Football
With fans on his back and a crucial run of games coming up, the spotlight is on Frank to make Spurs more effective in attack
A packed press conference this week ahead of Tottenham’s Champions League match against Copenhagen was not a good sign for Thomas Frank.
Partly it was down to the Danish interest in the Spurs boss and this fixture. The strong British media contingent was a reflection on the growing scrutiny of Frank.
Saturday’s pitiful defeat to Chelsea was the lowest point of Frank’s reign, with boos at half-time, full-time and more than once in between.
Frank was asked how he is finding the spotlight at Spurs compared to his previous jobs.
Frank has faced criticism from supporters over his defensive approach
Action Images via Reuters
“Of course I sense there is a tiny bit more attention to everything,” he said. “But that was the one thing I was 1,000 per cent sure would be different.”
For all the improvements defensively and with the set-piece record, signs of attacking patterns emerging have been too rare.
A 4-0 win over Copenhagen was badly needed but the Danish side offered ample time on the ball and no real physicality.
This was a cathartic night for Spurs but not one yet to be marked as a turning point.
It did still serve its purpose in restoring confidence, particularly to the impressive Xavi Simons.
Just in time, too. There is a sense that Spurs’ season is in the balance, sixth in the Premier League but only two points off both second and 11th.
Spurs host Manchester United on Saturday and then travel to Arsenal after the international break. The seesaw could tip either way.
Major rethink needed at home
In his first press conference as Spurs boss, Frank acknowledged that “the history of the club is massive on attacking football”.
He added: “I always say this one-liner: if you don’t take risks, you also take risks.”
That has rarely been put into practice. Spurs have not been good to watch and rank 19th in the Premier League for shots per match. No amount of injury problems can excuse that.
Spurs are sixth in the Premier League but their attack has struggled badly this season
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“We’re a big believer in making the chance bigger,” Frank said in 2022, explaining the reluctance of his teams to shoot from distance.
Brentford regularly had the highest xG per shot in the Premier League under Frank, patiently working the best possible opportunity.
That same approach at a bigger club like Spurs is unsustainable.
The necessity to be so efficient with every chance should not be as strong because Spurs should be creating plenty of them. That needs to be the focus rather than maximising a small handful of efforts.
Shots get the crowd going, even when they are not the right statistical decision, and Frank needs a more engaged fanbase.
A pragmatic approach has worked away from home for Spurs, who have the best record in the league on the road. However, a major rethink is needed at home.
The dreadful record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is nothing new - Spurs have won three of their past 19 Premier League matches there.
Frank, though, can do more to address it.
Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur need not be starting so many matches together, for example.
The issue is not them as individual players but rather the two as a stodgy midfield partnership.
Frank is never going to have the same high-risk principles as Ange Postecoglou but more of a middle ground needs to be found. The dial has at times lurched too far to the other extreme.
The win over Copenhagen was a big improvement after too many dull home games.
Most concerning is that it has felt at times by design, with Frank wanting to keep matches to fine margins and trusting a set piece to edge three points.
“I’m very aware we haven’t been free flowing,” Frank said on Monday. “In some games there’s definitely been some moments where we’ve been quite good.”
Some moments in some games is fair but it is also not enough.
The stadium was mutinous against Chelsea and the Spurs players shrunk in that environment as poor decisions and individual errors mounted.
Frank has called for the fans to lift the team in tough periods and leave any boos until after the match.
Spurs were booed off after losing 1-0 at home to Chelsea last weekend
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The players need the supporters, but it is also unreasonable to expect a hot atmosphere when the team are simply not threatening to score.
The stadium was bouncing during a rampant second-half spell against Copenhagen, Spurs cutting through the opposition with thrilling pace and directness. That needs to be the formula.
Find a front-foot focus
It was noticeable that Frank bemoaned the lack of intensity from his players after both the Monaco and Chelsea matches.
A key question when he took charge was how would he adapt to a hectic fixture list, one that allowed a day or two of training between matches.
“We’re still in the early days of the season so it’s less important, but when everything accumulates it can be an issue,” Frank said of the quick turnarounds, but it already feels like a problem that could grow.
Spurs’ win away at Manchester City in August was centred on a brilliant man-to-man pressing effort, with their best attacking moments coming when winning the ball high up the pitch.
With the fixtures now piling up, Spurs’ press has often become lethargic, not helped by the injury list limiting rotation.
They have been played through too easily, even with Bentancur and Palhinha in midfield, and only Guglielmo Vicario’s form has prevented some heavy defeats.
The pressing was effective against Copenhagen, but that felt a response to the Chelsea defeat and against a side unable to cope physically. Manchester United will be a better barometer.
The team also needs some consistency to allow relationships to develop.
Frank has shuffled his options on the left, with Simons, Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel and even Lucas Bergvall getting minutes there.
Xavi Simons has endured a difficult start to life at Spurs
REUTERS
On current evidence, Odobert should be the starter. His promising partnership with Destiny Udogie, a natural left-footer on the overlap, is worth persisting with, even if the exclusion of Djed Spence leaves the team less defensively secure.
Spurs need a run of matches with the team set up to make them most effective in attack rather than approaching games focusing on how to nullify the opposition.
There is room for in-game improvements, too. In the second half against Chelsea, Monaco, Newcastle and Aston Villa, Spurs did not lead for a single minute and yet managed a total of six shots on target.
Only two goals have been scored by substitutes in 17 matches and those came when Spurs were 2-0 and 3-0 ahead. Rarely have changes and tweaks helped turn the tide.
Frank’s tactical mind is one of his great strengths and so that should change. He also has a proven ability to get more from a squad than the individual players would suggest is possible.
“A Brentford team with let’s say on paper lesser players created a lot of top goal scorers,” he said this week. “I’m convinced we will do the same here.”
Whether the likes of Odobert, Tel and Richarlison are good enough for a club with ambitions of competing at the top is questionable, but, as Frank said, he turned the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Ivan Toney and Yoane Wissa into stars at Brentford. More of that magic dust is needed.
Addressing the xG problem
The sense that Frank must quickly turn things around comes not so much from a look at the table but from a feeling that the downturn in results been coming.
There was a pointed comment from the Spurs boss this week after he emphasised the unbeaten start in the Champions League and his side’s position in the Premier League table.
“I think everyone would have taken where we are now, in terms of 22 defeats last season and finishing 17th,” Frank said.
He is correct on the basis of just results but it is the performances that have raised concerns.
That was painfully evident against Chelsea in Spurs’ worst attacking display since xG records began.
Spurs now face a crunch run of games, starting against Manchester United on Saturday
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Goalkeeper Vicario has been Spurs’ best player in recent weeks and that is never a good sign for a top side.
Frank’s job is not under pressure at this early stage, particularly considering the key injury absences.
Spurs have failed to replace Kane and Son and the squad needs strengthening in January, backed by owners who appear more actively involved in trying to deliver success.
Results are always what determines a manager’s job security but at Spurs more than most clubs the style of play matters too. Set pieces and a solid defensive shape will only take Frank so far.
Spurs fans of course want results and trophies. For now, though, some fun would go a long way.
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