The New York Times

Ultimately, Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 to Aston Villa because of two fantastic strikes from outside the box, courtesy of Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia. No one could have anticipated the quality of those efforts, but the game overall was entirely predictable. It was, as Thomas Frank said afterwards, “everything I expected it to be”.

The 2025-26 Premier League campaign has started with the most concerns about the league’s entertainment value since way back in 2004-05, when football seemed to have taken a particularly defensive turn.

It was Tottenham who accidentally found themselves at the centre of the debate back then, when Jose Mourinho introduced the ‘parking the bus’ phrase to English football when complaining about Tottenham’s successful defensive approach against his Chelsea side in a goalless draw.

Twenty-one years on, Tottenham again feel like the best representation of the sudden shift in this season’s football style.

After two years of Spurs being coached by Ange Postecoglou, with all the obvious strengths and weaknesses of his front-foot philosophy, Frank is a coach renowned for his pragmatism. Under his leadership, his previous side, Brentford, were known for their direct play and emphasis on set pieces.

While it would be unreasonable to expect his Tottenham side to have figured everything out by mid-October, this was a performance that summed everything up: not just where Tottenham are at, but also where the division overall finds itself.

This was a contest between — in the context of European football — two good sides. Tottenham are the Europa League holders, Aston Villa briefly caused European champions Paris Saint-Germain a real scare in the Champions League last season. Both are going well this season in Europe, too. On that basis alone, we should have expected a reasonable amount of quality football.

But, instead, it was overwhelmingly based around set pieces. Tottenham’s opening goal featured two powerful midfielders combining in the box, in the aftermath of a set-piece situation, with Rodrigo Bentancur slamming home Joao Palhinha’s knockdown. That in itself was typical of the season in a different way: deep midfielders have contributed more than their fair share of goals this season, and of Spurs’ starting XI here, Palhinha is Tottenham’s top scorer this campaign.

It’s not just about corners and free kicks, either. The long throw is ultra-fashionable again, and while this is clearly a useful part of any side’s armoury, Kevin Danso’s deliveries constituted Spurs’ main weapon against Villa, which felt particularly odd considering he wasn’t even due to start, only stepping up late on when Cristian Romero pulled out in the warm-up.

Danso gets great distance on his throws, and one caused Villa serious problems, but by the time he’d hurled the ball into the box for the sixth time, usually after an inevitably long wait while the centre-back jogged over to the touchline and had located the nearest towel, you couldn’t help feeling that this approach was wasting too much time and giving the opposition a breather.

In open play, it’s clear that Tottenham’s attackers don’t offer any cohesive combinations, which you can say about half the league at the moment. That is understandable considering Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons are new arrivals, while Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel arrived last summer and in January respectively. But here they were operating on four different wavelengths, with Tel spending most of the first half making a run, not getting the pass, then gesturing to where he had wanted it.

Of the front four, it is Kudus who has been brightest this season by showing good understanding with his team-mates, most obviously in the opening game of the season when he twice assisted Richarlison in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Simons, as the No 10, is tasked with connecting everyone around him: two midfielders who rarely pass forward, two wingers who tend to stay wide, and a centre-forward who isn’t involved much in build-up play. That’s a tough task for a 22-year-old who has recently moved to a new league.

Afterwards, Frank acknowledged the limitations of his side’s attack, but indicated that his initial focus was on improving “the four to five good transitional moments, where we could have done more”.

The understanding required to break down deeper defences, you suspect, will take even longer, which is fair enough, but it is also grating considering Tottenham could, until fairly recently, depend on Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, statistically the best partnership the Premier League has seen at creating goals for each other. The man who completed the trio in latter years, Dejan Kulusevski, is missed as much for his club as he is for his country.

Like most Premier League clubs, Tottenham have decent depth. The division’s financial dominance over other leagues isn’t necessarily reflected in the quality of the top players, but in the backups.

Tottenham are able to bring on players such as Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani. The former scored the best goal at the last World Cup, the latter nearly played a decisive role in the final. Another sub, Brennan Johnson, scored the Europa League winner. Perhaps the most exciting reserve is Lucas Bergvall, who offers badly needed ability to knit things together; without a player in that mould, things were too easy for Aston Villa.

Indeed, Unai Emery’s analysis was succinct and telling. “We adapted to everything tactically,” he said when asked to explain why his side came out on top. “In duels, set pieces, throw-ins.” And they, slightly depressingly, are the main qualities needed to win a Premier League game at the moment.

It had all looked so good for Tottenham Hotspur and Thomas Frank after five minutes.

They flew out of the traps to take a 1-0 lead through Rodrigo Bentancur but that was as good as it got for Spurs. Lovely goals from Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia turned the game on its head to inflict a second defeat of the season on the home team.

For much of the first half, Spurs had been good value for their lead, but Rogers equalised in the 37th minute with a brilliant right-foot shot from 25 yards — only the sixth league goal Guglielmo Vicario has conceded this season.

Villa grew into the game from there, edging what became a scrappy second half and deservedly taking the lead when Buendia bent a shot beyond Vicario in the 77th minute.

The Athletic’s Elias Burke analyses the action.

A return to fast starts for Frank?

His sides don’t tend to hang around. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, teams managed by Frank have scored more goals in the opening five minutes than any club in the Premier League.

Five of those were at Brentford, but against Villa, Frank brought that lightning start to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time. It was evident from the European Super Cup in August that Frank would place more emphasis on set pieces than his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, and they have continued to be threatening from corners and free kicks.

It was no surprise, then, that Bentancur opened his account for the season after the ball had been recycled from a corner.

Bentancur, who signed a contract extension days before Tottenham’s 2-1 win against Leeds United last time out, profited from a smart header across the box from Joao Palhinha, converting on the volley from eight yards out.

And for U.S. readers

It is Tottenham’s earliest goal of the league season. Flying out of the blocks is a trait of Frank’s sides — it was a shame they retreated so much after Rogers’ equaliser.

What happened after Spurs’ ideal opening?

When they go ahead under Frank, Tottenham tend to stay there. Even after Leeds had equalised, they rebounded in the second half to take the lead and win the game. While it was hardly a collapse, Tottenham let their ascendancy slip against Villa.

Like the 1-0 home win against Villarreal in the Champions League, Tottenham went ahead early and sat on it. Being effective and efficient from set pieces is an important string for any top side to have, but their lack of creativity on the ball — Xavi Simons was largely absent — meant Spurs were over-reliant on crafting opportunities from dead-ball situations.

Palhinha and Bentancur did an excellent job, particularly in the first half, of winning tackles in Villa’s midfield, not allowing their creative players time and space to play the ball through the heart of the pitch. But when they won the ball, setting Spurs off on the counter, Tottenham’s attackers failed to do anything with it.

There were encouraging signs of a burgeoning partnership between Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel and Destiny Udogie, who has a minor knee injury, against Leeds, but none of that was evident against Villa.

Spurs were fortunate to escape that Villarreal game with three points, but Unai Emery’s side made their lack of attacking endeavour pay.

It marks Frank’s second home defeat at Spurs, and given the difficulty of their fixture schedule until December, it’s an untimely slip. Next up in the league are Everton, followed by Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Fulham.

