Thomas Frank - Head Coach

[ricky2tricky4city]

I would say it was snobbery over the style of football rather than the calibre of manager

Much prefer PullisBall

 

[Bedfordspurs]

He was comparing the step up to the size of that club in the Danish league and the pressures that come with the step up to us in this league....with the experience being all relative to where he was in his coaching career at the time.

Didn’t sound like that to me

 

[Grays_1890]

He was comparing the step up to the size of that club in the Danish league and the pressures that come with the step up to us in this league....with the experience being all relative to where he was in his coaching career at the time.

Pressure is relative, we just live in a bubble where we believe the pressure here in the job is more than other jobs when they rarely are and all is in it own context.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Saudi Sportswashing Machine are a tough team to get anything against at home (see recent Carabao cup tie) so pleased to get a point. Penalty seems harsh in that those kinds of challenges happen all the time and it is really difficult to stop someone like Dan Burn getting a head to the ball at set pieces. But by the letter of the law it was correct as Bents doesn't look at the ball at anytime.

Makes a change from the capitulations to the chavs and L'Arse. Onwards to Brentford. Have to say TF is rotating the squad pretty well. Another reason I have faith in him turning around our form eventually.

That was the best result we have had there in some time
Yeah a lot of the football was ugly but it got an outcome
That’s rare up there for us so I’ll take that

 

[Finney Is Back]

And all he needed to do it was 2 XIs strong enough to challenge for the title

That is such an overly simplistic way of looking at it.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I think so much hinges on how we perform v Brentford. We played with more intensity tonight BUT we were often laboured in possession. We need a more dynamic midfielder who can get the ball forward quickly. If only we could find ourselves a modern day Dembele.

We need to create more still, plus take shots, try to force chances sometimes. We still create far too little; and whilst we are clinical with chances, we need to be doing more in the final third in terms of creative work and shots on goal. We need to create more for Kolo Muani.

This can either be another of those turning point matches. Or we could find it to be an anomaly and revert back to the boring football, very little xG created of previous matches and see our own supporters booing us off the pitch again at the weekend.

So an improvement, but we still need a lot more, and a lot more regularly. Can Frank do it? I have my doubts but I’d love to be proved wrong as that would be a great thing for the club.

That player could be Archie Gray.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

The problem with the whole piece about 'giving the manager time' is that we all know it doesn't happen, especially at our football club.

If a manager is doing poorly at Spurs then the tradition has always been that the board will fire him and replace him. If Pochettino can be sacked a dozen games into a season after multiple CL qualifications in a row via league position then nobody is safe.

There is also the problem that if there is a combination of the results being poor and the football being poor to watch then the fans get restless. When that happens it becomes hard for the manager to turn it around.

The only potential saving grace is that we now have new decision makers in place at the club and they will perhaps have more patience than the previous decision maker.

I do think that Frank isn't doing himself any favours at present by not trying to first develop his main style of play and relying on that to beat most opposition, which would buy him the time he needs to then look to develop the intricacies and situational changes for the different opposition.

The players look somewhat confused at the moment and we've not really developed a noticeable pattern of play to work the ball forward, which is making it very easy to pen us in and ensure we'll create very few chances in a game. The setup has been extremely negative in many of the PL games this season. We're worrying far more about the opposition than they are about us. That is what I would expect when managing a club like Brentford, not a club like Spurs.

I hope Frank turns it around but if we lose to Saudi Sportswashing Machine tonight then the Brentford game becomes massive and if we failed to win that then I think it possible (perhaps even likely) that he won't last until 2026.

I think it could be that Frank knew this was a step up and a big opportunity.
The easy analysis when he came in was we shipped goals .
So he plays it safe by (doing the old 80s,90s standard playbook) improving the defending and trying to set a firm foundation.
He could do as you say, and just aim to play the way he wants to out of the gate. BUT, if this IS his big opportunity he didn't wanna fudge it ....so he takes the risk averse route. You could read that as he lacked confidence. Who knows.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

That player could be Archie Gray.

With time and experience
What stood out for me last night was how Bergvall was in and out of the game. He was in a lot of the good stuff (which there wasn’t much)
My mate tells me build the team around him but there were enough occasions where he wasn’t in the right place
And I’m fine with that considering his age, experience etc…

 

[Grays_1890]

Bergvall Pali in CM and Xavi in the tip as AM, that would be where I go from here. Bentancur, I was wrong about, should never have gotten the new contract, looks utterly done, and his regression is startling

 

[Finney Is Back]

30 minutes is about as long as the majority of teams can sustain a really high and intense press in the first half. When they dropped off a bit we could assert ourselves more.

Our inability to progress the ball against a high press is a major issue.

I guess we did try to play through them, but repeatedly lost the ball.

Part of the problem here is that Romero is the only player who attempts to (or is capable of?) or perhaps is allowed to? play a forward pass into a central area. Every other pass we make is backwards, sideways or goes to a player out wide. The easiest players to press are wide players because the touchline provides a natural boundary. Us playing a large majority of our foward passes to our wide players makes it easy for the opposition to pen us in because they can get really tight to our wide players, who are receiving the ball facing our own goal and only really have the option to pass backwards or somehow control the ball, turn and beat their player.

