TBR Football

Tottenham Hotspur’s honeymoon period with Thomas Frank appears to be coming to an end, and one of their top players is now facing a fair amount of criticism.

The North London club have drawn three of their last four matches and had to come from behind in each of them to rescue points.

Tottenham Hotspur drew with Bodo/Glimt, Wolves and Brighton, but it was also the team’s performances that will have been a real worry.

Following their tough run of results, Gabriel Agbonlahor has highlighted one player who really needs to start offering more for the Lilywhites.

Gabriel Agbonlahor questions Xavi Simons’ impact at Tottenham

Agbonlahor has been questioning Xavi Simons’ impact at Tottenham so far, especially given the fee they paid to sign him.

Tottenham paid £52 million for Simons in the summer, but the midfielder has struggled to really get going since making the switch to North London.

The former Premier League striker is yet to be convinced by what he’s seen from the Dutch international playing under Thomas Frank.

Agbonlahor told TalkSPORT: “You know, sometimes you see a player and you’re like, ‘Ok, yeah, I like what he’s about’, but I watch Simons and I’m a bit like, he’s always on the floor, doesn’t seem very quick, when I watch him as well.

“I just look at the fee they’ve paid for him, which could rise to £65 million with add-ons; he needs to start affecting games sooner rather than later.

“We can’t just not look at him, but say, ‘Gyokeres hasn’t scored enough or Sesko hasn’t done this’, we have to look at him with the same energy.

“He’s been brought in as a marquee signing for what Spurs pay for those sorts of players.”

Mohammed Kudus told he must score more goals by Gabriel Agbonlahor

Meanwhile, Agbonlahor has also called for Mohammed Kudus to start adding more goals to his game.

The winger is yet to find the back of the net since making the switch across London, although he does have four Premier League assists.

“Kudus, no goals this season, four assists, so you sort of let him off because he is a very good player, but he needs to score more goals himself. But I look at Kudus and I say four assists, you’re looking lively, but you need more goals,” added Agbonlahor.

“Tel, Odobert, both £30 million players, I didn’t see enough in his loan spell to be like go and pay £30m for him. So I look at the options with Kulusevski out, Maddison out for the season.

“They’re in the big boy league now, and last night they got away with one with two late equalisers. If you’re playing a better team, they’re probably losing 5-0 by half-time last night.”

Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes has now referenced his experiences of playing against former Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.

In total, Gabriel Magalhaes faced Harry Kane six times in the Premier League, and he’s also now played against the England captain since he left Tottenham.

For Bayern Munich, Kane played against Gabriel twice in 2024 in a Champions League quarter final which ended in victory for the Bavarian side.

In Tottenham colours, Kane scored an impressive four goals in six games against Gabriel.

And for Bayern, Kane scored in just the first leg of that Champions League tie.

Arsenal’s Gabriel names Harry Kane as the best striker he’s ever faced

That being said, those goals and those experiences have now led the Arsenal defender to name Kane as his toughest opponent ever.

Gabriel recently sat down for an interview with Brazilian football journalist Isabela Pagliari in his home in London.

And as part of the interview, the Arsenal star answered several quick-fire questions.

In addition to naming Kane as his toughest opponent, Gabriel also mentioned Tottenham when he was asked about the most important game of his career.

Translated from Portuguese, Gabriel also said that Mikel Arteta was the best coach he’d worked under, and named Neymar as the best player he’d ever seen.

In what is a compliment to Kane, it should be remembered that Gabriel has had some famous duels with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland over the years.

But the Brazil international still chose Kane, who he might even end up facing at next year’s World Cup.

Harry Kane might return to the Premier League whilst Gabriel is still playing for Arsenal

Although the England striker is set to remain at Bayern this season, TBR Football understands that Kane could consider a Premier League return in the future.

Alan Shearer isn’t keen for Kane to return to England for obvious reasons – he wants to keep his all-time Premier League record.