How did Danso do after a late call-up?

As club captain and arguably Tottenham’s most influential player, an injury sustained in the warm-up to Cristian Romero felt like a significant pre-match blow. But with another solid performance, Kevin Danso proved he is a capable deputy.

Danso has typically performed best for Spurs as an outside defender in a back three, but he assumed Romero’s role in partnering Micky van de Ven from the right side of central defence. Aside from his world-class ability as a distributor, Spurs miss Romero’s physicality and aggressiveness in central defence most, but Danso dealt well with Donyell Malen’s pace.

In one instance in the first half, Malen, who went touch-tight with the Austria international until he was replaced on the hour by Ollie Watkins, span in behind Danso and looked to be heading towards a one-v-one opportunity with Vicario. But Danso recovered excellently, chasing back to ease the forward off the ball, ala Van de Ven.

Few can replicate Romero’s passing from defence, but Danso comes with his own weapon: a wicked long throw. He had the opportunity to use it in the second half, but Tottenham failed to capitalise when the ball broke. Overall, a positive first league start of the season, and an encouraging signal that he can step up when needed. He was not to blame for Spurs letting their lead slip.

What did Frank say?

“The way the game panned out was exactly how I expected it to — a very even game against a very good Villa team, set up well by Unai Emery, where we performed quite well. Maybe not through the roof — through the roof is totally dominating Villa. We came out with good intensity, very aggressive and were good in high pressure.

“We actually created some good opportunities and defensively, we were excellent.

“There’s a couple of things you can look into when you look defensively. We gave away, what, eight shots? We gave two goals away in a position outside the box with a lot of players behind the ball. If you said to me before the game, they will shoot from there… it’s not dangerous, but a fantastic quality shot from Rogers. So in those nothing moments or very little moments, they had more quality.”

What next for Tottenham?

Ange Postecoglou is nothing if not a compelling talker and on Friday, the Nottingham Forest head coach delivered another defiant defence of his record in English football.

Speaking before Saturday’s home game against Chelsea — when Postecoglou will be aiming to earn the first victory in his eighth game at Forest — the Australian claimed he had been branded “a failed manager who’s lucky to get this job” after overseeing Tottenham Hotspur’s 17th-place finish last season.

“I know you’re smirking at me but that’s what’s being said, right, and I can find the print where that’s actually said,” Postecoglou told reporters.

The 60-year-old’s aim was to present “an alternative story”, centred not on Tottenham’s league finish but their historic Europa League triumph in Bilbao, the club’s first trophy in 17 years.

“Maybe I’m a manager who if you give them time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs, it ends the same — with me and a trophy,” he said, echoing his promise to win silverware for Spurs in his second season.

As he acknowledged, the prevailing view is that Postecoglou is under “serious pressure” at Forest — perhaps even that Saturday could be his final chance to save his job — but his message was clear: with time, he will deliver again.

“Some will look at the weeds, I’ll look at what’s growing,” he said.

To emphasise his point, Postecoglou ran through his two years in north London (in a single answer spanning over five minutes), pointing out that he had joined a club scarred by the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte eras, which finished eighth in the 2022-23 season and lost record goalscorer Harry Kane on the eve of his first league game.

“Somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. In fact, it was used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first 10 games – because they were an anomaly, apparently,” he said, seemingly referring to Tottenham’s statement confirming his departure, which pointed out that “we recorded 78 points from the last 66 Premier League games” – excluding his fast start.

“Although the first ten games here are very important, apparently,” he continued. “Anyway, we finished fifth and I got them back into European football, which a club like Tottenham should be.”

Postecoglou then talked up his success in winning the Europa League, which he said had enabled the club to shed its ‘Spursy’ tag and reap the rewards of a return to the Champions League – and insisted there was no need for an “in-depth” justification of their record-low finish in the Premier League last season.

“Just have a look at the last five or six team sheets of us in the league last year and see what I prioritised – who was on the bench and who was playing,” he said.

It was a typically forthright speech, full of the sarcasm, self-belief and grit characteristic of Postecoglou.

From arriving from Athens with his family as a five-year-old, he has clawed his way from the relative backwater of Australian football to the very top of the European game. Postecoglou is a seasoned fighter and has always used the doubters — real or exaggerated — as a potent fuel.

He has a point about his first season at Spurs. Fast start or not, his side probably did overperform in finishing fifth after losing Kane while transitioning to a new style of play, and on occasion Spurs, were the victims of bad luck.

Even now, it is possible to wonder what might have been if Son Heung-min’s ‘goal’, which would have put Spurs 2-0 up against Chelsea nearly two years ago, had not been chalked off for a fractional offside; Spurs may not have lost Micky van de Ven and James Maddison to serious injuries and Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie to red cards in a 4-1 defeat, the start of a run of one point from five games.

Postecoglou himself was unfortunate that a freak set of circumstances left him at odds with a majority of supporters during the 2-0 defeat at home against Manchester City in May 2024, which appeared to fray his relationship with the fanbase.

His defence of his second season, however, is more contentious. Even factoring in the slew of mitigating circumstances — an unprecedented injury pile-up over winter and the obvious focus on the Europa League — Spurs chronically underperformed in the top flight, finishing the campaign with a club-record 22 league defeats.

Their success in Bilbao was seismic, but it should not be forgotten that Spurs started the season as favourites for the Europa League alongside runners-up Manchester United.

It was only because both clubs had such wretched domestic seasons that it came to feel so miraculous that they met in the final. On paper, Spurs had one of the two strongest squads in UEFA’s secondary competition and benefitted from the rule change that meant no Champions League clubs dropped down into the Europa League.

They did not beat anyone en route to the final that they were not expected to, and their style of play in the knockouts was often attritional.

That is not to undermine their achievement, but to point out that winning the Europa League is not necessarily enough to excuse Tottenham’s league form.

There has been little, too, about Thomas Frank’s start at Spurs (or indeed Postecoglou’s time so far at Forest) to suggest the club made a mistake in replacing him with the Dane in the summer.

More relevant, though, than the actual merits of Postecoglou’s presentation of his time at Spurs is whether his passionate rhetoric can convince Forest’s fans and, most importantly, owner Evangelos Marinakis to stick with him if results do not dramatically improve.

During his two years in the capital, there were occasions when Postecoglou talked himself into a hole, but more frequently, the sheer force of his conviction in himself and his approach helped to relieve the pressure on him or change the narrative around his team.

Postecoglou’s oratory may even have helped to keep him in a job for so long. It is hard to imagine a coach who was less expressive publicly — say, his Forest predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo — surviving the same series of results and performances without being able to continually sell his vision to a large section of the fanbase (and indeed the media).

For Spurs fans, most of whom are now occupied by the intrigue of a new era at the club, Postecoglou’s status is already decided. To many, he is a hero who delivered one of the finest nights in the club’s modern history in Bilbao, but could have few complaints about his eventual dismissal.

The bigger question is whether his past achievements and present rhetoric will be enough to keep him in his latest job.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank said he is taking it “day by day and week by week” with Dominic Solanke, who had minor ankle surgery on October 1.

