Inside Futbol

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Tottenham Hotspur’s senior players are not giving Thomas Frank the respect he deserves, journalist Alex Crook believes.

Spurs have struggled to build consistency under Frank since he took over and will be in the bottom half of the Premier League on Christmas Day.

They were turned over by Liverpool at home on Saturday and have won just one of their last five league outings.

There have been increasing question marks over Spurs appointing the former Brentford boss and one of the club’s former players declared after their north London derby loss that the Dane is not the right man.

Frank has meanwhile admitted his side need to work on recovering from setbacks to build consistency.

The Dane only counts Brentford and Brondby as the club sides he has managed and he was not a high profile appointment for Tottenham.

Against Liverpool, Tottenham had Cristian Romero and Xavi Simons sent off, and Crook feels the lack of discipline points to a wider issue, which is that the senior stars at the club are not giving Frank enough respect.

Player Carded Xavi Simons Red card Cristian Romero Yellow, red card Micky van de Ven Yellow card Rodrigo Bentancur Yellow card Tottenham players carded vs Liverpool

Crook said on talkSPORT (21st December, 15:11): “I think the loss of discipline of players from senior players like Cristian Romero is a reflection at the moment on the relationship between Thomas Frank, the new manager, and the Tottenham players.

“I don’t think they are giving him the respect he deserves.”

Ex-Premier League winger Perry Groves does agree there is a problem and thinks it stems from there being too many egos in the Tottenham dressing room.

“This goes back to the game where Djed Spence and [Micky] Van de Ven walked off the pitch and they blanked him [Frank].

“If you were trying to assert your authority, and I know Van de Ven is their best player and Djed Spence is an England international, but I’d have dropped both of them for the next game and said ‘I’m in control of this dressing room, I’m in control of what goes on here on the pitch, not you’.

“I think there’s too many egos at Spurs. There is a culture problem.”

Tottenham have only won six of their 17 Premier League games so far this season, which is half the number of Arsenal and Manchester City and five fewer than Aston Villa.

Home form has been a particular problem for Frank’s men and they have only served up two wins in nine home league games.

If Frank cannot rapidly fix Spurs’ home form, they will likely struggle to finish in the European places this season.

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro is one of the candidates that Inter Milan are monitoring ahead of the rapidly approaching January transfer window, but he is rated as ‘very expensive’.

The 26-year-old full-back joined Tottenham from Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon in the winter of 2023 and later the north London side signed him permanently.

He has been keeping a keen eye on how he has been performing at Tottenham compared to at Sporting Lisbon.

Porro played a key role last season in helping Tottenham win the Europa League, as he featured 13 times in the tournament while making five goal contributions.

Under new manager Thomas Frank, Tottenham are yet to find consistency in their performances, but Porro has started every single game for the Danish tactician, even captaining them in the EFL Cup.

He still has two and a half years left on his current deal with Spurs and the Spaniard is garnering attention from Italy ahead of the transfer window.

Italian giants Inter Milan have Porro on their list of candidates they are monitoring to add to their full-back department, according to Italian outlet Tutto Mercato, but he is rated as ‘very expensive’.

Denzel Dumfries suffered an ankle injury in November which will keep him out of action until March and Nerazzurri coach Cristian Chivu wants to bring in someone to strengthen that department.

Club Peralada Girona Manchester City Real Valladolid Sporting Lisbon Tottenham Hotspur Clubs Pedro Porro has been on the books at

The Dutch defender also has a €25m release clause in his contract which will be active in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Dumfries has suitors in the market and Inter Milan are planning ahead of time to secure another right-back.

However, Tottenham’s Porro is not the only player they are looking at, with Marco Palestra, Idrissa Toure, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Moris Valincic all on their radar.

In the event of Porro’s departure, Frank would be short of options in the full-back department and it is, however, unclear whether Porro wants to move to Italy.

Tottenham’s main focus in the summer transfer window was to strengthen the forward department and they brought in Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, who former Premier League striker Dean Ashton believes to have a high ceiling.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 17:30 UK time

Thomas Frank has selected his Tottenham Hotspur lineup to welcome Premier League champions Liverpool to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening.

Liverpool look well short of what is required to defend their title, but the under-fire Arne Slot has at least seen some improved results of late.

The Reds arrive in north London having now gone five games unbeaten, winning two of those, even though they have yet to fully convince.

Tottenham host Liverpool under some pressure themselves, with continued questions over whether Frank is the right boss.

Despite all the criticism of Ange Postecoglou last season, Frank has Tottenham sitting in the bottom half of the league table with Christmas on the horizon.

Frank will need to rapidly improve that, but he has admitted that his team have not been dealing well with setbacks.

