediately took over on the right wing, and Frank, like many Spurs fans, has seen just how much better the Ghanaian international is than last season's hold over. Sure, Johnson can bring the goals and is a great poacher, and, honestly, maybe Frank could be doing more to harness Johnson's scoring instincts when he does actually play him. Playing Johnson on the left wing, for example, is a ridiculous idea.

But by and large, give credit where credit is due to Thomas Frank here. He may have been smitten by Brennan Johnson back when he was a prospect at Nottingham Forest, but now that he sees him up close and personal at a real big club like Tottenham Hotspur, it appears just as evident to Frank as it does to every Spurs supporter that Johnson does not quite have the right stuff to start for a top four contender in the Premier League.

Johnson has his positive traits and moments, but he is the anti Kudus. Whereas Kudus tirelessly runs, takes on defenders, has courage on the ball, and is an amazing chance creator out wide, Johnson does pretty much nothing well that a winger should, to the point where you wonder if he is a winger at all. As Johnson continues to be discarded by the new manager, you have to wonder where his future lies if Frank does not even rate him.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been in love with Mathys Tel from the moment he showed up last winter transfer window from Bayern Munich as a loan signing with an option to buy. The young left winger was fully COYS from the moment he stepped foot at the N17 and developed a very special bond with the fans throughout the second half of the 2024/25 season, playing an important yet understated role in Spurs capturing a historic Europa League title.

So Spurs supporters were naturally then overjoyed to see that the club signed him to a permanent deal from the German powerhouse club in the summer transfer window. It has not been an easy 2025/26 season by any means, but typifing the resiliency of the young French forward, Tel has worked himself back into the Champions League squad, taking full advantage of Dominic Solanke's slow to heal foot injury.

Tel has been a cut above the rest of the forwards in terms of his explosiveness and dynamism, and while he does not always seem to get a fair shake from Frank when it is time for the manager to select his starting lineup, he manages to shine when he is brought in, even off the bench as we saw with his vital cameo in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

Antoine Semenyo is much more expensive

As Tottenham look for ways to upgrade their attack in the next winter transfer window, the 65 million pound Antoine Semenyo release clause has become by far the biggest topic for discussion. This past summer transfer window, Spurs watched club legend Son Heung-min ride off into the California sunset to join LAFC in MLS, but they did not sign a top left winger to replace him.

Instead, they thrust Tel and Wilson Odobert into the tall order of filling those shoes, and whlie that has been a struggle to this point, Tel, in particular, is starting to show fans that he merits some real opportunities to show that he can be the heir to the South Korean icon.

Semenyo has been a Premier League Player of the Season candidate, but he is also older and a lot more expensive then Tel, especially when you factor in the wages he would cost with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City shoving themselves all out of the subway car in order to sign him from Bournemouth.

And oh by the way, Tel is 100 percent COYS. Semenyo was an Arsenal fan growing up, and there are honestly a lot of Spurs fans who are understandably against even entertaining a character like that, given what went down with Eberechi Eze this past summer. But just as Spurs were better off striking out on Eze and signing Xavi Simons instead, maybe they too will prefer the younger and cheaper Tel to a Semenyo splash.

Lucas Bergvall was the biggest Tottenham Hotspur talent of the 2024/25 season, and the club would not have won the Europa League without him, even if the Swedish international ultimately had to bow out in the end due to an injury.

With how dynamic he looked box to box and even the goal threat he began to carry at points in the campaign under Ange Postecoglou, Spurs fans were really excited to see the leap he could take forward in the 2025/26 season under Thomas Frank.

Instead, Bergvall was mostly out of the lineup to start the 2025/26 campaign, with fans frustratingly wondering why Frank did not value the midfield sensation even half as much as his predecessor Big Ange did.

Lucas Bergvall confounds

Lately, though, Bergvall is starting to get more games for Spurs. Whlie that is definitely a positive for Spurs supporters, the exact usage of the 19 year old Swede has also raised even more questions from the crowd.

Frank, throughout the 2025/26 season, has consistently utilized Bergvall in a more advanced role, whereas Postecoglou had him as a more classic, box to box No. 8. And the reason why this confounds Spurs fans is that Frank is not using Bergvall in his optimal position, because he is clearly better as an 8 than a 10.

Bergvall is a superior athlete and a Rolls Royce of a midfielder who is best when he can explode with the ball at his feet in transitions and come up from the midfield into the attack, starting moves with his robust athleticism. Bergvall is not someone with an innate playmaker feel for the game in tight spaces; he is, rather, a rock and roll kind of midfielder who just makes things happen spur of the moment and needs to carry.