Solanke missed most of pre-season with an ankle injury before returning as a substitute in Tottenham’s UEFA Super Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on August 13.

He then featured as a second-half substitute in their opening two Premier League matches against Burnley and Manchester City, but has not played since their 2-0 away win at the Etihad Stadium on August 23.

The 28-year-old has returned to individual training after his ankle procedure, but Frank is keen not to rush the England international back to action.

“Dom’s progressing well after the surgery,” Frank said in his Friday press conference ahead of Tottenham’s home match against Aston Villa on Sunday. “(He’s) been on the pitch, actually don’t know if he was today, but definitely was the two days before that. So, the detail is, he’s progressing and he’s going forward. So that’s good.

“He’s progressing now, but he’s still training on his own, so I don’t want to be too excited or too negative either way. So I’m actually taking it a little bit day by day and week by week to see how quickly he progresses. Dom is a naturally fit player. There are some players that naturally get that fitness up to a high level.

“But of course, we also need to take into consideration he basically hasn’t trained with the team since July. But that’s not saying it will take three months to get up to pace. It’s just that it will take a little bit of time to get up to pace. How long? I don’t know.”

Mathys Tel started as the central striker in Spurs’ 2-1 away win against Leeds United before the international break, scoring the opening goal. He continued his goalscoring form with France’s Under-21s by netting once in each of their fixtures, a 6-1 win against Estonia and a 6-0 win against the Faroe Islands, where team-mate Wilson Odobert also starred. Richarlison, who has scored three goals in five league starts for Spurs this season, played 26 minutes for Brazil over the break.

Randal Kolo Muani, who signed for Tottenham on a season-long loan from PSG on deadline day, played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Watford over the break, stepping up his recovery from a dead leg. He is in contention to make his league debut for Tottenham on Sunday.

“Kolo Muani has trained now for two weeks with the team,” Frank said. “So that’s good. He looks better and better. He will be in contention for the squad. That’s positive.”

In less positive news, Yves Bissouma sustained an ankle ligament injury while on international duty with Mali. Bissouma, who has not featured for Spurs this season, was a second-half substitute in Mali’s 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Madagascar, but was stretchered off shortly after entering the pitch.

“Biss, unfortunately had a situation with the national team,” said Frank. “I think everyone saw that. He’s got a ligament injury to his ankle, that will keep him out for weeks.”

Mali, who have failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup next summer, will compete in the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco this winter.

Bissouma was left out of the Tottenham squad for the UEFA Super Cup due to disciplinary reasons and was also omitted from their roster for the Champions League initial phase.

Thomas Frank will be pleased with how much Tottenham Hotspur have progressed during his first four months in charge.

There has been a lot of drama off the field with Daniel Levy’s departure as executive chairman, interest from multiple parties in a potential sale and the official return of Fabio Paratici, but results have been mostly positive apart from a penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup and a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Spurs are third in the Premier League table after seven games and have the joint-second best defensive record. They have taken four points from their opening two Champions League games and reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Late equalisers against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion hint at a newfound resilience.

As a bonus, they broke their international break curse by beating Leeds United. Frank is making the slightly awkward task of replacing Ange Postecoglou look easy.

However, the next seven weeks will give us a better idea of what Spurs could achieve in the Dane’s first year. They have a daunting fixture list which includes a north London derby, two trips to St. James Park, home matches against Chelsea and Manchester United, plus a reunion with PSG (in the Champions League).

How can they emerge from this brutal period unscathed?

According to Frank, the last time Spurs challenged for multiple trophies in the same season was in 2018-19. Back then, Maurico Pochettino’s side lost the Champions League final to Liverpool, finished fourth in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.

After a decent start to the 2024-25 campaign under Postecoglou, things unravelled after the October international break. Spurs lost four of their next eight league matches and went on a three-game winless run in the Europa League. As the fixtures piled up, so did their injury list.

During the hiring process, Frank enquired about why Spurs suffered so many injuries last season. In his first press conference, he spoke about the importance of rotation.

“There’s a lot of talk about the games players are playing and the tempo and the intensity, but hopefully the way we train — building layers, building robustness into the players — is going to be a big part in making them more available throughout the season,” Frank said.

“Hopefully, we can make good decisions, with feeling, with knowledge, with numbers. When to rotate and when to rest is a big thing as well.”

He expanded on this before they beat Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup last month. “If you want to compete in all four tournaments, you need to be good enough to pick the right team every single time,” the 52-year-old said.

“We’re also aware that no player can play 60 games times 90 minutes. So, it’s that balance we need to hit throughout the season, not only because we are facing Doncaster. It could be Brighton, last week it was Villarreal. We made some changes and we need to hit that perfect number of players that rotate and then a strong team.”

Frank managed Brentford for two full seasons in the Championship and had to juggle 46 league games along with cup competitions. In the 2020-21 campaign, they finished third and lost to Spurs in a one-legged semi-final in the Carabao Cup. On average, he made 2.1 changes to the starting XI for every game in an attempt to keep the squad fresh.

Brentford recorded their best points total (59) in the Premier League in 2022-23 — and Frank did not name an unchanged line-up once. Ivan Toney started every game when fully fit but Frank would switch between Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. Ethan Pinnock, Ben Mee and Pontus Jansson rotated at centre-back.

Last season, he tweaked his approach because Wissa, Mbeumo, Kevin Schade and Mikkel Damsgaard were consistently performing at a high level. Brentford made 45 changes to their starting XI — fewer than any other team in the division. That indicates Frank recognises when to keep using the same players to maintain momentum. Brentford were also out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup come mid-January, so they were only in one competition from then on.

Frank’s selection decisions since he was appointed at Spurs suggest load management has been at the forefront of his mind. Richarlison missed their first pre-season game against Reading as the staff were “building him.” The Brazilian was replaced in the starting XI by Mathys Tel for the victories over West Ham United and Leeds. Spurs’ careful handling of Richarlison is working because he has already started more league games (five) than he managed last season (four).

Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur were dropped for the opening game against Burnley, three days after the UEFA Super Cup, which allowed Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr to excel. Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have started every league game but were rested for last month’s win over Doncaster. Romero missed the 2-2 draw against Bodo/Glimt with a knock and returned to face Leeds. Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie have alternated at left-back. Spence replaced Pedro Porro on the right for the 1-1 draw with Wolves.

Spurs suffered a lot of problems last season when fringe players were thrust into the starting XI because of injuries to key figures. They were usually undercooked due to a lack of playing time and often picked up their own fitness issues. Radu Dragusin only started one of Tottenham’s opening nine matches. He then started their next 14 top-flight fixtures before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in January’s Europa League tie against Elfsborg. Timo Werner sustained a hamstring injury in the same month following a 3-0 win over Tamworth in the FA Cup.

Frank has tried to give everybody game time to ensure they are sharp. Tel was left out of the Champions League squad but has started two league games. Kevin Danso and second-choice goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky are the only players who have featured in every Premier League squad who have not started a game yet.