But Kane does have unfinished business on English soil, and potentially at Tottenham.

Therefore, Gabriel might still get a chance to play against his toughest opponent in the most important game of his career once again, the North London Derby.

The power has shifted towards Arsenal over recent seasons, but if Kane returns to Tottenham then the status quo might need to be reassessed.

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Thomas Frank’s honeymoon period at Tottenham Hotspur is over following a poor run of performances and results, with Leeds United away up next.

Tottenham Hotspur have seen three of their last four games end up as draws, and some of the performances have looked rather disjointed.

The Lilywhites have also been forced to come from behind against Bodo/Glimt, Wolves and Brighton to salvage points in all three matches.

Ahead of Spurs’ trip to Elland Road, Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has been assessing the new Tottenham boss’s first ten games in charge.

Thomas Frank’s Tottenham tactics praised by Daniel Farke

During his press conference on Thursday afternoon, Farke spoke about how impressed he’s been with Tottenham’s defensive organisation under Thomas Frank.

Van de Ven and Romero are key for Tottenham and have looked much improved under their new Danish head coach.

Giving his thoughts on Frank, Farke told the media: “His mentality, also the intensity the team plays with, is always well structured, strong, and also against the ball, they play and press with intensity.”

Tottenham have picked up quite substantially in terms of set-pieces, and this was another strong area the German manager highlighted.

Farke added: “They always threaten the depth with many, many runners in behind. Also, of course, the detail set pieces, attention to throw-ins. All these topics are, of course, important for Thomas.”

Daniel Farke hails Thomas Frank’s Tottenham mentality

Farke revealed that he’s also been so impressed by Tottenham’s ability to grind out results under Frank.

The North London club have been forced to come from behind in their last two matches to take points, producing late goals.

Despite performances not being particularly eye-catching, the Leeds boss admitted that his team will need to be cautious of Spurs always being a threat.

“For me, also the mentality to grind out results, because if you play three days every week, of course, you have to rotate a bit more than you would do if you just have one game per week,” said the Leeds manager.

“But they’re playing in Europe, and they have, of course, to rotate a bit more. Of course, they also have the squad and the quality players to do this.

“So sometimes it’s also a bit difficult to produce a perfect performance. But even when it’s a bit more difficult and they rotate, they will still find a way in the last games to dig in and to grind out a result.

“Also, the mentality that Thomas brings to his team is pretty effective, and he also finds pragmatic solutions to grind out results.

“For that, we always have to be aware, even if you’re on top of the game, they can always come back and deliver a late goal. He has a good mentality, it shows the good spirit, and this is why it’s always so difficult to get a result against his side.”

TBR Football understands that Tottenham Hotspur are close to finalising Rodrigo Bentancur’s new contract following extensive talks.

As TBR Football exclusively revealed last month, Thomas Frank views Bentancur as a key player and was desperate for Tottenham Hotspur to get him tied down.

The 28-year-old’s current deal is due to expire next summer, and he would have been free to start talking to foreign clubs in January.

Tottenham’s newly appointed CEO, Vinai Venkatesham, has been working on Bentancur’s new contract, and terms are now close to being fully agreed.

Sources: Rodrigo Bentancur close to agreeing to sign new Tottenham contract

Sources have told TBR Football’s chief correspondent, Graeme Bailey, that financial terms and contract length in principle are agreed with Rodrigo Bentancur, just finalising other bits such as bonuses and payments.

Frank has been impressed by Bentancur since arriving at the North London club and is keen to make him a key part of his plans for Spurs’ midfield.

Along with Joao Palhinha, the Lilywhites now have two top senior midfielders, alongside their younger talents like Archie Gray, Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall.

Last month, when asked about the midfielder’s contract situation, Frank told the media: “I think first and foremost, very happy with Rodri, I think he’s been a very good player for us.

“A top professional in every aspect, I’m happy with him and he’s happy with being here. I know that for a fact – let’s see what happens in the future.”

