London–Previous Tottenham Hotspur The head coach escaped with a trophy for playing in the previous season. So where does Thomas Frank turn for inspiration now?
Spurs’ 2-1 necklace at home Aston Villa put an end to them fa cup Run the campaign at the earliest possible opportunity. they are already out Carabao Cup and stood 14th Premier Leaguethey still hope to reach uefa champions league Knockout round, but even the most optimistic Tottenham fans won’t give them a chance of winning Europe’s toughest club competition.
As a result Frank will feel very exposed right now. Ange Postecoglou had the shield of the Europa League campaign to fend off growing criticism of his tenure. Ultimately it also ended in glory, as Spurs won their first trophy in 17 years by winning the Europa League in May. But his team’s inherently poor performance over such a long period of time still led to changes in the dugout.
Frank inherited deep-rooted problems: an unbalanced squad lacking in quality, an impatient fan base and a weak defence. The problem is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to see any signs of progress in solving them.
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Tottenham’s early-season defensive flexibility and set-piece ability is gone. Here Villa took a 2-0 lead at halftime with the help of a goal. amy buendia And donyal mallenBoth did a good job but were given inappropriate space and time to play.
Their attack still looked disjointed, even if Spurs rallied after the break. wilson odobert The deficit was halved with a low drive in 54 minutes and although they found some emotion and intensity, Spurs finished with an expected goals figure of 0.55. It was not as bad as some of Frank’s weaker performances had presided over, but still, he could not consistently threaten Villa’s goal.
The slight improvement in the second half can be interpreted in two ways: it was either the dying embers of a failed regime or a glimmer of hope that the Franks could achieve a long-lasting recovery.
The Tottenham hierarchy now face a test of patience. game against premier league west ham united And burnley Come next. Both the teams are currently in the bottom three. Failure to win any of these games would leave Frank’s future hanging in the balance.
There was a nod to the past with Spurs’ matchday team and a program to celebrate the 125th anniversary of their first FA Cup win in 1901. Frank often talks about the future being bright when strikers like him are absent for long periods of time. dominic solanke — who returned here after ankle surgery for the last seven minutes — the attacker Dejan Kulusevski and midfielder james madison Return to the side more immersed in your thoughts.
Looking at the past and future is one thing, but the present is becoming a bigger problem. Spurs fans would be forgiven for thinking their season is coming to an end midway.
“Of course it’s disappointing,” Frank said. “We’re all hurt. We want nothing more than to get to the next round, no matter who we face. We played at home, we had a good chance.”
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it going. We went as hard as we could. We all look at the game and think we could have done better in the first half, second half.”
Full-time brawl involving Villa striker ollie watkinsspurs midfielder joao palinha And there was the kind of dust-up that often happens at the end of games, but cynics will associate it with the loss of composure and discipline that is threatening to become a worrying trait under Frank. Perhaps that’s why Frank took the unusual step of blaming Watkins, who had gone to concede to Villa fans while being very close to Pelhinha.
“Of course, it’s all about keeping a cool head,” he said. “The players gave everything out there, lost a tough game, the season is not going well and I think the way Ollie is going about celebrating in front of the Villa fans is very provocative.
“He’s just walking into Joao and he can move around easily. It’s difficult for everyone who’s been competitive in nature, it can trigger things.”
That may be so, but Spurs have been triggered by a number of reasons recently, whether it was the clash with fans at Bournemouth in midweek or Jade Spence And mickey van de ven It appears that they were ignoring the Franks throughout their defeat chelsea in November. Christian Romero Here he was suspended after the red card against him liverpoolHe received an additional playing ban for “acting inappropriately by failing to leave the field of play promptly” following a red card against Liverpool last month.
It all adds up to a worrying broader picture. When Spurs sacked Postecoglou, a line from the club’s statement read: “It is important that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change in approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond.”
That trust is now being tested to its limits.