Danso, though, played the full 90 minutes against PSG, Doncaster and Bodo/Glimt. The Austria international should feature more in this busy period when Van de Ven or Romero are rested. Dragusin returned to first-team training in September and is an alternative when fully fit. Frank wanted to sign another senior centre-back in the summer to protect Van de Ven and Romero, who both missed large chunks of last season with muscle issues. Sharing the minutes around will hopefully reduce the strain on key players so they are only pushed to the limit in exceptional circumstances.

Before last month’s encounter with Wolves, Frank spoke about how they keep evolving the squad’s recovery routines. “We have a very good coaching group and good staff where we have a clear idea and process of how we want to do it, but we constantly discuss the small details,” he said.

“For example, we had some that played a lot of minutes on Wednesday (against Doncaster). They are on the second day (of training). We still want to get a little bit out of them. Also, some that didn’t play, they need to get a little bit more out. So how do we get that physical load bang on? Plus, we want to get all the details in. So that is the ongoing discussion constantly and there’s no one-size-fits-all kind of matchday minus one (approach). It’s a constant, small little bit of development.”

Hopefully, all of these decisions will pay off when Spurs face five games in 13 days, including trips to Monaco, Everton and Newcastle, and the players are not exhausted.

The other issue which Frank needs to address ahead of this challenging period is their chance creation from open play. Spurs have been over-reliant on Mohammed Kudus beating defenders in one-v-one situations before shooting or crossing the ball into the box.

Kudus has started nine of Tottenham’s 11 games and has forged a promising partnership with Porro on the right wing. Frank has not found a permanent solution for the opposite flank. Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson and Xavi Simons have been trialled on the left. Tel is another option.

Spurs might not be creating a lot of high-quality chances but they have scored 13 times, which puts them level with Chelsea and Liverpool. Only Arsenal (14) and Manchester City (15) have more goals. The concern is that Frank’s side are significantly overperforming their xG (which measures the quality of their chances) of 7.5.

Tottenham have historically overperformed in this regard because they possessed two elite finishers in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, but they have both left.

The low-quality chances that Spurs are converting, including Bergvall’s header in the win over West Ham and Richarlison’s scissor kick against Burnley, suggest this is a lucky streak and not sustainable.

It was always going to take time for Frank to implement his ideas and for new signings to settle. Dominic Solanke, Tottenham’s club-record signing, has not started a single game due to an ankle injury which required surgery. Randal Kolo Muani, who is on a season-long loan from PSG, has been struggling with a dead leg.

There is a “good chance” Dejan Kulusevski will return from a knee injury before the end of 2025, but James Maddison will miss the majority of the season following an operation on his ACL. They are four quality and experienced attacking players who will give Spurs an extra dimension when they are available. It will be a massive boost if Kulusevski, Kolo Muani and Solanke are available for at least some of these games over the next two months.

Frank's ability to juggle the Premier League and the Champions League was one of the biggest questions hanging over him after making the step up from Brentford. All of the evidence suggests he is well prepared for the challenges ahead.

If Spurs reach December still in the top four and in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, maybe it will be time to readjust our expectations of what they could accomplish.

Welcome to The Athletic’s Premier League predictions challenge, back after the international break and still struggling to make sense of a strange campaign.

I wrote at length yesterday about some of the trends we are seeing so far in this season’s Premier League: more direct play, more reliance on set pieces, a lot more long throw-ins. Set-piece goals are up, but ball-in-play time is down significantly, as is the number of goals scored from open play.

Is it making for more entertaining football? On the basis of what we have seen so far this season, I would say definitely not. Has it made for more unpredictability? At times, perhaps, but not significantly so.

After seven games, the three pre-season title favourites (Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City) are first, second and fifth. There have been a few surprise results, but it seems notable that six of the 10 defeats suffered by the ‘Big Six’ clubs to date have come against fellow ‘Big Six’ opposition — and yes, I know people hate that term, but it reflects wealth, spending power and status rather than relatively minor fluctuations in on-pitch performance.

There was a refreshing weekend in late September when Brentford, Brighton and Crystal Palace beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. It was perhaps in response to those unexpected results that I predicted wins for Sunderland and Leeds United over Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively in week seven. But no, I was getting carried away; something more like normal service was resumed.

For the most part, the unpredictability has come from Bournemouth and Palace continuing to perform beyond expectations and two of last season’s top seven (Nottingham Forest and, until the last few weeks, Aston Villa) performing some way below.

All of which leaves us with a few things to chew on in our predictions challenge, where four of us — a guest subscriber, the algorithm, six-year-old Wilfred, and I — are predicting the Premier League results each week.

We’re awarding three points for a correct scoreline and one point for a correct result. There’s also a bonus point for any correct “unique” prediction, so subscriber Ben got a whopping four-pointer for Wolves 1-1 Brighton, whereas I had to content myself with three points for Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United because the algorithm also got it spot-on.

Going into the closing stages of the Sunday 2pm kick-offs in week seven, young Wilf was on course for no fewer than three spot-ons. But then came late goals for Newcastle, Burnley and Everton, and a 10-point haul from those four Sunday 2pm fixtures, including a bonus point, was thus reduced to two. It’s a cruel game.

Ben, an Aston Villa fan from Australia, was the top scorer in week seven, registering eight points to put the subscribers back in striking distance.

The algorithm is still in first place, but that two-point lead looks fragile.

This week’s guest subscriber is Steve, a 47-year-old West Ham fan from London. Over to you, Steve.

Our subscriber’s match of the week

West Ham vs Brentford, Monday, 8pm UK/3pm ET

Steve says: "Unsurprisingly, I’ll opt for the Monday night east/west London showdown. Expect empty seats due to the planned boycott against the owners, which will have zero impact on the atmosphere in the temporary athletics stadium (one of the various issues being highlighted by my comrades). There's an irony in terms of the timing of the boycott and Monday's opposition (perhaps only Brighton would have been more acute).

"Brentford are everything West Ham are not: data-led, properly structured, planning for the future, clear strategy. But Nuno Espirito Santo is already more popular than Graham Potter merely by making massively obvious team calls: enabling a young and dynamic midfield to form around Mateus Fernandes, starting Soungoutou Magassa, Freddie Potts as first change… And there have been noticeable, albeit small, improvements, so I'm hoping for a narrow win."

West Ham 2-1 Brentford

Oli says: Nuno hardly had time to draw breath after replacing Potter as West Ham coach: barely 48 hours to prepare for his opening game, away to Everton, and then an unenviable trip to Arsenal five days after that. He will be grateful for time to reflect before his first home game in charge and perhaps, having had so many of his players away on international duty, he will also appreciate a couple of extra days to prepare for a televised Monday night fixture — not least to try to find a way to neutralise Brentford’s threat from dead-ball situations.

West Ham 2-1 Brentford

The rest of Oli's predictions

Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea

Oli says: Imagine how different things would be at Nottingham Forest if they had beaten Chelsea on the final day of last season, came fourth and qualified for the Champions League. They played well in that game, but lost, finished seventh and ended up in a ludicrous situation where they convinced themselves that the answer was sacking Nuno and replacing him with Ange Postecoglou, a coach with such a radically different playing style. For that, you can blame the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and his head of global football, Edu. But we all know the fall guy will be Postecoglou. And probably sooner rather than later.