Bailey told TBR Football: “We revealed back in May that Tottenham had approached Bentancur, and despite a change of head coach and hierarchy, talks have been ongoing.

“As we confirmed, Thomas Frank made it clear he wanted him to stay beyond this season, and new footballing chief Vinai Venkatesham was in agreement, and now the deal is close to being signed.

“Frank is very happy with Bentancur and Joao Palhinha in midfield and the way he can bring in others around them.”

Rodrigo Bentancur’s performance vs Bodo/Glimt slammed

But it’s not been all positive for Bentancur, with the midfielder having struggled away at Bodo/Glimt as Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw.

The 28-year-old managed to concede a penalty, which was fortuitously missed, and just generally struggled on the night in Norway.

Meanwhile, he also struggled in the previous game against Wolves, with Martin O’Neill criticising Bentancur for going missing.

The North London club have had real issues in terms of their build-up play, and Bentancur’s recent struggles have certainly contributed towards that.

Oscar has revealed that he had the opportunity to join Tottenham Hotspur before signing for Chelsea in 2012.

The Brazilian arrived at Stamford Bridge in a £25 million deal from Internacional and would go on to win two Premier League titles with the club.

Oscar departed for Shanghai Port in 2017, becoming one of the first players to make the switch to the Chinese Super League.

Having joined Chelsea as one of the brightest prospects in world football at the time, his decision to leave Europe at 26, in the prime of his career, came as a shock.

However, his time in English football could have panned out very differently as he shares how close he came to choosing a move to Tottenham Hotspur instead.

Oscar does not regret choosing Chelsea over Tottenham Hotspur

When speaking to former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel on the Obi One podcast, Oscar revealed former Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas attempted to bring him to North London.

“No, I had Tottenham as well, because André Villas-Boas was there. Yes, Villas-Boas was the first one to call me. Wow. I had played with Villas-Boas in China, and he always said, ‘I talked to you, why don’t you come?’ But, you know, Chelsea… I cannot compare. Chelsea is better, so I chose Chelsea. And it was the right choice, because I played good football there, we won some titles that year. So it was amazing.”

Roman Abramovich sacked Villa-Boas just nine months into his three-year contract, but the Portuguese boss returned to management shortly after with Spurs.

Villa Boas oversaw the infamous Tottenham rebuild following Gareth Bale’s world transfer-record sale to Real Madrid, and instead of Christian Eriksen, it very well could have been Oscar arriving in North London.

The 34-year-old is right to be content with his decision to join the Blues; he won four major honours at Stamford Bridge, whereas Villas-Boas lasted only a year and a half at Spurs.

Oscar has not been the only Blue to reject their London rivals, as a year later, Chelsea hijacked Spurs’ move for Willian with former boss Jose Mourinho playing a crucial role in convincing the forward to sign from Shakhtar Donetsk.

While Tottenham got their revenge this summer when Thomas Frank snatched Xavi Simons from under the nose of Enzo Maresca, the Blues are more than well-equipped in the attacking department.

Oscar had a knack of scoring great goals for Chelsea

Throughout his five-year stint in West London, Oscar scored 38 goals in 203 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea.

Although the Brazilian was hardly the most prolific of attacking midfielders, the goals he did score tended to veer on the side of the spectacular.

He won the club’s goal of the season award with a sensational long-range curler past Gianluigi Buffon on his Chelsea debut as he scored twice in a 2-2 draw against Juventus in the Champions League.

Oscar claimed the award once again in 2015 with a fantastic outside of the boot strike to open the scoring in a 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers at the Bridge, on the way to winning his first Premier League title.

Micky van de Ven was full of praise for one Tottenham Hotspur star who came off the bench to help the team rescue a point against Bodo/Glimt.

Van de Ven scored and captained Tottenham Hotspur as they came from two goals down to stop Bodo from securing a first Champions League.

Thomas Frank’s team struggled on the artificial surface in the Arctic Circle and were hugely fortunate not to have suffered defeat in Norway.

