Is Thomas Frank the right man for the job?
This is the question on the majority of Spurs fans’ minds. The outbreak of criticism after the Chelsea loss has sparked ridiculous notions. Nearly 5 months in the job and 16 competitive matches, I’ve seen Tottenham fans question our manager already. Which I know is just out of pure frustration with the way we’re playing, but let me ask you this one time: why isn’t he the right man for the job? I’m going to tell you why I have not wavered from my initial statement after the Super Cup final loss. Which was, “He is exactly the kind of coach we need after Ange Postecoglou”. At times, I’m going to refer to his time at Brentford FC because, although the levels of clubs are different, his time there is why we hired him.
First. Stabilisation
What do I mean by this? Thomas Frank has inherited a bigger club, European Champions, and overall a club with very high expectations and aspirations, so of course, there is going to be more pressure. He is also inheriting a club that finished 17th in the Premier League, finishing with one of the worst defensive records in Tottenham’s time in the Premier League era, and what is one obvious change we’ve seen? Our defensive side of the game has improved drastically, and you can see that in the way our defenders are playing, especially in how we defend set pieces (which I might add is something we’ve been heavily criticised for in recent years). So I’m betting sharpening up our defence has been a top priority. How does this relate to his time at Brentford? Well, one of the first things Frank did in his first season was tighten up Brentford's defensive structure, trying to organise the team in a way that would allow him to implement his identity without the team being overly exposed defensively. I believe stabilising the defence in the team is something Frank is working so hard on; unfortunately, our attack is suffering for it, but this leads to my second point.
Second. Offensive Structure
We’ve seen two main formations under Thomas Frank: a 5-3-2 and a 4-3-3. Whatever formation we play is always dependent on the opposition. For example, in the Super Cup final against PSG, we played a 5-3-2; we sat back and let PSG have the majority of possession because they press very intensely, and they have the quality to attack fast, whereas against West Ham United, a team notorious for sitting back in a low block, we played a 4-3-3, a good enough formation where we can dominate possession. Now, between 2019 - 2021, the season before Brentford reached the Premier League, Frank focused on tactical switches between formations and the way the team were structured on offence; his tactical flexibility was key for their promotion. This is something a lot of Spurs fans were excited about when he arrived. Unfortunately, Frank is at a disadvantage here; he is having to tweak the structure of the team without a lot of key players, such as James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke. This makes it tough for the team to have any sort of offensive cohesion, especially when we’re having to rely on players like Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons. Kudus plays with a lot of intensity on the wing, but that means we are overplaying him, and he’s becoming more tired. Xavi, on the other hand, is less tired but is a 22-year-old playing in a brand new league, having to take over all creative responsibilities. With time and players back from injury, Frank will find an attacking identity that lives and breathes Tottenham Hotspur. Leading to my third and final point.
Third. Role Clarity
It is clear that Thomas Frank and his coaching staff are still trying to find the best way to utilise every player in the team. There have been games where we’ve seen the best from individuals, but not as a cohesive unit, and I think that’s down to every player having a role to play in this team. I feel we’re still in the first phase of stabilisation at the moment, and the clarity of the roles each player will play is still being worked out. It sucks cause this process is being sped up because Tottenham are such a big club, and we as fans expect the surface-level strengths we see from Frank and ignore the actual groundwork that needs to go into making us this next-level Tottenham. Unfortunately, good things take time; by the time Thomas Frank and Brentford were established club in the Premier League, their best players were household names in the football world. I stand by what I said and still believe Frank can get a better tune out of this team.
Look, I know Brentford and Tottenham are two very different clubs, so people so both situations are totally different and yes, in a sense, the expectations and goals are different, but the path is very much similar. I think Spurs fans overreact a lot, and that clouds thoughts and the way we see the process, and yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and what Thomas Frank needs to do, but here’s the reality, we can only talk about what we think he should do and then get mad if he doesn’t do it then have this conversation all over again, all I know though is that this is going to take time and for a team that is sitting in at fifth place is not a bad place to be with the way some other teams are playing.