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea

Brighton vs Newcastle

I still haven’t got a single Brighton result right. It looked like I’d nailed it in week seven by going against my instinct and tipping them to lose at bottom-of-the-table Wolves, but then they rallied and scored an 86th-minute equaliser. I love watching them, but they’re infuriating. Do I take the same approach here (i.e., I think they’ll lose, therefore I predict they’ll win)? No, I will actually go with my gut feeling here.

Brighton 1-1 Newcastle

Burnley vs Leeds

Leeds, like Sunderland, have adapted well to the demands of the Premier League. Burnley have found it harder. But their four defeats have come against Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City — and in two of those cases, the winning goal came in stoppage time. Their performances at Turf Moor suggest they will be far more competitive than two seasons ago. Burnley had the better of their two clashes with Leeds in the Championship last season: a 1-0 win at Elland Road and a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor — and I can see them edging this one.

Burnley 1-0 Leeds

Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth

Oliver Glasner won just one of his first six Premier League games in charge of Crystal Palace. Andoni Iraola won none of his first nine at Bournemouth. What they have achieved since then will give every beleaguered coach the belief that they can recover from a horrible start if only they are granted the time to do so. But the reality is that what Glasner and Iraola have achieved is exceptional in more ways than one. Both teams surprised expectations last season and, having lost key players in the summer, have been even more impressive this term. This one could go either way.

Crystal Palace 2-1 Bournemouth

Manchester City vs Everton

The last time Everton won at Manchester City was in December 2010, when David Moyes was in his first spell in charge of the Merseyside club and Seamus Coleman was a 22-year-old playing on the right wing. They have had some uplifting results since Moyes returned to the club last January, but going to the Etihad Stadium and winning seems like a tall order for this team. They will miss Jack Grealish, who has impressed on loan but is ineligible to face his parent club, and they will surely — like everyone else — struggle to contain Erling Haaland.

Manchester City 3-0 Everton

Sunderland vs Wolves

With less than a quarter of the season gone, Sunderland already have 11 points on the board, which is highly impressive given that the biggest total achieved by a newly promoted team in the last two seasons was Luton Town’s 25. They are already nine points clear of Wolves, who can ill afford to fall further adrift at the bottom of the table. Right now, Sunderland look far more likely to stay up, but I would expect a slight levelling-up as the season progresses. I think a draw for this one… or possibly a tight game that is won in stoppage time.

Sunderland 1-1 Wolves

Fulham vs Arsenal

Arsenal’s players and supporters will not look back fondly on their last two visits to Fulham, a damaging 2-1 defeat on New Year’s Eve 2023 and a frustrating 1-1 draw last December, but this is an opportunity to demonstrate that they are stronger. The weekend after an international break often throws up uncertainties, but Mikel Arteta’s team are reliably competitive and the loss of their captain, Martin Odegaard, to injury shouldn’t change that. Fulham will give it a go, but Arsenal will be too strong. Set piece again, ole ole.

Fulham 1-2 Arsenal

Tottenham vs Aston Villa

Early days in the season and I’m not yet sure what to make of these two. Tottenham are third, only one defeat in seven games, but they don’t really seem to have clicked performance-wise under Thomas Frank and, looking at their fixture list over the next six weeks or so, it is fair to say they are about to be asked more serious questions. Villa seem to have found their feet after a slow start, but it has still looked and felt a little laboured. Both need to go up a gear in the coming weeks.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa

Liverpool vs Manchester United

Manchester United’s last nine results at Anfield, starting from October 2016: 0-0, 0-0, 1-3, 0-2, 0-0, 0-4, 0-7, 0-0, 2-2. Those games have fallen into two categories: those in which they have been beaten comprehensively (and in some cases annihilated) and those in which they have fought hard to get a point. A spirited 2-2 draw last January was one of their best performances so far under Ruben Amorim, a game that lent some credence to the notion that Arne Slot’s team can be frustrated by playing against a back three/five system like United’s. All of this, plus Liverpool’s early-season teething problems, points to a much tighter game than some of those listed above, but I would lean towards a home win, with at least one of Slot’s expensive new signings coming good.

Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United

Since moving to Munich two years ago, the Kane family wardrobe has gained a few new items: lederhosen (the leather breeches worn by men in southern Germany) and a collection of dirndls (an outfit comprising a blouse, bodice, skirt and apron that originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps).

“They’re actually really comfortable,” says Kane of the lederhosen he first wore at Oktoberfest, an annual beer festival held in Munich, in 2023 and then when his new team Bayern Munich celebrated winning the 2024-25 Bundesliga in May.

“When I first saw them, I thought it was going to be horrible (to wear), but they’re more comfortable than they look. It’s a big tradition here. I’ve got one that I got through the club, but my wife has got her dirndls — a few different ones now — and is fully going for it.”

The 32-year-old is wearing a more conservative black tracksuit when he meets The Athletic at a football ground belonging to amateur side SV Heimstetten. He’s here as an ambassador for STATSports, which is launching the STATSports Academy, a training tool for youth players who are not part of a professional youth setup.

A few days earlier, Kane scored a hat-trick in Bayern’s 4-1 win aganist Hoffenheim — the ninth three-goal haul of his time in Germany’s top division and his second this season. The Bundesliga champions are unbeaten this season, with crucial contributions from Kane (11 goals and three assists in the league).

For England, Kane scored his 75th and 76th international goals against Latvia on Tuesday as Thomas Tuchel’s side became the first team in Europe to qualify for next summer’s World Cup.

Kane describes leaving Tottenham Hotspur and London — a club and city that had been his home for so long — as “a big step from a professional and personal point of view”, but it’s one he has no regrets over. Speaking on the same day that Spurs head coach Thomas Frank says the England captain would be “more than welcome” back in north London, Kane makes it very clear he is happy in Munich, and that the additions to his wardrobe are there to stay, for now.

On the day we meet, this year’s Oktoberfest has been running for two days, with Kane and his team-mates not due to make their annual visit until the final day. The festival takes him back to his early months in Germany, when every day brought new experiences.

“It’s a big event here, you can feel when it’s on in how busy the city is; so many people, and a lot of beers. I really enjoyed my first experience of it. But I didn’t drink, so maybe I’ll have to go one year when I can and experience it that way.”

Before he arrived in Munich, Kane didn’t know what to expect from living in Germany. “Until you experience something, it’s hard to really judge what it’s actually going to be like.

“I think there’s a perception that German people are maybe a bit grumpy and a bit cold. But they’ve got a great sense of humour and are really down-to-earth people who love hard work and humbleness.”

He did know how big a club Bayern were, though. “Everyone pretty much supports Bayern Munich here,” he says. “Everyone talks about football, loves football. So even when I’m out and about or picking the kids up from school, everyone’s giving compliments when I’m scoring goals. It’s like one big community.”

He laughs while describing his experience at the school gates: “There’s quite a lot of kids there who are excited to see me, as well as my kids. Mine find it quite funny with everyone else asking for pictures. I just try to zone in and get them in and out.”

Kane had spent his entire playing career in England before he swapped Spurs for Bayern in August 2023. It has become increasingly common in recent years for young English players to continue their development abroad, but the path is less established for senior players.

