The memory of a football fan is short, but thankfully for Thomas Frank, the gap between matches is even shorter.
Just three days after being booed off after an insipid performance in the loss to Chelsea, Spurs had the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium bouncing with a 4-0 win over FC Copenhagen, with a wondergoal from Micky van de Ven and a controversial red card for Brennan Johnson summing up the best and worst of a Spurs side that remains the most unpredictable in England.
Just as last season offered up one of the most contradictory seasons of football on record – with a 17th-placed finish in the Premier League accompanied by a Europa League win that brought their first trophy since 2008 – Tottenham remain an enigma this term, sitting just two points off second in the league but simultaneously capable of producing performances that offer up just 0.05 xG.
And just a few days after that loss to Chelsea, Spurs produced 3.31 xG against an admittedly poor Copenhagen side, with Xavi Simons, Johnson and Van de Ven among those to impress at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The hosts enjoyed plenty of the ball early on and were rewarded within 20 minutes when Johnson latched onto Simons’ through ball to take it past the goalkeeper and slot in a calm finish to open the scoring,
They continued to dominate possession and though the visitors were able to get forward on occasion, solid defensive displays from the reliable duo of Van de Ven and Cristian Romero meant that Spurs were rarely troubled before half-time.
The second half began in a similar vein and Spurs had doubled the lead within six minutes of the restart as Randal Kolo Muani charged down a clearance before collecting the loose ball and laying off for Wilson Odobert to slot home.
It all felt that the game may well be wrapped up already on the evidence of Copenhagen’s display, though there was still time for controversy as Johnson received a straight red card for a challenge on Marcos Lopez. While the Welshman had made contact with the back of the ankle, it was a bizarre decision from the referee, who changed a yellow to straight red after a VAR review.
While not necessarily Johnson’s fault, the whole scenario summed up Spurs’ penchant for the ridiculous, whether that be moments of madness, incidents of rashness or entire performances of insipidness.
Nobody knows Tottenham’s ability to make it difficult for themselves more than the home fans, and there were murmurs and arguably even nerves around the stadium with their side down to 10-men. Interestingly, these had been visible throughout, with groans and shouts at moments of indecision or poor attacking, notably when Kolo Muani declined to attempt a volley into an open net seconds before setting up Odobert for the second.
This all shows where the minds of the fans and the players are at, the emotions of the home faithful on a knife-edge depending on the quality of a shot or the timing of a decision. It clearly affects the players too, with Kolo Muani noticeably missing a couple of golden chances and perhaps being guilty of being too hesitant at times.
However, even more miraculously, these nerves were gone within seven minutes of the red card courtesy of a wondergoal from Van de Ven. The Dutchman picking the ball up in his own half and driving all the way to the Copenhagen box, evading a couple of half-hearted challenges before sliding an accomplished finish past the goalkeeper from just inside the box.
There was still time for more too, Joao Palhinha ending the game with a tap-in from a great Romero cross before Richarlison rattled the bar with a penalty, perhaps showing that the nerves remained even when the result was secured.
The win means that Spurs rise to seventh in the Champions League league phase table – with several sides still to play tomorrow – ahead of a trip to defending champions PSG. Their final three matches of the campaign consisting of a trip to Slavia Prague and a German double header against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was perhaps unlikely that Spurs would finish in the top eight given the quality contained within Europe’s top sides – with five clubs coming into this week with a 100 per cent record – though with the fixtures mentioned above, Frank’s side could well do exactly that.
Whether that constitutes success for the new boss is unclear. How do you measure success after last season?
Nevertheless, the boos last weekend show that one thing the Dane certainly has to deal with is unrealistic expectations. He is just a few months into his new role and may even be a victim of his own success at Brentford, with fans expecting an instant improvement because of a higher budget and better players.
However, as mentioned above, this is a Spurs squad who are six months off one of their worst league seasons on record, and while some might argue that the Europa League win gives the club a platform to build off, the reality is that 2025/26 is a rebuild season. The Postecoglou project needs torn down and rebuilt bit-by-bit, not kept and delicately added to in the hopes of bringing success.
In Frank, Spurs have a man with the pragmatism, realism and talent to execute this rebuild successfully if they give him the chance – he should be judged by results and performances like any other manager, but he should also be afforded a degree more time and sympathy.
