Hotspur HQ

The lack of excitement for a quite incredible moment told the whole story: Thomas Frank is currently sapping my enjoyment of watching Tottenham.

Now, I know Frank doesn't owe me anything personally, but he has a responsibility to oversee an on-pitch product that supporters, the lifeblood of any football club, can get behind and believe in.

I thought we were right to move on from Ange Postecoglou once the emotion of Bilbao had simmered. I backed the Australian until the very end, but didn't think his idealistic style was conducive to sustained success at the elite level. He did 'get it', though, and Ange's successor is failing miserably to inspire hope.

The majority have long been appreciative of Frank's work, but there's a very high chance that most of us horribly misjudged the former Brentford manager. I assumed the "intelligent" Frank could scale up, that his approach in west London could evolve into a game model capable of adhering to the rather vague 'Tottenham Way'.

Thus far, though, it's been a pragmatic slog. We're now five games without a win under his stewardship, and although Tuesday's result was fine in isolation, there was no real sign of progress at St. James' Park.

Tottenham showed no tangible sign of progress in Newcastle draw

The manager ultimately had his captain to thank for rescuing a point at Newcastle United. Spurs fell 1-0 and 2-1 behind on Tyneside, but Cristian Romero's thumping header and shinned overhead kick helped the visitors restore parity twice.

Frank was right to commend his side's character after the draw, although it was almost solely a World Cup-winner's will that inspired Spurs to a point. Romero took it upon himself to maraud into the frontline and beat Dan Burn to Mohammed Kudus' cross, cancelling out Bruno Guimarães' opener with an emphatic finish.

There was no grand rescue plan from the manager, who once again oversaw a pitiful first-half showing that, for the fourth Premier League game in succession, failed to return a shot on target. That takes some doing.

There is no sign of evolution. No indication that Frank is learning from previous failings. If Kudus can't bring down a hopeful punt in his direction and roll the defender constantly up his backside, then Spurs can't get upfield. That's a problem.

The midfield pivot, no matter who plays there, are reduced to mannequins who seemingly serve the purpose of ensuring Frank has 11 on the pitch. Suddenly, Pape Matar Sarr doesn't know how to receive beyond the first line of pressure, get his head up and pass forward. His issues on Tuesday are symptomatic of the manager's risk-aversion and primitive idea of chance creation.

Get the ball wide and hope extra bodies in the box pay dividends. The centre of the pitch remains a no-go zone.

The second-half was slightly better, but it seems as if Spurs' "good spells" are dominated by long-throw sequences and other dead-ball moments. There's no emphasis upon sustaining pressure from open play.

You could perhaps legislate for such basic in-possession principles if Spurs were now an imperious force defensively, but that isn't the case. We continue to concede goals from the edge of our box, and, ultimately, our inability to keep the ball thrusts more pressure on the defence.

It's an antiquated brand of football that removes all scope for invention and craft. Perhaps I assumed all Danes were hip and progressive, with my love for Copenhagen's pastries potentially distorting my view of the incumbent in the dugout. Damningly, Frank is currently standing for something that no Tottenham supporter can get behind.

Can we really say with any confidence that things would look drastically better if Frank had a full squad at his disposal, or if we signed Antoine Semenyo in January? We can't.

Romero's stoppage-time heroics should've been a great moment and memory, but I immediately wondered what it all meant, and I still do. There are no signs of improvement with Frank, who is failing to maximise what is a flawed but undeniably talented squad by sapping the creative juice that lies within it in favour of a data-driven iteration of POMO.

Thomas Frank is not the manager I thought he was, or, at least, not yet, the manager I thought he could become. I'm very close to wanting a change.

No manager in world football is under more pressure right now than Thomas Frank, and that list includes some pretty high profile coaches sitting on a very hot seat, such as Xabi Alonso over at the perpetually scorching Real Madrid. But Tottenham Hotspur have suffered crushing defeat after crushing defeat under Frank, whose quotes at press conferences have left supporter incensed and grievously insulted.

Spurs were coming off back to back losses to local rivals, first falling 4-1 to Arsenal in a historically horrid North London Derby before crumbling 2-1 to Fulham in another inexcusable outing. And while Tottenham did not play well enough in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle to fully take the pressure off Frank, the solitary point is just enough to help Frank survive at least another week without very, very serious conversations regarding his future.