Guglielmo Vicario is in goal for Tottenham this evening, with Frank sticking by him despite errors against Nottingham Forest.

At the back, Frank trusts in a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence to keep the Liverpool attack quiet.

Midfield is an area both sides will want to dominate and Tottenham have Archie Gray, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall to call upon.

Xavi Simons is handed a start and he will be looking, along with Mohammed Kudus, to support Randal Kolo Muani in the final third of the pitch.

If Frank needs to influence the game from the bench then he does have options to shake up his Tottenham lineup and they include Richarlison and Mathys Tel.

Tottenham Hotspur Lineup vs Liverpool

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Bergvall, Simons, Kudus, Kolo Muani

Substitutes: Kinsky, Dragusin, Danso, Palhinha, Richarlison, Tel, Johnson, Odobert, Davies

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank has acknowledged that finding consistency is not a quick fix, but has insisted that his Spurs side are working very hard to find some.

Spurs initially had a solid start under Frank this season and lost just one of their opening seven games, but have since had a dip and find themselves eleventh in the table after 16 games.

Frank’s woes have increased as the season has progressed, with the latest 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest drawing widespread criticism for the Dane due to holding off on making changes in the game which one former striker dubbed ‘astonishing’.

Spurs have not won two games in a row in the Premier League since the opening two matches of the season, displaying their lack of consistency in results.

When asked about his team’s lack of consistent results, Frank acknowledged that they are not yet resilient enough to overcome setbacks.

Frank added that Spurs are working very hard to be consistent, maintaining that it is not a quick fix.

Asked why Tottenham are good when they are good, but very bad when they are bad, Frank said during a press conference (11:10): “It’s a fair comment. The best teams create a stamina where they are very resilient to setbacks.

Club Years Denmark U16 2008-2011 Denmark U17 2008-2012 Denmark U19 2012-2013 Brondby 2013-2016 Brentford 2018-2025 Tottenham Hotspur 2025- Thomas Frank’s managerial career

“That’s something we’re working hard on.

“That’s not a quick fix.

“That’s small good habits, in training, in games and sometimes you see things.”

The Dane pointed towards the performance against Fulham, after the first 30 minutes, as a step in the right direction.

“The Fulham game was not a great start, tough 30 minutes but we worked our way back.

“And second half bit by bit, so there was bit when they stay in the game, stick to the game plan, stick to the structure and doing the right thing.

“We didn’t get the fantastic comeback but it was a good step – mentality, character wise. It’s bit by bit.”

Spurs have not won a single game in which they fallen behind this season, showcasing their inconsistency in performances.

After suffering an embarrassing defeat in the north London derby, one former Spurs star criticised Frank and remarked that the Dane is not suited to the manager’s job.

Pressure has only increased on the Tottenham Hotspur boss since then, with more disappointing results and it remains to be seen if Frank can deliver the consistency in results required to stay in charge of the north London club.

He may be hoping to sign reinforcements in the rapidly approaching transfer window, but Spurs have been dubbed outsiders in the race to land Antoine Semenyo.

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Dean Ashton has admitted to being ‘astonished’ that Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank waited until the 78th minute at Nottingham Forest to make some changes to his front four.

Frank’s woes as Tottenham boss continued on Sunday when Forest thrashed his side 3-0 at the City Ground in the Premier League.

Guglielmo Vicario made two key errors, which Callum Hudson-Odoi took full advantage of, while a superb Ibrahim Sangare strike with eleven minutes left sealed the deal for the hosts.

Vicario has regularly made errors for Tottenham, but the club have been warned about a problem if they drop him from the side.

Tottenham’s attacking four were largely ineffective, however Frank waited until late in the game to make changes, as Mathys Tel replaced Randal Kolo Muani and Brennan Johnson came on for Mohammed Kudus.

Ashton, a former Premier League striker, believes that the front four Tottenham started the game with at the City Ground had no fluidity or cohesion.

He admits to being ‘astonished’ that Frank waited until so late into the game to make changes to it.

Brought on Brought off Davies Spence Bergvall Bentancur Palhinha Gray Tel Kolo Muani Johnson Kudus Thomas Frank’s substitutions vs Nottingham Forest

Ashton said on talkSPORT (14th December, 15:35): “There has been no fluidity or cohesion between that front four.

“I am astonished that it has taken until the 78th minute to finally see some forward changes to that front four.

“Also, you’d think Tottenham would know that nobody has conceded more goals after the 76th minute than Nottingham Forest, so they should have been bombarding Forest to put the pressure on and try and get that goal, but they’ve been doing nothing of the sort.”

Tottenham have now won just six of their 16 Premier League games so far this season, drawing four and losing the other six.