Until we start to create some passing options centrally and play midfield players brave/capable/allowed to make forward passes into the centre then we will continue to be an easy team to press.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Saudi Sportswashing Machine are a tough team to get anything against at home (see recent Carabao cup tie) so pleased to get a point. Penalty seems harsh in that those kinds of challenges happen all the time and it is really difficult to stop someone like Dan Burn getting a head to the ball at set pieces. But by the letter of the law it was correct as Bents doesn't look at the ball at anytime.

Makes a change from the capitulations to the chavs and L'Arse. Onwards to Brentford. Have to say TF is rotating the squad pretty well. Another reason I have faith in him turning around our form eventually.

Every single corner sees players not looking at the ball, when trying to mark/block opposition runners coming from a far post position.

 

[Finney Is Back]

He has done a very good job with unlimited support
They now have the cult like vibe
If we gave Frank a £B to spend and 6 years I’m confident we would win things

There are two very big IFs there.... Perhaps things are now different but under our previous decision maker the manager would not last at Spurs if he'd had the second season that Arteta had at Woolwich.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

There are two very big IFs there.... Perhaps things are now different but under our previous decision maker the manager would not last at Spurs if he'd had the second season that Arteta had at Woolwich.

Don’t disagree at all
I don’t think any club keeps a manager that long with any aspirations
They have stuck with him and backed him arguably more than any manager has ever been backed

 

[Finney Is Back]

With time and experience
What stood out for me last night was how Bergvall was in and out of the game. He was in a lot of the good stuff (which there wasn’t much)
My mate tells me build the team around him but there were enough occasions where he wasn’t in the right place
And I’m fine with that considering his age, experience etc…

Bergval's positioning is pretty terrible. He is clearly very talented with some incredible attributes but makes things hard for us with his poor positioning. He should improve as he gets coaching and experience but he wouldn't be starting for the top teams.

 

[harr1984]

Bergval's positioning is pretty terrible. He is clearly very talented with some incredible attributes but makes things hard for us with his poor positioning. He should improve as he gets coaching and experience but he wouldn't be starting for the top teams.

Agree, but he's only going to learn with playing games. I'm happy to give the likes of Bergvall, Gray and Simons opportunities over some of the play it safe merchants we have because they are good with a football. They will doubtlessly make mistakes, but when people talk about giving it time you have to be giving things time that deserve to be given time - these are talented players who should be playing and given time to grow and make mistakes over the likes of Bentancur who is just offering so little....

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

He has bought very well and players come into their team knowing the role they have to play. They also have created good squad harmony amongst the really good competition for first team places. Yes they have spent a lot of money, but they have improved with each chunk of money they have spent.

I think that's what happens when you're in season 3,4,5,6 ...and you have a decent budget.... refinement and difference makers ....as long as you've kept on top of age profile.

Having the balls to let it reach that stage is a hurdle most clubs won't jump. I think Arsenal have been brave with Arteta

 

[Grays_1890]

Agree, but he's only going to learn with playing games. I'm happy to give the likes of Bergvall, Gray and Simons opportunities over some of the play it safe merchants we have because they are good with a football. They will doubtlessly make mistakes, but when people talk about giving it time you have to be giving things time that deserve to be given time - these are talented players who should be playing and given time to grow and make mistakes over the likes of Bentancur who is just offering so little....

He is far more disciplined as a deeper CM than an AM where he looks lost

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Agree, but he's only going to learn with playing games. I'm happy to give the likes of Bergvall, Gray and Simons opportunities over some of the play it safe merchants we have because they are good with a football. They will doubtlessly make mistakes, but when people talk about giving it time you have to be giving things time that deserve to be given time - these are talented players who should be playing and given time to grow and make mistakes over the likes of Bentancur who is just offering so little....

Xavi is meant to adapt by not playing
That’s the magic

 

[Finney Is Back]

Agree, but he's only going to learn with playing games. I'm happy to give the likes of Bergvall, Gray and Simons opportunities over some of the play it safe merchants we have because they are good with a football. They will doubtlessly make mistakes, but when people talk about giving it time you have to be giving things time that deserve to be given time - these are talented players who should be playing and given time to grow and make mistakes over the likes of Bentancur who is just offering so little....

As long as you're prepared to have some (perhaps quite a lot of) poor results that is fine.... PL teams will absolutely exploit poor positioning, especially through the centre of the pitch.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Part of the problem here is that Romero is the only player who attempts to (or is capable of?) or perhaps is allowed to? play a forward pass into a central area. Every other pass we make is backwards, sideways or goes to a player out wide. The easiest players to press are wide players because the touchline provides a natural boundary. Us playing a large majority of our foward passes to our wide players makes it easy for the opposition to pen us in because they can get really tight to our wide players, who are receiving the ball facing our own goal and only really have the option to pass backwards or somehow control the ball, turn and beat their player.

Until we start to create some passing options centrally and play midfield players brave/capable/allowed to make forward passes into the centre then we will continue to be an easy team to press.

Occasionally last night we got into middle third positions and then it just ended up back at a CH or even Vicario.

I'm sure in a video match debrief they could just be pointing out options of alternative (progressive) passes...so players at least believe they exist...and if they don't, the next thing you show is potential recipients where they could be or could move to.

Then take it to the training ground. Rinse and repeat