In truth, Tottenham were not impressive against Newcastle, and Frank had nothing really to do with the draw either. He benched Xavi Simons for a fourth straight game, picked another lousy lineup, and chose a tactical plan that left the defense exposed and the attack with no ideas. And for a fourth straight game, too, Spurs had no shots on target at all in the first half.

Tottenham had every right to lose

Yet, thanks to captain Cristian Romero, who returned from a one game suspension against Fulham, Spurs survived. He scored two late goals, including a bicycle kick at the death that saw him channel his inner Jude Bellingham (or Wayne Rooney, whichever you prefer) to rescue a draw from the throes of defeat.

Tottenham had every right to lose this game thanks to Frank's coaching incompetence, and that would have sent both Frank and the club into a tailspin. But Spurs were able to save some face thanks to the clutch gene of Romero, who has won a World Cup, Copa America, and Europa League in his illustrious career as one of the world's finest center backs.

Romero bailed Frank out big time. Frank owes him everything, especially since Romero was a player who loved Ange Postecoglou very dearly and could have easily left Spurs holding the bag by requesting a transfer after the way they cruelly fired BIg Ange to replace Frank.

Given Frank has set the team back significantly and lost the fan base already, Romero would have been forgiving for not bringing his absolute, 1000 percent intensity to the table. But that's not Romero's style at all ,and Frank needs to be eternally grateful to Romero for saving his behind vs. Newcastle.

Although it was not the finest overall performance from Tottenham Hotspur and they needed more heroics from Cristian Romero to save the day, this was a significantly better outing from the disaster this past weekend against Fulham. Instead of losing 2-1, Spurs did enough to grind out a last second 2-2 draw against a more talented side in Newcastle, with Romero sinking the Magpies via two braces, including a late bicycle kick.

Romero was the clear standout of the match, as the Spurs captain and star center back once again proved why he is one of the best players in the entire Premier League regardless of position. And even though most fans know his name by now, it still feels like Romero is underrated.

But the true underrated Spurs player is Kevin Danso, who was Romero's astute center back partner on the night with Micky van de Ven on some surprising load management restriction imposed by the overly cautious Thomas Frank.

Kevin Danso is in Cristian Romero's shadow

Well, Danso stepped in and after absorbing criticism from many fans for his lack of ball playing ability, the ex Lens man delivered a quietly outstanding performance against Nick Woltemade and Newcastle. Although Spurs surrendered two more goals, that was mostly down to Frank's horrid tactics and a cavernous midfield set up that had Danso and Romero facing an onslaught.

Just as Romero saved a goal with a timely tackle, Danso cleared the ball off the line to spare Tottenham from losing 4-2 on the night. He was no nonsense in his approach overall, clearing a total of 11 balls to more than double anyone else on Tottenham. Plus, Danso put his body on the line to directly block two shots.

It was another strong defensive performance from Danso, who was specifically bought to be a solid third center back who could step in for either superstar player at a moment's notice and deliver a clean defensive performance without a fuss in a game against any caliber of opponent. And that's exactly what the big, friendly Austrian did at the back for Spurs on Tuesday night.

Danso honestly deserves more appreciation than he gets, including from his own Tottenham fan base. So many people are focused on what he isn't, and what he isn't is a player like Micky van de Ven or Cristian Romero. But how many of those guys are walking around out there? Instead, Danso needs to be appreciated for who he is, and he is a very solid central defender, as he reminded fans this week.

Although Tottenham Hotspur haven't gotten a whole lot right in the 2025/26 season, one thing they have to be very proud about is signing West Ham star Mohammed Kudus in the summer 2025 transfer window, and you really have to shudder to think where this Spurs team would be as a whole without Kudus's fine work on the right wing each and every week.

At this point, Kudus has to be exhausted by being the main man to carry this attack. He scored the lone goal over the weekend against Fulham in order to help Spurs try to save some face, volleying brilliantly into the near corner. Then this Tuesday night, Kudus provided the assist for Spurs first goal of Cristian Romero's double pack.

All around, Kudus was excellent for Spurs in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle, and they would have lost yet again without him. The Ghanaian international won a couple of tackles to chip in defensively and did his usual great work on the right wing as a creator, producing a couple of chances while winning several one on one duels.