His defensive work is also better in that 8 role where he can run and crash other midfielders, picking up possession and then gliding with it up the pitch, crashing from one box to another with his speed and explosiveness.

So Spurs fans have to wonder how, then, Thomas Frank envisions Lucas Bergvall in his ideal starting lineup and how he sees him as a tactical piece. Frank is utilizing Bergvall much differently than Postecoglou was, and it honestly is not helping the young man settle in and play his best football. It is confusing for Tottenham fans to see what is being done with Bergvall this season.

Tottenham Hotspur made a few moves to upgrade their squad this past summer transfer window both to help new manager Thomas Frank get off to the right start and to fortify a squad headed for Champions League football despite finishing a historically poor 17th in the Premier League.

Stars of the future Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons have obviously soaked up the most attention, but there is no question that in recent weeks, 27 year old striker Randal Kolo Muani has established himself as a real bright spot and a player who could be a key part of the future for Spurs.

Obviously, Kolo Muani's biggest performance was the three goal contributions on a Champions League night against his parent club PSG, who are the reigning winners of the competition and had previously stifled the actual Spurs forwards earlier this season in the UEFA Super Cup Final.

Randal Kolo Muani has different quality

But even in games like the most recent Champions League outing against Slavia Praha in which Kolo Muani did not start (in order to spare him after a recent injury scare), Kolo Muani does enough in meager minutes to show that he is a different class from the rest of the players aiming to start at striker for Tottenham Hotspur in 2025.

His vision, footballing intelligence, athleticism, first touch, smoothness, and skill on the ball are all separators to the others. Kolo Muani is so much more consistent and better all around than Richarlison, and with Dominic Solanke still nowhere near an actual return date, RKM is gaining even more appreciation among the Tottenham faithful going into 2026.

Kolo Muani is just a one year rental, and while it is a cardinal sin to fall in love with a loan player, Kolo Muani is on his second successful loan back to back after playing well for Juventus in 2024/25. And Juve wanted to keep him for longer; it's just that their former executive Fabio Paratici essentially stole him for Spurs on transfer deadline day this summer.

Although Kolo Muani was a star for Eintracht Frankfurt, Juventus, and now Tottenham in three different leagues, the 90 million euro striker could not cut the mustard in the crowded PSG front line, which went on to win the Champions League without him. So it is not impossible for Spurs to sign him permanently at the end of the season, and while he won't be too cheap after that initial price tag from Eintracht to Paris, Spurs fans are starting to see enough from him that they are smitten with RKM as the striker solution.

Tottenham Hotspur spent a whopping 65 million pounds on striker Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth in the summer 2024 transfer window to set a new franchise record for the highest fee paid for a player, and while the big man proved to be useful in the crunch time of the Europa League knockouts en route to bringing home the trophy for the first time in over 40 years, it is hard to say that he has provided an adequate return on investment.

Because whereas loan signing Randal Kolo Muani is lighting it up, including three goal contributions against his parent club who just won the Champions League last season, Solanke has literally only appeared in three games off the bench for meager minutes.

Meanwhile, Tottenham fans are totally in the dark as to when the England international will be able to play again, as lingering foot issues led to a delayed surgery in the Fall that the star striker has yet to recover from. And while Frank keeps hinting that Solanke will be back soon, each promise of a near return has been met with radio silence.

Dominic Solanke setback?

In his latest update, Frank told reporters after the 3-0 Tottenham win over Slavia Praha in the Champions League that there has been no injury setback to Dominic Solanke, via the Lilywhite Rose. Now while that is a hugely positive update because all the silence around Solanke has led concerned Spurs fans to speculate that Solanke quietly suffered an injury setback from his procedure, it honestly says a whole lot of nothing.

Because at this point, there has been such a lack of transparency about the nature of Solanke's injury - or even his absence as a whole, given the plodding and almost secretive process of his recovery - that Tottenham fans are not going to buy anything on Solanke until they actually see him on the pitch again. And him not having a setback, again, says nothing about the nature of the injury, the progression of his recovery, or let alone anything resembling a time table for his return.

In the meantime, Spurs fans are already locking in on Kolo Muani and Mathys Tel as the top two striker options, with Richarlison and his goal poaching occasionally mixed in. Solanke is falling further and further out of the equation, and while it is a positive that Solanke is not out for longer with a setback, it isn't really a positive Spurs fans can buy when there's nothing else to go off of.

No team in European football has had as awful luck with injuries as Tottenham Hotspur over the past couple of seasons, and now in 2025/26, Spurs can't even blame the continued injury woes on an Ange Postecoglou system that had players run into the ground.

Now, Spurs did come into the 2025/26 campaign with several key injuries lingering from the 2024/25 campaign. Dominic Solanke remains mostly out of commission after an injury aggravation and surgery. Dejan Kulusevski is nowhere close to returning either. And James Maddison may never return for the 2025/26 season after tearing his ACL.

