The signs of doubt for Thomas Frank were already evident before Christmas. Now the belief from fans has truly shifted. Is there any way back for the Spurs boss?
This blog won't go into the full details of the four games over the Christmas period, but it will aim to tackle the key issues at the club, some of which lying deeper than the manager
There has been little to get excited about regarding the recent Spurs performances. To be honest, we have played poorly against opposition that didn't offer much against us. A out of form Liverpool side outfought us, as two silly red cards from Xavi Simons and Romero went with a display that only showed real fight when we were losing and down to nine men. Once again our incredible ability to help unfortunate players continued, as Wirtz got his first goal contribution at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A theme throughout this season and continuing in these games was our reliance on winning the second ball from our optimistic hoofs towards Richarlison. Of course, looking at it on face value, Richarlison is our top scorer, but his decision making is difficult to watch. He often chooses the wrong pass if we have a rare counter attack and even if he tries to play a teammate through, it rarely gets to them.
When I shut my eyes I can just see Vicario hoofing it up towards Richarlison over and over again.
— Return of the Shelf (@ROTS1882) January 5, 2026
Meanwhile, Kudus has been depleted of any attacking flair already as Thomas Frank seems to have turned him into a machine that either crosses the ball in or passes it backwards. His recent injury against Sunderland was a culmination of Frank not resting an overworked winger and our luck of selling our replacement for Kudus two days before his injury.
Our game against Palace just after Christmas seemed like the perfect time to build up some steam as we faced a simpler run than what was prepared for us in February and March. Let me be clear, the depleted Palace side were not threatening to Spurs at all, what made it frustrating was the absolute snooze fest that Thomas Frank seems to call stability. It was a game of few chances, once again without a shot on target in the opening half an hour. Just before half time Archie Gray nodded in from point blank range as a result of another set piece. This over-reliance on set pieces worries me. In theory, we have players capable enough to score and create from open play, yet we see so little attacking promise when 1 on 1 with a full back or counter attacking. The most frustrating part of that game was Richarlison's inability to stay onside. Some call it unlucky, I would say its poor instinct to stay onside when completely unmarked for two disallowed goals. However, we mustn't forget that we won that game. The worse was yet to come.
By this point I was pretty sure on not wanting Frank to continue as our manager. His performances, line-ups and interviews were uninspiring - patronising our fans and disrespecting our achievement last season is no way to win over supporters that have the highest season ticket prices in the Premier League. They say when you lose your away supporters' hope, your time is up and I think the turn against Thomas Frank was no more evident than Brentford vs Spurs.
I don't think it would be ridiculous to say that this was one of the worst Premier League spectacles of all time. I think it was reflective of the general quality of the Premier League this season, highlighted by the most dull game I have ever had the misfortune of watching. Frank lost me from the minute he started a midfield of three defensive minded players to accompany our back four. Not only that but he chose to put two goalkeepers on the bench, rather than giving our youth some time on a bench depleted of attacking options, especially after losing Johnson to Crystal Palace. On a side note, it was sad to see Brennan leave. His goal in Bilbao gave many Spurs fans one of the best nights of our lives and his departure continues a trend where our top scorer of previous seasons leaves the club. I think he will succeed at Palace and will always be remembered as a hero at Spurs. It was unusual that his departure came as a result of Frank and Paratici reportedly saying he had no place at Spurs anymore. Seeing as Paratici is leaving to Fiorentina and Frank shouldn't last much longer at Spurs, it seems pretty rich.
Genuinely there was nothing to talk about in this game. Our attack was futile, our midfield lost a lot of battles and we were only lucky that Brentford were just as poor as us. Seriously worrying sign that the team we were playing was a product of Thomas Frank, who were now doing better under a manager that had no previous head coach experience. Perhaps the most telling moment from the Frank era was when Guglielmo Vicario was booked for time wasting at 0-0 in the 68th minute. Yep. Spurs away fans preoccupied themselves by singing about past players and managers, before making it clear to Thomas Frank that they were not in favour of him. That's the real fans you're looking for.
The last spectacle of the festive period was a draw to Sunderland where Thomas Frank dared to dream by playing an attacking player in the midfield. The first half was better, not to say it was brilliant, but it was an improvement. We tried to press and forced many mistakes from the Sunderland defence. The long throw trend has helped this season become one of the most dull in my lifetime. Something that really frustrates me about Spurs among many other teams is that their designated long thrower isn't actually that good. It becomes a waste of time and always hits the first defender. Brentford and Arsenal seem to the be the only beneficiaries of a good long thrower. The fact Thomas Frank has allowed Lucas Bergvall, one of the brightest stars in Europe and the Premier League, to become one of our designated throwers is a complete waste of his ability and once again highlights Frank's poor development plans with our younger players. We led 1-0 in this game thanks to a surprising goal from the starting Ben Davies, and soon enough made defensive changes, deeming Odobert and Bergvall to be 'almost like for like'. As expected this didn't work and Sunderland played around us to equalise, scoring a goal that was actually impressive to look at. Boos rung around the stadium once again reminding Thomas Frank what the real fans thought of him. A genuine question, when was the last time we convincingly won and scored a goal in open play?
Thomas Frank’s “defensively solid”, “compact” and “pragmatic” Tottenham. https://t.co/GS8BOx7Cof pic.twitter.com/Cwo5Ll1ne4
— Kanefromthelane (@kanefromthelane) January 4, 2026
To be clear, the players are also at fault for these performances. Decision making has been lacklustre and they seem to lack real confidence in themselves and their teammates. Bentancur's poor pass completion rate is not down to Frank. But, his continued choice in the starting 11 is. We haven't improved this season. Many players seem to have regressed under Frank and I can't see us finishing any higher than 10th if we continue with him. There are very little managers on the market at the moment, which is a defence of many people who are willing to keep Frank. However my argument is that this whole period seems to be a waste of fans and players' time. The January window is important, but if there is no faith in Frank, why are we willing to trust him making signings that would maybe work under his system, whatever that is. Johan Lange is also a major problem at the club, with a poor record at Villa, who are thriving since his departure. You worry about the decisions made about the youngsters under his and Frank's management. We've had pretty poor windows under him, including last January where we stalled and stalled to eventually sign Tel, who is now being encouraged to go on loan.
1. I don't trust Frank to buy right in this window
— Paddy 🇮🇪🇪🇸 (@hartnett1977) January 4, 2026
2. I don't trust Lange to buy right in this window
3. I don't trust the board to get anything right this window.
4. Honestly at a loss as to where we currently are as a club but years of neglect/bad buys is now bearing fruition
Lets be clear, Franks football is not Tottenham's. If other fans are calling us entitled, then I'd like to see them pay for tickets of that price week in, week out and watch that football. To Dare is To Do, and at the moment I see nothing that resembles that famous motto.
Spurs will continue to go absolutely nowhere under Thomas Frank. This is all a complete waste of everybody’s time.
— James Maw (@JamesTMaw) January 4, 2026
COYS!