Mohammed Kudus is cut from a different cloth

Kudus's strong game was a huge head to head message to former Manchester United and Nottingham Forest man Anthony Elanga. Another high priced summer transfer on the wings, Elanga joined Newcastle from Forest for a cool 55 million pounds, which, funnily enough, is exactly the amount of money Spurs paid to West Ham for Kudus.

While it is early, Elanga has been dreadful for Newcastle and one of the least productive summer signings of the last window. He is still a couple of years younger than Kudus, but, even then, watching Elanga struggle to make any sort of impact as a bench player for Newcastle on Tuesday night while Kudus helped keep Spurs in the game was enough to at least make Tottenham feel good about this.

The Kudus signing is one of the few things that has gone right for Spurs in the new Thomas Frank era, and he certainly sent that message to Newcastle that he and Elanga are trending in very different directions. And they are likely different calibers of player entirely, with Kudus offering more creativity and dynamism, especially in terms of his ball progression and skill in one on ones.

You can only imagine what Kudus would be capable of if Tottenham were a more cogent attacking side and with a better left wing and striker situation surrounding the team's primary wide playmaker.

Although Tottenham Hotspur had a better outcome on Tuesday night against a quality Premier League opponent in Newcastle United, drawing 2-2, it's really tough to say that Thomas Frank had a whole lot to do with it. Spurs were, once again, completely flat coming out of the gates, and for a fourth straight match, they failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, which is simply inexcusable.

And really, Frank had set the Spurs lineup for a disappointment, and without two clutch late goals from captain Cristian Romero, they would have been embarrassed by Newcastle. Frank inexplicably left Xavi Simons out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight matchup, and I don't think any Spurs supporter sees it as a coincidence that four straight Simons benchings correlate with four straight games without a shot on target in the first half.

Simons has been continually snubbed by Frank despite being the team's marquee signing of the last summer transfer window, as Frank has been forcing Lucas Bergvall into an uncomfortable No. 10 role instead. Though, well, Spurs supporters have to take the positive that he's actually playing the talented Swedish international at all.

Mathys Tel has earned better

But Simons isn't the only top talent Frank is snubbing. Mathys Tel scored important goals against Leeds and then Manchester United to cement his status as a key part of the Tottenham rotation and a potential option at the 9.

Well Tel got benched for an impossibly poor Brennan Johnson, who has been one of the team's worst players this season. He was able to at least come into this game in the 76th mintue alongside Richarlison to shake up the front line, but given he was not picked in the last game over Richy, it boggles the mind that Tel, the better player right now with more long term upside, is not seen as the definitively superior option.

Frank isn't showing enough faith in his young players, and as Simons and Tel watch midfielders Bergvall and Archie Gray finally get some trust from the manager, they have to be wondering when it will be their turn to shake up this attack.

Because while Spurs put two past Newcastle and ultimately drew the match, both goals were from a center back, including a late bicycle kick to save the day. That's not sustainable and certainly not a credit to the coaching Frank is doing with an attack that is severely underperforming the talent that is available in the squad.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero was sorely missed in the weekend's disastrous 2-1 loss to Fulham, as he was suspended for picking up too many yellow cards in the previous weekend's 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal.

Well, Romero didn't miss a beat in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, proving, once again, why he is by far the most important player on this Tottenham team. Romero played elite defense against Newcastle star striker Nick Woltemade, and not only did he save a goal for Spurs in the process, he also scored two of his own in crunch time, including a last gasp bicycle kick winner that would have made Wayne Rooney and Jude Bellingham jealous.

Really, it is quite jarring to see that Romero is often one of the team's biggest attacking threats, and in this vital matchup against Newcastle, he was the one to show up with the clutch gene and the ruthless finishing in front of goal.

Richarlison isn't offering enough threat

Randal Kolo Muani played well at striker before being hooked off, but the same cannot be said about Richarlison. The Brazilian international was mercifully benched, but he came into the match in the 76th minute as Thomas Frank looked to get Spurs back in it.

As just about anyone could have predicted, Richy offered no real attacking threat to the side. He didn't help change the game, and his only meaningful action of the night against Newcastle was to earn himself a booking.

Romero being more clutch as an attacker, being there, and making game altering plays, including a very high quality finish via the bicycle kick, really has to be another blow to Richarlison. When a center back is a better goal threat and difference maker from an attacking perspective than the main striker on the pitch, it both speaks to the quality of the defender and also the lack of quality of the striker.