Kane says the move has been overwhelmingly positive: “From a professional point of view, it’s been great to experience and to showcase my talents to more of the world. It’s helped me to become an even better and bigger player. The Premier League is probably the biggest league in the world, so you don’t realise how big the other leagues are and how big their fanbases are. Every stadium we go to is full. The atmospheres are amazing.”

He’s trying to learn the language — “When I’m in the lessons, I’m OK. But when I am out of the lessons and I hear them talk properly and quickly, I’m nowhere near” — but is being humbled by his children, who are in an international school and picking it up quickly. “But I’m trying these things, trying to fit in and understand the different cultures — it’s great from a personal point of view.”

Some things, though, do not change, wherever he is in the world. Spending time with his wife Kate and four children in the local park or on dog walks through the forest remains a priority when he’s not playing or training. His eldest daughter has a passion for horse riding, while his eldest son is already football-obsessed. “He’s just smashing the ball everywhere,” says Kane. “As they get older, they take up more of your time and we don’t get a lot of free time. So I try to spend as much as I can with them.”

His passion for golf is well documented (he plays off a handicap of around three) and it remains a favourite pastime when the children are at school. But while the courses are good in Munich, the winter climate makes playing tricky for half the year. “The snow comes down pretty early,” says Kane. “From October to April, the courses are pretty much shut because the snow takes over. Whereas in England, you can play most of the year.”

Aside from friends and family, Kane says there is not much that he misses from home. If pushed, he’d say the golf courses — “Just the different types and the privacy in some of the clubhouses” — but he gets a round in whenever back in England. He also apologetically says he’s not a big fan of the coffee in Germany: “I do miss a good oat milk flat white.”

The locals are likely to forgive him, given he scored 44 and 41 goals in his first two seasons at Bayern, and he is hitting an average of 1.8 goals per game this season. After the disappointment of a third-place finish in his first season, Kane played an important role in regaining the title (their 12th in 13 seasons) last year — the first major trophy of his career.

“Obviously it was a long time coming,” he says. “There was a lot of hard work from when I started my career to that moment. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of close moments. As the years go on and you get closer, it just made me more motivated to get over the line, to make sure I win the first trophy.

“It was a special feeling. We had a restaurant that we took over and just got drunk and celebrated together. Then lifting the trophy at the Allianz in front of the fans and being on that side of it for once was really special. I had my family there, my kids on the pitch after.

“Those are the moments that make it all worth it. You work so hard throughout the year, you’re away a lot, you’re training a lot. To not have had a celebration like that in the 10 or 12 years I’ve been playing… it was nice to have that feeling.”

A moment like that can transform an athlete. After British tennis player Andy Murray won his first Grand Slam tournament — the U.S. Open in 2012 — it seemed to change his personality, lifting a burden that had weighed him down and spurring him on to more success.

“Winning is almost like a drug,” says Kane. “You want to do it, you want to achieve it. When you achieve something like that, you can maybe think, ‘OK, I’ve done what I wanted to do and relax a little bit’.

“But I’ve gone the other way in terms of: ‘OK, I want to do even more now. I want to experience that with bigger trophies, on bigger occasions. Can I improve and make that happen?’.”

With fewer than 250 days until the 2026 World Cup begins in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the England captain says he’s excited for the tournament.

Kane was part of the Bayern squad that played at the Club World Cup this summer, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. The competition provided insight for next summer.

“The heat is going to be a big factor,” he says. “I didn’t realise how hot it was going to be, especially with the midday and 3pm kick-offs. There’s a big difference in playing a lot of night games here in Europe. The travel is going to be difficult to handle, too.”

Yet these challenges are all the kinds of things that make a World Cup special, he adds. “Feeling like every game is an away game, getting the English support there. They just have a special feeling about them.

“It’s going to be a massive tournament — because in America, they make everything massive. They’re not going to let this one go by without making it one of the best tournaments in the world. I’m excited for it and I think we have a good chance.”

Before then, Kane wants to deliver more success to a city that has become home — and don those lederhosen at least one more time.

On Wednesday morning, Tottenham Hotspur announced that Fabio Paratici had been appointed as their co-sporting director alongside Johan Lange.

Paratici previously worked for the north London side between 2021 and 2023. He resigned from his role as managing director of football after being banned by FIFA for alleged financial mispractice during his time with Juventus, which he has always denied. After successfully appealing the scope of his ban, Paratici was allowed to act as a consultant for Spurs and remained a close confidante of former executive chairman Daniel Levy.

Lange joined Spurs from Aston Villa in November 2023, six months after Paratici’s resignation, and became their technical director. He has been promoted and will work closely with Paratici. Spurs plan to hire a director of football operations to help them.

In an interview on the club’s website, chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham explained the new model. “We are going to benefit from both of their expertise and experience in terms of how we drive the club on the pitch,” he said. In a separate statement, he described the pair as “exceptional leaders” with “outstanding football minds” and that they are “setting the foundations for success.”

Here, The Athletic examines how Spurs’ new-look structure will work and why Paratici has come back.

How will Lange and Paratici work together?

Lange and Paratici have different strengths and weaknesses. The new set-up has been structured in a way to capitalise on their areas of expertise.

“Johan will be focused on scouting, performance, football insights, performance analysis and the academy,” Venkatesham said. “Fabio will be more focused on players, the transfer window, the loans and pathways department. They have different focuses but the reality is they will work together on everything, in particular around squad planning and player recommendations.”

It makes sense that Lange will concentrate on identifying players because he has a close relationship with head of scouting Robert Mackenzie and head of football insights and strategy Frederik Leth. The trio worked together previously at Aston Villa and played a key role in reshaping Tottenham’s recruitment department to focus more heavily on data.

Paratici showed he has the skill and expertise to pull off difficult transfers in his previous roles with Spurs and Juventus.

“The sporting director role has changed a lot in the last 5-10 years,” Paratici said in a joint interview with Lange. “We have a lot of different models and structures in Europe. In every model, maybe the job titles are different but there are at least two to three people driving the football areas.

“We need more people and specialists. We have a lot of departments to manage. We have a transfer window, players, agents. We need people and I’m very happy to work with this group of people and to join Johan. We know each other very well. We are complementary and have different skills. I’m so Italian, I’m so passionate and maybe emotional and I’m sure I can be better close to him.”

It should be noted Lange joined Tottenham in October 2023 from Aston Villa where he was sporting director. He left four months after Monchi joined, a hire that meant Lange’s role changed to global director of football development and international academies. The Dane was billed as a replacement for Paratici.

Although Tottenham hired Lange as technical director, their chief football officer at the time, Scott Munn, praised his “excellent track record of scouting and signing many talented and successful youth and senior players.” It remains to be seen if Lange and Paratici do really complement each other or overlap.

Why did Paratici resign?

Paratici was one of 11 Juventus executives banned after the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) reopened an investigation into inflated transfer fees on the basis of new evidence that came to light in a separate criminal case into the club’s affairs. Wiretaps were splashed all over the sports pages in Italy without, the defence argued, proper context.