Along the way, several more key players have been out of the lineup. Randal Kolo Muani took ages to get settled with a dead leg and then suffered a jaw injury, Destiny Udogie has been in and out of commission, and even Cristian Romero and Mohammed Kudus have been all important players who picked up knocks.

Destiny Udogie is out

Udogie is the latest significant injury, as the vital starting left back has gone down again. He was a late scratch against Brentford after picking up a slight injury against Newcastle last Tuesday night that was not talked about much. The injury was not even revealed by Thomas Frank until Spurs had already beaten the Bees, too.

Now, according to Frank ahead of Spurs Champions League matchup against Slavia Praha, via the official web site, Destiny Udogie is going to be out for another month with a hamstring injury. He will not be able to return for Spurs until the New Year.

Although Spurs won without Udogie against Brentford, Djed Spence has shown time after time that he is not a true left back, and Spurs are awful against any sort of decent opponent whenever Udogie is not available to stretch the defense and lend some attacking quality and support from the fullback position to the left wingers and striker.

So while Udogie is a defender, the blow is most massive to the Spurs attack. Udogie overlaps and helps orchestrate things with his solid ability on the ball, and he is just about as good as Spence defensively, even if Spence gets more credit for both the memes he makes and for the fact that his defending looks disproportionately great in the face of his horrendous attacking output. Spurs are 100 percent going to miss Udogie over this month of December, but an aggravation of a hamstring injury would be even worse for their chances this season.

Tottenham Hotspur youngster Mathys Tel has as much potential as any current Spurs first team player rising through the ranks, and although he has shown his potential with game changing goals in games against Leeds United and Manchester United this season, he has mostly been eschewed by manager Thomas Frank.

For the most part, Frank has been undervaluing his young players in his first season at the helm. Recently, he has shown signs of giving the young stars he has discarded a chance, with the likes of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall finally becoming important starters over the last few games.

Tel, though, remains mostly on the periphery, but, quietly, it appears Frank is realizing the error of his ways of undervaluing the Bayern Munich signing. Because right at the very beginning of the season, Frank already made it clear that he didn't value Tel as highly as the more important people above him in the club did. You know, the same people who signed him permanently from Bayern.

The Mathys Tel mistake

That's because Frank didn't even have Tel on the final squad for the Champions League season, meaning Tel cannot help them in European football's premier competition this campaign. It's a decision that Frank has now admitted he regrets.

The Danish coach said of Mathys Tel, prior to Tottenham's Champions League match against Slavia Praha on Tuesday night, via The Spurs Express, “If I knew then what I know now, I would have changed my decision, no doubt about it.”

Wow, he came right out and admitted it. Although Thomas Frank is a quiet man, he has a certain understated sense of pride about him and does not often admit he is in the wrong. He never did, for example, with Bergvall, Gray, or, most recently, attacking midfielder Xavi Simons.

But he is admitting that he was wrong to cut Tel out of the Champions League squad. The thing is, while that may be seen as a positive to the Spurs fans who want to see more reps for Tel on the left wing and at striker, the words feel a bit empty since Frank still has not been playing the French forward much, even after he proved his utility with those displays against Leeds and Manchester United. But the season is young yet - and Tel younger still. The former Ligue 1 prospect will get more opportunities to show his stuff in 2025/26, rest assured.

Tottenham Hotspur arguably played their most dominant game of the season against Brentford this weekend. In contrast to a lot of recent games, the attack looked dynamic. There was a lot more movement in the central areas with Mohmmad Kudus, who created the side’s first significant chance on the day, being a major threat all across the pitch.

Spurs, who had played the fewest through-balls in the entire league, went ahead in the 25th minute when Pedro Porro played an inch-perfect through ball to Xavi Simons on the run, who passed the ball for a straight-forward Richarlison tap-in. A goal created with Movement and Through-Balls, aspects that had often been lacking in Spurs’ attack this season.Â

In the 25 minutes where the game was tied, Spurs outshot Brentford 4 to 1 and had scored 1.03 expected goals compared to the opposition’s 0.06 (Opta). This was in stark contrast to the rest of the season, where Spurs had conceded 10 goals while scoring 8 when the game was tied and were outshot and outscored on expected goals.Â

Tottenham's defense won the duels

This game saw Spurs keep the lead for more than 65 minutes after breaking the stalemate, refreshing for a side that had trailed for more minutes than they had left throughout the season. Not only did Spurs keep their lead, but they were dominant throughout.

