Thomas Frank cannot retreat now - the key to his Spurs revolution is clear
At the home of the European champions, Thomas Frank was playing with fire. And he inevitably got burned as Paris Saint-Germain plundered five goals.
The under-pressure Dane had no choice. The wounds, however, could now be given time to heal. Frank survived his ordeal, with the bravery displayed proving to the world there is another way than the excruciatingly negative football on show over the past few weeks.
Frank was fortunate that his phallus-on-the table move in Paris has the potential to be a real gamechanger for his Tottenham project.
Sunday’s unforgivable North London derby surrender required the boldest of reactions. Deploying two 19-year-olds at the head of Spurs’ midfield, up against arguably the most ingenious engine-room in world football, was just that step.
Both tired as the European champions took the game away from Spurs in the second half at the Parc des Princes, but this wasn’t about the outcome, this was about the means.
Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray were Spurs’ standout performers, linking up seamlessly for the visitors’ opener. Yet, it was all about the chutzpah, the gall to take the attack to their illustrious Gallic opponents, in their own back yard, that will give supporters some hope a brighter future may still exist.
“Me and Lucas are really close,” a clearly buoyed Gray said after the match. “Every time we're on the pitch together, we just trust each other 100 per cent. Even if there is pressure on us, we know we can play to each other and we can handle that pressure. We’re really close on the pitch and off the pitch as well.
"The coaching staff have been absolutely brilliant with everyone, especially improving our individual games and stuff like that. Last season was a tough season, obviously it ended really well but a lot of tough moments in the season, especially for me playing centre-back and all these different positions, which I'm grateful for, but there were loads of setbacks.
“It is just things to learn from and the coaching staff this year have been really helpful with individual plans.”
Neither Gray nor Bergvall have had it easy. Gray has been pushed from pillar to post, a victim of his own versatility. Such is his effortlessly natural ability on the ball and incongruously calm aura, Gray can fill in anywhere, without his effectiveness dropping too much.
Bergvall is another who has been thrown in the deep end in the most treacherous water. Coming from the Swedish top flight, there has been no gradual assimilation to life in the Premier League – he is already one of Spurs’ key, senior players.
Yet, it is ostensibly clear neither are feeling the pressure. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Two young players, I have said from the beginning, that I believe a lot in,” Frank said. “Archie was there ready before Monaco and then unfortunately picked up the calf injury. So we've been waiting for him to be ready again. Today he showed a lot.
“The way the two of them set up the first goal was also joyful to watch, but the mobility, technical, ball handling, mentality, character, I liked it.”
Now comes the really hard part for Frank. He cannot go that narrow against Fulham at home next up, and deploying both youngsters together again, alongside only one central midfielder in either Rodrigo Bentancur or Pape Matar Sarr, would represent an even greater risk than the one taken in Paris.
At this stage, however, Frank may not have a choice. If his Spurs project – the role he has been waiting for all his life – is to even get off the ground, Gray and Bergvall will almost certainly be his leading lights.
Fortune favours the brave. Frank has shown he can be bolder. But after Sunday, Spurs’ disgruntled masses want more. And now is not the time to retreat.