Upon issuing a two-and-a-half-year ban, the FIGC then applied to FIFA for it to apply worldwide and Paratici, then at Tottenham, was forced to resign. Initially banned from “any football-related activity”, Paratici successfully appealed to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee in order to work in a reduced capacity as a consultant. The suspension expired in July.

Separately, the criminal case reached a conclusion at the end of last month in Rome. Paratici entered a plea bargain and received a suspended 18-month sentence.

As Juventus’ former chairman Andrea Agnelli explained in a statement confirming the entry of his own plea bargain, in Italy “this is without civil effects or additional penalties, without the acknowledgement of responsibility and, therefore, consistent with (a) position of innocence.”

How involved has he been at Spurs since?

This announcement will not surprise the majority of Spurs fans. Paratici has never tried to hide the fact he was still closely associated with the club. He was frequently spotted at games and took photos with fans. He attended the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in August and sat near Lange. He advised Levy on transfers and the process to hire a new head coach after Ange Postecoglou was sacked in June.

It felt inevitable that he would eventually return in an official capacity, even though Paratici held informal preliminary talks with Milan in April. Milan, in the end, withdrew on the basis of his lingering ban, which had yet to expire, and an already pressing need to prepare for a big transfer window as the team finished eighth in Serie A. They hired Igli Tare instead.

While flattered, Paratici’s preference was to resume work in the Premier League and there was, already then, a belief he’d return to Tottenham once his legal issues in Italy were resolved.

Why have they brought him back?

Signing players is extremely difficult. Signing elite players is even harder. Paratici has an excellent reputation for smart recruitment. He is credited with playing a major role in Spurs signing Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie, who are all key players under Thomas Frank and played an important role in Spurs winning the Europa League.

Spurs were stung in the summer by their failed pursuits of Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze. Their hope must be that with Paratici back at the centre of their operations, they will avoid any future disappointment.

What does Levy’s exit mean for the sporting director roles?

Levy usually got involved towards the end of a transfer. The recruitment department would identify a potential signing, the head coach would try to convince them to join Spurs and then it was up to Levy to negotiate a price. For example, Levy held talks with Crystal Palace’s chairman Steve Parish for weeks over Eze, who eventually moved to north London rivals Arsenal. Levy’s departure means somebody else will be responsible for that element of a deal and it will probably be Paratici.

Levy had a lot of control at Spurs and this new model with Venkatesham, Lange and Paratici might be more beneficial long-term. They can challenge each other to ensure they reach the right outcome.

“I’m certainly not expecting them to agree on everything and I’m not worried about that,” Venkatesham said. “I welcome that. We are going to have lots of important decisions ahead to drive the football club and I’m a firm believer in having more voices and opinions to make the right decisions. I think having both Johan and Fabio in roles means we will make better decisions. That will mean we make less mistakes and more decisions that work for the football club.”

Are there other examples of co-sporting directors working?

This is a dynamic Frank is familiar with because he worked under two co-sporting directors at Brentford. Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen were appointed at the same time in May 2015 and they worked together for six years. During that time, Brentford reached two Championship play-off finals, earning promotion to the Premier League at the second attempt. Ankersen left to become the chief executive officer of Sport Republic, who bought Southampton in January 2022, and Giles became the sole sporting director.

Ankersen and Giles collaborated on lots of key decisions, including hiring Frank as an assistant in December 2016 and then promoting him to the head coach role two years later.

Interestingly, there are a few similarities between Giles and Lange and Paratici and Ankersen. Giles played a crucial role in Brentford integrating data into their recruitment process. Lange revolutionised Spurs’ use of data following his appointment and hired lots of extra staff. They are both more reserved characters than Ankersen and Paratici and tend to stay out of the limelight.

In a piece for The Athletic earlier this year about Giles’ decade at Brentford, Frank spoke about how he was focused on “strategies, processes and alignment.”

“Rasmus was the more innovative and outgoing guy,” Frank said. “When Rasmus was going in one direction and I was going in the other, Phil kept everything together.”

It sounds very similar to the dynamic which Lange, Paratici and Venkatesham described in their interviews. Paratici and Venkatesham, in particular, are no strangers to sharing roles. Paratici worked with Beppe Marotta at Sampdoria and Juventus before earning a promotion in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing. Tandems are not uncommon in Italy. Marotta, now at Inter, works with Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin. Milan’s last title was credited in local media to Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara working together on recruitment.

The other example which springs to mind is when Venkatesham was Arsenal’s managing director and Raul Sanllehi became their head of football. They had different job titles but the split in responsibilities mirrors what will happen with Lange and Paratici. In that instance, Sanllehi left Arsenal after two years.

There is another current example in the Premier League. In February 2023, Chelsea announced Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart would be co-sporting directors.

How involved will Frank be in transfers now?

Spurs have a collaborative approach to transfers so Frank will still be heavily involved. Frank will discuss with the coaching staff where he thinks the squad needs to be strengthened and will relay that information to Lange and Paratici. They will then identify potential targets, reach out to them and hopefully secure their signing with minimal fuss.

During an interview with The Athletic during their pre-season tour in Hong Kong and South Korea, Frank spoke about the differences between the set-up at Brentford and Spurs.

“Obviously we are signing players here where the processes in Brentford, I’m not saying they were better, I think they’re very good. I think that Johan and his team is doing a top job, but just for them to understand what I’m looking for, so that needs to be aligned.

“At Brentford it was aligned… ‘I want that’, ‘OK, fine’, we look at it, boom. And now I need to use more time with Johan and Rob and these guys and then we make presentations. So all that is just extra hours every day.”

It will take a little bit of time for the new dynamic to settle but they will hope they have found the right partnership.

Former Tottenham Hotspur director Fabio Paratici has returned to the club following the end of a 30-month ban from football activity.

The 53-year-old will act as joint-sporting director with Johan Lange, who has been promoted from the position of technical director.

In a statement, Spurs said the pair “will lead our men’s football strategy and drive an ambitious new chapter for the club”, and revealed they would also be appointing a new director of football operations to support Paratici and Lange in their new roles.

Paratici was one of 11 former Juventus executives banned from Italian football after being accused of financial malpractice, and this suspension was extended worldwide by FIFA in March 2023. The ban related to the inflation of transfer fees for accounting purposes during his time at Juventus.

Paratici was formerly Tottenham’s managing director of football, appointed in June 2021 by former executive chairman Daniel Levy.

He stepped back from his role at Spurs and officially resigned in April 2023 following the rejection of his appeal against his worldwide ban. The ban was partially reduced in April 2023 to enable him to work in football in a reduced capacity, and formally ended in the summer of 2025.

During his ban, he worked on a consultancy basis for Spurs, advising Levy and the club on transfers.

In a statement on Wednesday, Spurs said: “Johan and Fabio’s combined expertise will ensure that every decision, from player pathways and performance development to scouting and recruitment, is aligned and supports one overarching goal — to build a winning, world-class men’s team that endures.

“This partnership reflects a progressive approach to modern football operations — uniting two proven leaders with complementary experience, and a commitment to collaboration and innovation.”