Richarlison has been called up on so often by Frank this season, and while he has five goals and two assists on paper to lead the team, it's noticeable that every single Tottenham supporter thinks he needs to be doing more for the team. Romero just showed him levels as a center back on Tuesday night that this is the sort of quality that is expected from a Tottenham player, and it's the sort of impact that Richarlison has consistently failed to provide to Spurs when it matters most ever since his arrival at the N17.

Tottenham ended their losing run in remarkable circumstances at Newcastle United, as Cristian Romero's brace earned Spurs a 2–2 draw at St. James' Park.

Thomas Frank's random lineup generator chucked up another belter on Tyneside, with the Dane once again leaving Xavi Simons on the bench, bringing Brennan Johnson back in out of nowhere, and opting to give Micky van de Ven a rest.

Playing under the lights at St. James' is hard, and Frank's primary ploy of punting the ball into the general vicinity of Mohammed Kudus was initially no match for the savvy and aggressive hosts. It was all Newcastle early, with Spurs struggling to bypass the halfway line, and Lewis Miley ought to have handed the Magpies the lead before Joelinton hit the post with a fine effort.

Spurs' start was bleak, but as was the case in the Carabao Cup tie, we grew into the contest towards the end of the first half. Finally winning first and second balls helped, while Lucas Bergvall and Kudus supplied some attacking inspiration. Still, it was the fourth Premier League game in a row without a first-half shot on target.

Newcastle's early second-half storm was just about weathered, and spells of actual possession relatively near Aaron Ramsdale's goal offered hope that Spurs may well get something from this game.

And somehow, we did. Was it anything Frank did? Not really. Newcastle's second goal was unjust, a nonsense penalty, and even though the hosts were probably the deserving winners on the balance of play, there was a sense of justice being earned when Romero shinned an overhead kick past former Gunner Aaron Ramsdale.

A point, but what does it all mean?

Newcastle 2–2 Tottenham player ratings

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Guglielmo Vicario (GK): 6.5/10 – No clean sheet, but bounced back well from Saturday. Safe hands throughout.

Pedro Porro (RB): 5.5/10 – Struggled one-on-one all night, no matter who was out there. But, I thought he defended the back post pretty well.

Cristian Romero (CB): 8/10 – What. The. ****

Kevin Danso (CB): 7/10 – There was some good emergency defending on display from Danso, but some of his work on the ball was awkward at best. Still, Van de Ven's presence wasn't sorely missed.

Destiny Udogie (LB): 5/10 – Pretty messy from the left-back, who didn't venture forward all that much and struggled to combined with his teammates.

Continued on the next slide...

With the fans beginning to turn on Thomas Frank, the new Tottenham Hotspur manager is attempting to save face. Publicly, he's denying that this is the case, vastly underestimating that only a small percentage of Spurs supporters are changing their minds about his ability to manage this football club.

At the same time, everything else he is saying points to a manager desperately trying to change his perception and save face, as opposed to, you know, actually managing the team better and winning some games. The lack of leadership emanating from Frank at the top is bleeding into the players, with supposed leaders like Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro Porro playing poorly, yet blaming teammates openly and not realizing why the fans are so unaccepting of their beyond putrid performances.

In his latest attempt to try and make himself look better, Frank didn't just hearken back to last season and throw Ange Postecoglou under the bus, he pretty much threw his current crop of attacking players to the wolves, too.

Thomas Frank is full of excuses

He said, via The Spurs Express, “We are coming from a season where we finished 17th and did fantastically to win the Europa League. Now we want to compete in both places, which is natural and will take a bit of time without the normal front players, the four front players who scored the only goals.”

Yes, the injuries to Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, and Dejan Kulusevski 100 percent hurt. And so did losing Son Heung-min to MLS without a replacement on the left wing. Every Spurs supporter recognizes this. But Tottenham didn't leave Frank hung out to dry completely, and they honestly gave him more transfer support that much bigger managers like Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho got in years passed.

Mohammed Kudus, Randal Kolo Muani, and Xavi Simons all joined Spurs this past summer transfer window and have been successful players in European football. Kudus was a top player for West Ham and has been excellent for Spurs this season. Simons was a superstar for PSV and RB Leipzig, yet Frank does not even try to get him involved and has gone as far as to bench him in the last three games.