Speaking after the game, the North London club’s new vice captain assessed the impact of one of the Spurs’ substitutes in Bodo.

Micky van de Ven admits Xavi Simons is key for Tottenham

Micky van de Ven has claimed that Xavi Simons is quickly becoming a key player for Tottenham, and his creativity is evident when he’s on the pitch.

The Dutch international came off the bench at 2-0 down, and as soon as he entered the pitch against Bodo, Spurs looked a lot more dangerous.

Tottenham have been struggling to create chances under Frank, so having a player like Simons will be key moving forward.

When asked about his compatriot, Van told the media: “Yeah, he’s a really good player, he can create a lot of special things, as you’ve seen today, he comes on and he’s doing really well.

“I think most of the time when he plays, you can see the creativity he has on the wing, even if he plays in the 10.”

Meanwhile, Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle is excited about Simons, but believes he is still settling into life in North London.

One key debate has been as to why Frank hasn’t been playing Simons in the number ten role, which has generated a fair amount of frustration among supporters.

Micky van de Ven has been impressed by Tottenham’s squad size

Van de Ven has also hailed the strength of Tottenham’s squad size, suggesting that everyone can come in and do a job for the team.

“Everybody who comes into the team has some quality, and I think that’s everyone who comes in. Of course, you don’t have players who have the rhythm, but it doesn’t really change anything for me or the team,” added Van de Ven.

“Every player who comes in needs to play his best, and I think everyone tries to play their best when they come into the team.”

Tottenham’s squad will be tested when they go again on Saturday lunchtime away at Elland Road in what will be another test.

Tottenham may have fought back to draw 2-2 with Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League, but Jamie O’Hara was not impressed with the performance of one player.

Spurs were perhaps fortunate to escape Norway with a point, having found themselves two goals down with 20 minutes to play after Jens Petter Hauge’s double.

However, Thomas Frank’s side rallied and pulled level late on, with Micky van de Ven halving the deficit before an own goal from Jostein Gunderson spared their blushes.

After watching the below-par display, Jamie O’Hara singled out one flop for criticism.

Jamie O’Hara rips into Pedro Porro

Pedro Porro was especially poor on the night after being beaten comprehensively for both of Bodo/Glimt’s goals.

O’Hara, who played for Tottenham between 2005 and 2011, believes the full-back did not do enough to stop the tricky Hauge from jinking inside down the right and shooting.

“Pedro Porro defensively was poor tonight,” the pundit said. “The two goals they scored. It’s him.

“He’s getting done. You can’t let your man just come inside and bend one in the top corner.

“Defensively, I don’t think he was at it. Look, he hasn’t been great this season so far but you can’t say he wasn’t good last season. There were some games that he dug us out of some massive holes.”

Porro, though, did somewhat make amends after his inch-perfect cross was headed home by Micky Van de Ven, handing Spurs a route back into the game against the run of play.

Jamie O’Hara not impressed with Bodo/Glimt’s plastic pitch

Bodo/Glimt’s Aspmyra Stadion is located just above the Arctic Circle, and its sub-zero temperatures and cramped environs make it a hostile place for any club to go to.

The artificial pitch is another complication Premier League sides simply won’t be used to, and an annoyed O’Hara took aim at the surface, describing it as “rubbish”.

“Everything’s different. It just slows the game down,” he added. “Everything about it is rubbish. But look, I’m going to give you some stats on Bodo/Glimt at home in Europe since 2020.

“They’ve only lost five in 31 games in Europe. Each one they’ve lost by only one goal. 25 European home wins. You say Bodo/Glimt, who are they? But at home in Europe, they’re a decent side.”

Tottenham Hotspur had a tricky evening in Bodo as they were held to a 2-2 draw, and Glenn Hoddle has highlighted one player whose form he is worried about.

Thomas Frank’s team came from two goals down to rescue a point against Bodo/Glimt, following a truly shocking display in Norway.