In every 15-minute phase, Spurs outscored Brentford on expected goals, quite significant considering Spurs had been outscored on the same metric in every 15-minute phase between the 1st and 75th minute throughout the league season (Opta/Understat).

A defense that ranked in the worst six for both expected goals conceded and shot quality (expected goals/shot) before the game, conceded just 0.23 expected goals on 4 shots throughout the game (Opta). Spurs had a lot of success in their duels and presses, and when Brentford did break through the lines, they were met by Spurs’ defenders who cut out the danger.

The second goal was scored by Xavi Simons directly after winning a duel in midfield, a great example of complementary football on either side, and a far cry from Spurs’ league-leading dispossessions and miscontrols (Overlap) leading to the defense being opened up.

It could be a flash in the pan or the start of a turnaround, but for probably the first time in the season, Spurs remained absolutely dominant in a game from start to finish. For much of the season, Frank has struggled, but the Brentford win looks like a right turn.

It looks like Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool. He has been axed from the Reds' squad to face Inter Milan in the Champions League this week. This means that he may not be able to have a farewell at Anfield before he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Following AFCON, Salah may already be a Saudi Pro League player. These unfortunate events are a result of the winger being dropped by Arne Slot. Salah's comments following the draw with Leeds have led to ruthless action being taken against the club's star player.

The whole situation seems very similar to the saga including Cristiano Ronaldo and Piers Morgan that led to the Portuguese star leaving Manchester United for Al-Nassr.

Salah appears entitled, and it appears best for the team that he departs. Liverpool is reportedly prepared for the Egyptian's exit. The Express has reported that "they have already been looking at the perfect candidate with Antoine Semenyo thought to have emerged as a January target."

Semenyo has scored six goals, with three assists, in 14 Premier League games for Bournemouth this season. He has been linked with other top sides, including Tottenham Hotspur. Other teams reportedly interested in the player are Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Napoli.

Mohamed Salah leaving Liverpool would affect Tottenham Hotspur

Semenyo's ability to play on the left and right wings would have made him a perfect fit for Thomas Frank's side. Spurs have options on the right flank as they have Mohammed Kudus and Brennan Johnson. However, Wilson Odebert is the club's only recognized left winger.

As Liverpool is the Premier League champions, they appear to be the more attractive option for Semenyo. However, they are just one point and one place above Spurs in the division. Slot did a very good job last season with Jurgen Klopp's side, but it now appears that they are in their transition period.

Spurs are also in a transition period as we are now in a post-Daniel Levy era at the club. Thomas Frank has come in to replace Ange Postecoglou, who ended the 17-year trophy drought last season. The jury is still out on Frank, but the win over his former club, Brentford, last season has eased pressure on the Dane.

Frank now has winnable ties against Sparta Praha in the Champions League before they take on relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Following those fixtures, they face Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mauricio Pochettino currently has one of the biggest jobs in soccer, taking charge of the United States at a World Cup they are co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. The pressure is on the Argentine to have a real run in the competition, as this would help the sport grow in the country massively.

It was still a surprise that Pochettino took the job with the USMNT, especially as his CV listed clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain. The manager has, in the past, expressed that he would one day want to return to Tottenham.

Pochettino was quoted by Last Word On Spurs saying, "I am so happy in the USA, but I am always thinking about returning to the Premier League one day. It is the most competitive league, and of course I would love to come back again. If I could achieve only one more thing in my career? To win the Premier League and the Champions League. We were so close in Tottenham. I want to achieve this."

Pochettino took Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019. They beat Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, and Ajax en route, but fell to a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at the final hurdle. During the 2015/16 and 2016/17 Premier League seasons, Spurs challenged for the title, but eventually finished third and second, respectively.

Could Mauricio Pochettino return to Tottenham Hotspur?

Pochettino's contract with U.S. Soccer will run out after the World Cup next summer. It appears that he has too much interest in club soccer to stay on with the USMNT after the tournament. Depending on how Thomas Frank fares in the second half of the season, Spurs may be looking for a new manager.

Tottenham are currently 10th in the Premier League, and 11 points off the leaders, their North London rivals, Arsenal. Spurs were on a five-game winless run, but Frank managed a victory over his former club, Brentford, at the weekend to ease pressure on his position.

Pochettino has often been linked with the Manchester United job too. However, the Red Devils appear to be sticking with Ruben Amorim for now. He lasted just one season at Chelsea and often seemed to be too synonymous with Tottenham to be in the role. Tottenham is the club that he managed for 293 games, and where he is still highly regarded.

Pochettino may not have won a trophy with Spurs, losing in the Champions League and League Cup finals. However, he still has ambitions of winning big domestic competitions. The man who sacked Pochettino, Daniel Levy, is no longer at Spurs, which could open the door for the Argentine to return