Talking Frankly [Updated]

[Updated 24 January]

It's been another... week at Tottenham Hotspur, ending with a pretty abysmal 2-2 against Burnley at Turf Moor. It was Christian Romero to the rescue once again, but is that enough to save Thomas Frank's job for another round of fixtures? 

Probably.

Should it? 

 No.

The 2-0 Champions League win in the week, showed a decent level of performance. Especially in the first half. However, not beating Burnley at home is unacceptable. It reiterates many of the points below.

Original piece:

I really wanted Thomas Frank to be the Spurs manager and was keen to see him appointed not just this summer, but a couple of years previously when Ange Postecoglou got the job. I liked him at Brentford and always thought he came over pretty well in the media. 

It's quite clear now that he cannot continue in the role.

The 1-2 defeat against West Ham is far below what is acceptable. The actual performance was even worse. This all would have been bad enough on it's own. In the broader context of the season, it is the final straw. There are rows of empty seats every game and the players seem to be clueless.

Per the Independent's Miguel Delaney, discussions are ongoing. But the fans have gone. The players have gone. It's over.

Thomas Frank Early Warning Signs

Let's start at the beginning, with the Super Cup vs PSG. Tottenham got 2-0 up in that game and were playing very well, before being pegged back and losing on penalties. We were pegged back because Frank allowed the team to get deeper and deeper, encouraging evermore pressure. It was never going to work, and PSG inevitably equalised before winning on penalties. 

I was pretty gutted after that. It was possibly a once in a lifetime chance to win that bit of silverware. Doing so would have felt very special indeed. However, I accepted that we'd been a bit unlucky against a top side. 

The alarm bells probably should have been ringing even after that first game, but a few good subsequent results (Burnley, Man City etc...) allowed us to move on. Since then, there have been too many diablical results and performances. Wolves (H), Bodo Glimt (A), Chelsea (H), Arsenal (A), Fulham (H), Nottingham Forest (A)... 

Game Over

West Ham are poor and Thomas Frank's Tottenham were on top for large parts of this game. They ended up with 62% of possession, having 21 shots, six of which were on target. The reality, though, was that Alphonse Areola was hardly having to exert himself to keep the Hammers in the game. There seemed to be almost no real attacking plan from Spurs. At one moment, Spurs had the ball in possession and were trying to play out from the back as Frank pointed needlessly towards their opponent's goal.

We all know about the infamous xG numbers. The data from Twelve Football's Earpiece tools highlights just how badly Spurs have struggled going forward. They have been below the average in the league for almost the entire season.

The defence has kept the show on the road for most of this campaign. For a long time, it was better than under Postecoglou. (It could hardly have been worse.) There were clean sheets and everything! Now, as this data from Twelve Football's Earpiece tool makes clear, that is trending in the wrong direction too.

As is often the case, there are moments of clarity in football. Mine came early in the game today. West Ham had just gone 0-1 up and Ben Davies was receiving extensive treatment before being stretchered off. You might think a manager would take the opportunity to gather his players and sort things out. Frank was just standing in his technical area while the players pottered around the centre circle.

I don't know what the answer is. But, regrettably, I know it isn't Thomas Frank.