Fourth-Placed Frank Snubbed by Players - Is it Really That Bad for Spurs?

Fourth-Placed Frank Snubbed by Players - Is it Really That Bad for Spurs?

By any metric you could possibly employ to rate a football team, Tottenham were absolutely dismal in their 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea on Saturday evening.

They may have only slipped to a 1-0 loss, but Chelsea could realistically have added an extra two or three on top of Joao Pedro’s strike, accumulating 3.68 XG across 15 attempts on goal. Furthermore, the two London rivals could have played another five 90 minutes, and I still doubt whether Tottenham would be able to find the net.

The only standout for Thomas Frank’s side was goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who in recent weeks has become accustomed to saving his side’s skin time and again, and his eight saves were the only act that kept the scoreline somewhat respectable.

The players were equally as disappointed with their level as their fans, and it quickly showed from two of the Lilywhites' best defenders - walking off the pitch immediately after the final whistle, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence completely ignored their manager’s attempt to high-five them, with the Danish coach sending daggers after them as they moped towards the dressing room.

WOW. 😮 Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven both walk straight past Thomas Frank at the full time whistle following our defeat to Chelsea… pic.twitter.com/ZeSt4SmaeZ

— Spurs Army (@SpursArmyTweets) November 1, 2025

This arrogance seems completely unnecessary - Tottenham are fourth in the league and, despite their loss to Chelsea, sit above them on goal difference. So why is there an air of uncertainty around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?

Tedious “Thomas-Ball”

Tottenham’s points tally is already a marked improvement from their early showings of the 2024/25 campaign - by this stage last season, Ange Postecoglou had failed to get his side out of first gear, leaving them an unflattering eighth.

So, superficially, Spurs have undergone a quiet but tangible improvement over the summer thanks to the arrival of a new coach and a few savvy moves both in and out during the transfer window. So why all the negativity?

Well, the growing frustration in North London in fact stems from Thomas Frank. Long touted as a future manager at top six sides in the Premier League, it was not too long ago that both Chelsea and Manchester United were considering his signature, while the Dane consistently had Brentford punching above their weight.

He eventually got his big move this summer - one that spurs had to pay around £10 million for - and so far has led his new team to some effective, if slightly unflattering, results.

However, the real problem is not the results he is getting; you simply can’t be unhappy when your team lies in the Champions League spots. No, the issue lies in the growing frustration, and at times, boredom in Frank’s style of football.

Just 2 losses in Thomas Frank's first 14 games as Spurs manager.

Yet sections of this fanbase slaughter him out of pure spite because he replaced their favourite manager (who finished 17th on 38 points). pic.twitter.com/aZqx1z2mhC

— ⚪️ (@owenthfc__) October 26, 2025

Frank showed during his time at Brentford that he preferred a more direct approach: bypass the press with a long ball, automatically get the ball in the opposition half, and hope to get the ball at the feet of the attackers after the 50/50 aerial duel.

This worked fine in West London, but his methods have not travelled well to his new employers - many of the players in the squad are unaccustomed to this particular style of football, having learnt from a young age that passing out from the back was undoubtedly the way forward in modern football.

Of course, if they get a result out of a game in which they are forced to use this unfamiliar style, then there is no problem. However, when they get so comprehensively outclassed by an opposition, and the manager shows little intention of implementing a plan B, it suddenly becomes a little clearer why irritation is growing amongst the Spurs ranks.

For the best part of two years, both players and fans grew familiar with Ange Postecoglou’s style, his end-to-end, Olympic sprint style that, for better or (in most cases) worse, certainly never failed to entertain the masses.

So to go from one exciting extreme to the complete other end of the spectrum is an unwanted culture shock for the Spurs faithful who, despite getting more than competitive results, want more from their side.

Is Frank The Right Fit For Spurs?

The Tottenham squad is jam-packed with dynamic, exciting players who are never more comfortable than when they have the ball at their feet - Xavi Simons, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus and Brennan Johnson all thrive in these scenarios.

So to be told that you can rarely use the part of your game which has seen you become globally recognised in some cases would have been an unpleasant revelation for some. Despite the competitive results and a good goalscoring record in the early days of the season, discontent is undoubtedly growing amongst Frank’s ranks, as players become impatient with a style that simply doesn’t allow them to exhibit their full array of skills.

Against Chelsea, Spurs managed just three shots in 105 minutes of football (including added time), with only one of them testing Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal. To underline just how poor they were, these three attempts added up to a measly 0.05 XG, Tottenham’s lowest tally in a Premier League game EVER.

🤯 Tottenham's xG of 0.05 against Chelsea today is the 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 recorded in a Premier League game.

And it was at home.
And it was against a big rival.

Genuinely can't believe how bad Spurs were today. Tactics all wrong. Not aggressive enough. Not… pic.twitter.com/ZRc00h7kUt

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 1, 2025

To post a performance like this in a home game against one of your fiercest rivals is shameful - over the last two seasons, Tottenham at home to Chelsea has become a marquee fixture, with the last two instalments boasting 12 goals and two red cards.

In both of those games, the action never stopped, and fans were getting out of breath - put simply, it was what Premier League football was all about. In last night’s game, there was no hint of any urgency from Thomas Frank’s side, and after falling behind just before the break, they never looked remotely likely to assert themselves and take control of the game in the second half.

The lack of ambition frustrated fans aplenty, and as post-game video footage showed, players as well - star defensive pair Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven wanted nothing to do with a Thomas Frank high five at the full-time whistle, and left the Dane standing in the middle of the pitch, helpless and embarrassed at the lack of respect shown by his own players.

Thomas Frank: "I've never been in charge of a team that created that little." 😬 pic.twitter.com/CK0iRAIFja

— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) November 1, 2025

His style doesn’t fit, Spurs look shaly at best when they try anything other than the direct approach, and despite their 17 league goals (the second-best tally in the league), impatience is growing at the lack of ambition shown by the manager and, as a by-product of this, the players.

Could it be that the most expensive manager in their history is yet another in the long line of promising coaches to fail to live up to the billing at their first big club?

Final Verdict

If Frank is insistent that his Spurs side bend to his will, he has to give them something to believe in. This could be a Plan B that actually differs from his preferred methods, a willingness to chase a game they are behind in, or an alternative approach from the start.

But the one thing the Dane cannot afford to do is stick to his guns and stubbornly keep using the same tactics, because despite their lofty table position, neither players nor fans are satisfied, and this is a scenario where conversations about his job begin to take root.

If he is to keep his own fans onside with his style of football, Frank must be winning games with it, simple as that, because the style by itself is not enough to impress the tens of thousands of onlookers. If he is seen to stick with his approach even in the face of defeat, he will get much the same treatment Ruben Amorim has received over the past year.

“Stuck in his ways”, a “one-trick pony”, being “unwilling to experiment” - Amorim has heard it all since taking over at Man United a year ago, and despite having taken the reins for just 10 Premier League games at his new club, there is already discussion that Frank could become another case study.

I’m being genuinely serious when I say this.

If Thomas Frank doesn’t work out at Tottenham Hotspur, sacking Ange Postecoglou — and not giving him chance with a full squad after he ended a 17-year trophy drought in an injury-riddled season will go down as one of the worst…

— C. (@CoysConf) October 22, 2025

Frank needs to show he is adaptable and capable of change sooner rather than later. If he doesn’t, he could lose the backing of the squad, and it is a slippery slope from there - we saw it last season with Postecoglou: if your players can’t grasp your tactical approach, you will only do yourself further damage if you stick to it.