And then Kolo Muani has come on really strong recently since becoming healthy, notching three goal contributions against parent club PSG. Last season, he was great for Juventus and before joining PSG, he was one of the top strikers in Europe at Eintracht Frankfurt.

These are three very talented players, and by saying that Frank has lost so much talent from last season and that's why his team stinks, he's throwing these guys under the bus by not even acknowledging the players he has gained. Head to head, Kolo Muani is better than Solanke, Kudus is better than Kulusevski, and Simons is better than Maddison.

Or, at least, they should be comparable. Frank couldn't get the most out of these three so far, and what makes anyone think he could do the same for the others? Frank is not being a real leader here, and he needs to take a long look at the man in the mirror before making flimsy excuses.

The common theme with Thomas Frank at Tottenham Hotspur this season has been a new manager with no ideas, no ambition, and no willingness to give the young players a chance. Spurs supporters cannot help but feel they were sold a false bill of goods with Frank from Brentford, as he has done literally the opposite of everything the fans were told he would do when management hired him to replace the popular Ange Postecoglou.

Whereas Big Ange brought a European trophy, Frank looks like he's putting Spurs on a trajectory to finish just as poorly in the Premier League while playing less attractive football and coming nowhere close to bringing home real silverware.

Frank's mistreatment of Xavi Simons has been the big topic of discussion over the past week, as he benched him in three important games - which Spurs roundly lost. But Simons's situation has shrouded another young player getting snubbed - and one who had actually been playing well.

Mathys Tel has a lot of promise

Mathys Tel was signed permanently from Bayern Munich after showing enough individual quality and love for the badge in six months last season en route to a Europa League trophy. This season, Tel has taken his lumps, but after getting flak from both fans and Frank, he scored important goals in a win over Leeds and a draw against Manchester United.

A striker or left winger, Tel has outplayed several attacking teammates this season, including Richarlison. And yet Frank has continued to start the horrendous Richy, eschewing Tel completely, even after his strong performance against a top club in Man United.

Tel has not started for Tottenham since a poor showing against Aston Villa, which was a follow up to his goal and brilliant display against Leeds. As with Simons, Tel is a case of Frank discarding a young player completely at a sign of struggle, neglecting the fine work he did previously.

Like Simons, Tel is a great athlete and technician who has legitimate world class upside, which is more than can be said about the majority of Spurs attackers right now. He needs games. Yet instead of giving him chances to grow on a team that is losing anyway, Frank is giving him scraps to feed on - one minute here, 10 minutes there.

It's so hard to build a basis and to get young players to buy in when this is what you are doing as a manager. Tel has done everything right in terms of fighting adversity, backing the manager, and working hard for the team. And Frank rewards him via punishment. It is far too cruel.

It has been pretty close to a disastrous start to life at Tottenham Hotspur for Xavi Simons, whose tenure at the club began promisingly with some nifty chances created and touches, especially in the smaller games like the League Cup outings.

But over time, fans began to sour a bit on Simons's overall lack of an impact in games. Yet the fans themselves have never turned against Simons or wavered in their belief that the attacking midfielder, who was a special talent for two very good clubs in PSV and RB Leipzig, will turn it around and play at a top class level for the Lilywhites.

It seems, then, that the only person who is giving up on Simons is Thomas Frank, and he doesn't even have the guts to admit that's exactly what he is doing. Frank has now phased Simons completely out of the starting lineup in three straight games, and, predictably, Spurs have been no better off in any of these matches, losing all of them.

Tottenham have lost every game without Xavi Simons

Spurs were blown out by Arsenal last weekend 4-1, they could not beat PSG in a 5-3 Champions League defeat that everyone saw coming, and then they completely soiled themselves against a perfectly mid Fulham team 2-1.

Off the bench, Simons showed more spark than a few of his attacking teammates, and as much as Frank yammers on and on about how tough it is for the young Dutch star to adapt to the Premier League and writes it off as that's the reason why he isn't playing, any fan with some modicum of logical thinking can poke holes all over that.

Look, if the problem with Simons is adaptation, then you, the coach should be helping him adapt. That is literally your job and what you are paid to do. Spurs invested in Simons, who has stood out everywhere he has went, and all of a sudden we are supposed to believe he can't crack it in the Premier League. Well, who could look good sitting behind Richarilson and dealing with Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha lumbering along on the ball?