Now Frank will have to try to rally his troops for the visit of Liverpool next weekend.

Following defeat in the north London derby last month, one former Premier League striker explained he feels that Spurs will finish about where they are in the league table; they were ninth at the time.

Spurs are now eleventh and failing to finish in the top five to secure Champions League football is unlikely to see Frank win over his doubters amongst the fans.

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Former Premier League striker Dean Ashton believes Tottenham Hotspur have a problem in that there is no experienced option to come in and replace under-fire goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Vicario made mistakes in Tottenham’s 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.

Spurs were hoping to build on an upturn of form by beating a Nottingham Forest side battling against relegation, but they were second best at the City Ground.

Vicario made an error with a sloppy pass for Forest’s first goal, while a Callum Hudson-Odoi effort flew over him for the hosts’ second.

Former hitman Ashton thinks that Vicario’s error for Hudson-Odoi’s second goal was incredibly poor goalkeeping.

He said on talkSPORT (14th December, 15:09): “I mean, it’s just terrible goalkeeping.

“It’s not as if it’s been whipped right to the top corner. It’s just gone in, middle of the goal, over the top of Vicario who flapped a hand at it, misjudged the flight of it.

Club Udinese Fontanafredda Venezia Cagliari Perugia Empoli Tottenham Hotspur Clubs Guglielmo Vicario has played for

“Really, really poor goalkeeping. Another gift for Forest.”

Ashton admits that Vicario is a good shot-stopper, but stressed that goalkeepers need to have more about their games and in other aspects, the Italian often makes mistakes.

Both Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United were keen on signing Vicario before he joined Tottenham.

“Shot-stopping I don’t really think you can argue too much. He is outstanding in that aspect.

“But there are other aspects, playing out, silly mistakes, maybe being weak from set plays and crosses at times in his Tottenham career.”

Tottenham could look to pull Vicario out of the firing line, however Ashton thinks they have a problem in that regard as young Kinsky is the second choice.

“The problem is, they’ve got Kinsky on the bench, who is still a very young goalkeeper”, he said.

“It’s not as if they’ve got a real senior goalkeeper that they could turn to to take the sting out of the situation for Vicario.”

Matters do not get any easier for Tottenham as they are next due to take on Liverpool, who have recently returned to form.

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Fixture: Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 14:00 UK time

Thomas Frank has selected his Tottenham Hotspur lineup to lock horns with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in the Premier League this afternoon.

Frank saw his men swat aside Slavia Prague 3-0 in the Champions League in midweek to build on last weekend’s Premier League win over Brentford.

Two wins and one draw in the last three games have eased some of the pressure on Frank, but the talk of doubts about him will only start up again if Spurs lose at Nottingham Forest today.

Spurs have benefited hugely from the form of summer signing Mohammed Kudus and he was recently dubbed ‘electric’ by one former Spurs star.

In the lead up to the match, Frank has issued praise of Archie Gray, who he thinks could be a leader in the future.

Nottingham Forest welcome Spurs on the back of a 2-1 win away at Utrecht in the Europa League.

Sean Dyche is still battling to get consistent results from Nottingham Forest, who have swapped between wins and losses in their last four games.

The last meeting between the two sides saw Nottingham Forest win 2-1 in north London.

Guglielmo Vicario is selected by Frank as the goalkeeper in his Tottenham lineup vs Nottingham Forest today, while at the back the Spurs boss trusts in Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence.

Midfield could be a key battleground today and Tottenham field Rodrigo Bentancur and Archie Gray, while Xavi Simons also starts. Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani lead the attacking threat.

If Frank needs to influence the game from the bench and change his Tottenham lineup vs Nottingham Forest then he has options to call for and they include Mathys Tel and Lucas Bergvall.

Tottenham Hotspur Lineup vs Nottingham Forest

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Simons, Kudus, Richarlison, Kolo Muani

Substitutes: Kinsky, Danso, Palhinha, Tel, Bergvall, Johnson, Odobert, Sarr, Davies

Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank has lauded Archie Gray for his strong character, stressing that the 19-year-old could become a leader in the future.

The Durham-born talent grew up in Leeds United’s youth system and impressed playing versatile roles for the Whites in his two senior seasons at the club.

Last year, Spurs paid a hefty £40m for the youngster, penning a six-year deal with the England youth international.

Georginio Rutter, now at Brighton, admitted when he first saw Gray at Leeds he knew he was special.

It was suggested that if Gray did leave Leeds he would go abroad and not stay in England, but the midfielder joined Tottenham.

Even though the plan was to get him in the Tottenham team slowly, multiple injuries at the back saw him get thrown in the deep end, as he ended up playing in 46 games for the north Londoners last term.