Tottenham Hotspur looked very uncomfortable playing away in the Arctic Circle on an artificial surface and can count themselves very lucky not to have been beaten.

Ahead of the game, Glenn Hoddle raised concerns over the form of one player, and against Bodo, those worries proved to be true.

Glenn Hoddle raises big question marks over Richarlison at Tottenham

Hoddle believes that Richarlison cannot be trusted as Tottenham’s number nine for the whole season, with the striker struggling against Bodo.

The Brazilian managed just ten touches against the Norwegian side, which will have been a real concern for Frank and his staff.

The Tottenham legend says he started the season ‘like a house on fire’, but with nobody pushing him for a place in the team, his performances have since dipped.

Currently, Dominic Solanke is out with an ankle injury after undergoing minor surgery, and Randal Kolo Muani is still recovering from a dead leg.

Hoddle told TNT Sports: “I think he’s a classic example of a number nine that needs another striker up there. Not necessarily to play with, but I think he needs that edge where he comes out of the team, maybe, he’s on the bench and still has an impact from the bench. Then you play him for another two or three games.

“I’m not sure he’s a player who can put your hat on the whole season, where he’s going to return you a load of goals.

“He started the season like a house on fire; he scored the two goals, this is stunning (his second goal), and this will have given him all the confidence in the world.

“But I don’t think you can really say he’s my number nine for the whole season. Solanke getting injured, he would have played tonight.”

Back in August, TBR Football revealed that Frank is a big fan of Richarlison, but right now, the Dane will be worried about his form.

After the game, Tottenham fans called for Richarlison to be dropped, and Spurs’ manager will need to consider making a change ahead of the Leeds United away game.

Tottenham have a bigger issue under Thomas Frank than Richarlison

In fairness to Richarlison, against Bodo, he was starved of service, with the Lilywhites carving out very few chances for the number nine. Spurs created an xG of just 1.46, and this has been a big worry for Frank’s team.

The Danish head coach has continued to play three central midfielders, focusing on staying compact, rather than playing a natural number ten in the most advanced midfield role.

Dominic Solanke recently underwent surgery on an ankle injury, but Tottenham Hotspur are hopeful he won’t be out for too long.

The striker’s injury has coincided with Richarlison’s poor form, which has left the North London club quite short in attack.

The Brazilian had a tough evening away at Bodo/Glimt as he managed just ten touches against the Norwegian champions.

Tottenham fans slammed Richarlison’s performance and will be keen for Randal Kolo Muani and Solanke to make their returns very soon.

Tottenham are hoping Dominic Solanke will be back soon

Tottenham Hotspur are hoping that Dominic Solanke will be back after the October international break, according to Tom Barclay.

The 28-year-old has played just 49 minutes of football so far this season, with an ankle issue blighting his campaign.

But having now undergone surgery, there is hope that the former Chelsea star will make a fairly swift return to action.

“So first of all, with Solanke, he’s definitely out of the Leeds game. I think the hope is that he may be back after the international break,” Barclay said.

“We’ll see. And obviously all Spurs fans will listen to that and go, yeah, okay, we’ll believe it when we see it after what we’ve seen so far with Solanke and obviously other injuries last season under Ange.”

Ahead of the trip to Bodo, Thomas Frank also revealed that Kolo Muani is close to making his return from a dead leg.

Alan Brazil and Ally McCoist slam Richarlison vs Bodo/Glimt

Alan Brazil and Ally McCoist were both left perplexed by the recent performances from Richarlison, who had started the season really well.

Richarlison earned lots of praise for the way he had started the season; however, that form has now faded, and he’s now a real concern.

Brazil told TalkSPORT: “Ricky’s right there with Richarlison, I can’t make him out. I really can’t. He can be brilliant sometimes, but others…”

“That sums him up there. You throw in an overhead kick and then two minutes later you don’t know what you’re getting,” McCoist added.