The club’s CEO Vinai Venkatesham said: “This is an important evolution in how we operate. The remit of a sporting director today is vast, and by uniting two exceptional leaders in Johan and Fabio, we’re setting the foundations for sustained success.

“They are both outstanding football minds, with complementary expertise and strong track records. This structure reflects our ambition and our determination to compete at the very highest level to deliver for our supporters.

“Together, Fabio and Johan will lead with purpose — building not only a competitive men’s squad, but a connected football ecosystem where every detail contributes to our shared ambition: to make our club a benchmark for excellence in world football.”

Paratici said the role of sporting director had “change a lot” in the past decade and believes he and Lange will work well together.

“We need more people and specialists,” Paratici said in an interview with club channels. “We have a lot of departments to manage. We have a transfer window, players, agents. We need people and I’m very happy to work with this group of people and to join Johan. We know each other very well. We are complementary and we have different skills. I’m so Italian, I’m so passionate and maybe emotional and I’m sure I can be better close to him.”

The return of Paratici is the latest development in a year of change at Tottenham, which began when former Arsenal chief executive Venkatesham was appointed in April. The 44-year-old began his role in the summer, and will take responsibility for all operational matters on and off the field.

In June, head coach Ange Postecoglou was sacked after Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League, despite leading the club to victory in May’s Europa League final, their first trophy in 17 years. He was replaced by Thomas Frank, who joined the north London side after seven years with Brentford.

The same month, Tottenham announced that long-serving executive director Donna-Maria Cullen had stepped down from her position on the board and will leave the club.

In September, Levy was removed as Tottenham chairman after 24 years in charge of the club. A club statement said Levy had “stepped down” but the decision was taken by the club’s majority shareholders, the Lewis family. Peter Charrington stepped into the role of non-executive chairman.

After Paratici’s initial appointment, the club finished fourth in the Premier League under head coach Antonio Conte during his first season in the role.

He joined Spurs following 11 years as sporting director at Juventus, where he oversaw one of the most successful periods in the Italian club’s history, winning nine Serie A titles and reaching the Champions League final twice.

‘Paratici back to take centre stage’

Analysis from Tottenham correspondent Jay Harris

This has been one of the worst kept secrets in football. It has felt inevitable for some time that Paratici would eventually return to Spurs in an official capacity.

Paratici resigned from his role as the club’s managing director of football in April 2023 but after successfully appealing the scope of his ban from FIFA was allowed to act as a consultant. The Italian remained a close confidante of former executive chairman Daniel Levy and was heavily involved in their transfer business.

Paratici never tried to hide the fact he was still working with Spurs. He was frequently spotted at games and took photos with fans. He was sat nearby Johan Lange, who was technical director at the time, for the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in August. Thomas Frank, who replaced Ange Postecoglou as head coach in June, spoke about having a “good relationship” with Paratici.

Lange oversaw huge changes to the scouting and data departments after he arrived from Aston Villa in November 2023 but Paratici’s contacts book is unrivalled. Sources at Spurs, who wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships, have previously spoken about how the pair’s skills neatly complement each other. Lange’s promotion to joint sporting director is recognition of some of the impressive deals he has led in the transfer market including the signing of Lucas Bergvall.

Paratici’s return addresses an issue which had been raised following Levy’s dramatic departure — who would be responsible for negotiating transfers? It looks like Paratici will now take centre stage with assistance from Lange and chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham.

If you have been following the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur players over this international break, you may have seen Micky van de Ven line up in an unusual role for the Netherlands.

With a wealth of options at centre-back — including Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Nathan Ake, Stefan de Vrij and Jurrien Timber — Ronald Koeman opted to play Van de Ven at left-back in their 4-0 win against Finland. Given the intense competition at the heart of defence, perhaps Van de Ven playing at left-back is his most straightforward way into his nation’s starting XI for the World Cup next year.

In north London, his position is set in stone. He is a part of one of the Premier League’s most formidable centre-back partnerships, serving as the sweeping insurance option to Cristian Romero’s proactive defending. In temperament, physical attributes and technical style, Romero and Van de Ven are yin and yang. Their contrasting demeanours and skill sets provide a balance that elevates their team.

Over his first 10 matches in charge of Tottenham, Thomas Frank attempted to find a similar balance across his entire side. During Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, an overemphasis on offensive attitude delivered memorable results but also Spurs’ worst league finish of the Premier League era. The scales were unbalanced, so Frank’s focus is now on establishing a sense of tactical equilibrium.

He is addressing the defence’s structural weaknesses, but Tottenham’s attacking unit has not consistently gelled under Frank. Before Tottenham travelled to Elland Road to face Leeds United, their final pre-break fixture, 45.8 per cent of their chances created came from the right wing, with 29.2 per cent from central positions and just 25 per cent from the left.

It’s a statistical confirmation of what the eye test had shown in the early weeks: Mohammed Kudus and Pedro Porro are building a budding relationship, while the left side is lagging for creativity.

But in that 2-1 win against Leeds, Tottenham appeared to make strides in addressing that discrepancy. It was the first time Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Destiny Udogie had started together, and they had natural chemistry from the outset.

Djed Spence is an elite wide defender at the top of his game — Spurs have conceded just one goal across games he has started this season — but passing lanes and angles on the left are obscured when he is in possession as a right-footed player.

Spence has undeniable technical and physical qualities, but Udogie’s directness and ability to drive down the wing as a left-footed dribbler gave the team a fresh attacking verve from the left at Elland Road. Combining with Simons, who naturally drifts towards the left from central areas, and Odobert, who drifts into central areas, giving the Italian space on the overlap, Tottenham created three decent chances inside the first half from the left wing.

Most encouragingly, that improved attacking dynamism came without diminishing the threat from the right. Kudus assisted Mathys Tel’s opener, playing a through ball down the right channel to the Frenchman, before scoring from a similar position in the second half, with the initial ball in his direction delivered by Porro.

Odobert is a talent who could become as effective as Kudus. In his best performance of the season, he put together slick combinations with Udogie, Simons and Tel, and could have notched an assist if Tel had managed to divert a first-half header on target.

Odobert and Tel are flourishing together on the international stage for France Under-21s, with Odobert registering a combined four goals and two assists in 6-0 and 6-1 wins against the Faroe Islands and Estonia. Tel, who scored his first of the season for Spurs against Leeds, also netted in both games for France Under-21s.

Before Spurs’ win at Leeds, Frank pointed out that attacking imbalance is not always an issue. If one side is creating chances, perhaps you need the other side to finish them. That said, against Leeds, where creativity was more spread across the horizontal thirds, Kudus became a finisher, as well as a provider.

After testing the waters with moves for Manchester City’s Savinho and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo in the summer, Tottenham may re-enter the market to sign a left-winger in January or next summer.

However, with Odobert finding rhythm and confidence for club and country, he offers Frank creative balance, which Spurs may need against opponents content to sit back and test Tottenham’s ability to break them down.

In his short tenure, Frank has demonstrated his ability to construct his team in various structures and formations, finding success, and there seems to be room for every senior player to make an impact in at least one of them.

Against Leeds, where Tottenham found greater creative balance on their left, he seems to be on his way to building another.