Gray can play in a multitude of positions, despite him being only 19, but Spurs boss Frank has made it clear that he sees the teenager more as a midfielder.

Frank, though, appreciates Gray’s positional fluidity, as the ex-Leeds man has played at left-back when needed this term.

He started two of the last three league games for Spurs in the engine room and has seen a good amount of game time in the Champions League as well.

Frank pointed out that Gray plays with his head up, lauding him for his beautiful pass against Slavia Prague earlier this week in the Champions League.

The Spurs boss is clear about what Gray can do and he feels that the England Under-21 international has all the qualities to become a leader.

“What I like about Archie is, he is very good on the ball”, Frank told a press conference (11:09) when he was asked about the teenager.

“I like that he plays with his head up, so he can play short, and he can drive with the ball.

“The pass he played to Pedro Porro for the penalty against Slavia was an excellent pass, perfectly weighted, played in behind.

“[He has] great capacity to cover the pitch, good pressing skills.

“And I think he is young, but he has a very good character, I think he could be a leader in future.”

The 19-year-old has suffered from a calf injury for a while this season, but has clocked close to 600 minutes in all competitions for Spurs.

It remains to be seen if he will be given a start against Nottingham Forest in midfield to show his pedigree again in order to cement a place for himself in the first team.

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Tottenham Hotspur midfield talent Alfie Devine has admitted that he is loving his loan spell with Preston North End and revealed that the Lilywhites fans have taken to him.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder joined the Deepdale outfit from Tottenham on a season-long loan to play regularly and Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom remarked early in the campaign that the Spurs star’s versatility makes him a key player for them.

Devine has featured 18 times in the Championship so far with three goals and one assist to show for it and he has done very well for Preston according to Deepdale team-mate Ali McCann.

The Spurs star made his fourth start in a row when he took the field against Wrexham at the weekend and featured for 90 minutes in Preston’s 1-1 draw.

Saturday’s game also marked the fourth game in a row where he featured for the entire 90 minutes, which Devine pointed out is exactly what he wants from his loan spell with Preston.

The Tottenham academy product admitted that the loan spell so far has been what he expected and stressed that he is loving his time at Deepdale, while appreciating the fans for taking a liking to him.

When asked about his loan, Devine told Preston North End’s in-house media (3:50): “I am loving it.

Loan club League Port Vale League One Plymouth Argyle Championship Westerlo Pro League Preston North End Championship Clubs Alfie Devine has been on loan at

“I have said it quite a lot now that this loan so far has been everything that I had hoped it would be.

“I think for me on a personal note, it is more about playing the minutes in the games and getting my legs going and obviously playing four 90 minutes in a row helps that.

“For me personally, that is what I want to do.

“I want to play as much as I can, stay in the game for as long as I can and obviously help the team as much as I possibly can. So far I am loving it.

“The fans have taken to me, players, staff, so I am pretty sure every single other boy that’s come in this summer can say the exact same thing as well.”

It is not the first time Tottenham sent have Devine out on loan to a Championship club, as he featured for Plymouth Argyle during the 2023/24 season while helping them escape relegation.

Devine is highly rated at Tottenham and last season spent on loan with Westerlo, where he made 30 appearances in Belgium while turning some heads.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 15:00 UK time

Thomas Frank has picked his Tottenham Hotspur lineup to welcome his former club Brentford to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon in the Premier League – match preview here.

Spurs visited St James’ Park in midweek Premier League action and two goals from the unlikely source of Cristian Romero ensured they came back from Newcastle United with a 2-2 draw.

Frank could have done with all three points, but the draw stopped a run of three consecutive defeats which has put his position under pressure.

The Spurs boss will need no reminding that losing against his former side Brentford today would crank the pressure up even further.

Brentford arrive on the back of a 2-0 loss at Arsenal, but have swapped between wins and losses for their last six games.

The Bees last won away at Tottenham in 2023, when they came out on top 3-1.

Tottenham take to the pitch amid the club having confirmed that legend Heung-Min Son will be returning to say goodbye to the fans in the new year, when Spurs face Slavia Prague in the Champions League.

Guglielmo Vicario is in goal for Tottenham this afternoon, while at the back Frank goes with a four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence.

The midfield battle could be crucial on the day and Spurs deploy Rodrigo Bentancur, Archie Gray and Xavi Simons, while Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani will provide the goal threats.

If Frank needs to influence the game through his changes then he has options off the bench and they include Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson.

Tottenham Hotspur Lineup vs Brentford

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence, Bentancur, Gray, Simons, Kudus, Richarlison, Kolo Muani

Substitutes: Kinsky, Danso, Palhinha, Tel, Bergvall, Johnson, Odobert, Sarr, Davies