Thomas Frank is at the wheel so where is Tottenham’s destination? – Back Page Football
21st May 2025, San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao. Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur. Seventeen years of mediocrity, pain and disappointment was ended by Brennan Johnson and his Spurs teammates.
Celebrations erupted throughout the stadium, in N17 and across the world with many Yids (myself included) finally having something we could shout about. In arguably one of the worst European finals in recent memory, Ange Postecoglou banished the ghosts of Spursy past and ensured his team showed up in a major game to deliver silverware for the first time since Juande Ramos and Johnathan Woodgate in 2008.
A week long celebration highlighted the appreciation and love from fans towards the players and coaching staff and the elation was felt everywhere. Champions League qualification, a third Uefa Cup/Europa League and finally again Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur. It seemed that the feeling would never leave, the elation would carry over to next season. As the newly crowned European champion Ange stated “season three is always better than season two.” Well turns out, we’ll never find out.
Exactly two years since his appointment, on 6th June, most Spurs fans were left baffled, angry and confused as Daniel Levy relieved their manager of his duties, two weeks after his European triumph. That’s the business of the game. After dusting out the trophy cabinet and letting it settle, Spurs were pumped 4-1 at home to Brighton in their final Premier League game of the season. Not many people cared to be honest. Fans stayed behind to celebrate with the players after the game, with many surprised to see the heroes who left it all out on the pitch in Bilbao able to play the game as the rumours of them partying until 5am in Spain and frequenting London nightclubs after the parade came out. In all the madness and excitement, Daniel Levy showed his ruthlessness and decided that 22 Premier League losses and only 11 wins was not enough to save Ange’s job, even after his triumph.
In all fairness, had Spurs not won the Europa League, I think that most fans would have happily shown Ange the door after the abysmal league showing this year. Injuries had riddled the team all season and a makeshift back four seemed to become a weekly occurrence but 22 losses is very hard to ignore. I have wrote previously about Ange’s reluctance to change tactics and how that could come back to haunt him and it seemed he kept his more reserved tactics for the Europa League and admitted that his focus shifted completely to the Europa League post January. That stark admittance was joked by Spurs fans to be the correct decision and they couldn’t care because we had finally showed some ambition to go and win something but Daniel Levy took notice, and that type of attitude wasn’t going to be accepted. All and all, it probably was the right decision due to the league performances but the squad was torn apart from injuries and begs the question, should Levy have done more to help Ange in the league?
This is a story written by Tottenham since Levy took over in 2000. A lack of spending and backing in comparison to their Premier League rivals and eventually a run of poor performances leads to a manager being sacked. Pochettino really made Spurs a formidable Premier League side again. He brought back Champions League football to the club in 2016/17, the first time since 2010/11 season under Harry Redknapp. He also guided Spurs to several top four finishes and a Champions League Final in 2019. There was one thing that haunted his time at Tottenham though, no silverware. League Cup Final, FA Cup semi finals, Champions League Final and pushing to be apart of the elite in the Premier League but never quite getting there. That’s where the blame for Levy comes in.
During this time Pochettino raised a young squad and developed players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Son Heung-min, who were his backbone for so long. The Spurs starting 11 was as good as any in the Premier League, but their bench was were things went awry. Pochettino had wanted to build a proper squad so that Spurs could compete in all competitions and ensure that injuries or fatigue wouldn’t derail their season. In the end, Spurs went two transfer windows without updating the squad. The mood became stale and by the time Spurs had brought in Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso after their Champions League final loss, Mauricio Pochettino’s voice had lost the dressing room. His style of play and trainings lacked the same bite with the lack of freshening throughout the squad and he was sacked in November 2019. This is where Tottenham fans really started to raise their voices about everything Levy didn’t do to help Pochettino. He had built a strong starting 11, but was never given the chance to build the squad that he wanted to compete and Spurs missed out on trophies because of it.
Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte were two managers brought in that were known serial winners. Everywhere they have been they have left a trail of trophies and medals, they looked to bring them standards to White Hart Lane but both left in a cloud of disappointment. The special one was sacked less than a week from a cup final, still one of the most baffling decisions from Levy’s reign, and Conte told the club what he needed, what he wanted and that was too much for Enic to cope with, so he was shown the exit door too.
You saw the outpouring of emotion with the parade. It was just incredible. We’ve won a European trophy. But it’s not enough. It’s what we haven’t done that is more important. We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League. We want to win the Champions League. We want to win.
If you read this quote you would attach it to Liverpool, Manchester City or Arsenal. Teams that are desperate to win the big competitions and have proven how much they want it by buying players and getting rid of players that are surplus to requirements.
Money has been given to their managers to ensure they stay at the very top and can compete with Europe’s elite. In fact that quote was from Daniel Levy himself. If he has one eye on winning the Premier League, the other eye better be firmly fixated on his cheque book. We’ve seen how Aston Villa and Newcastle have spent over the last couple of years and have, in turn, overtaken Spurs in the race to the top of the mountain. So with Thomas Frank getting the keys to the castle lets see who he’s allowed bring to the ball. Arguably more importantly, let’s see the dead wood in the squad he gets rid of.
In terms of what Spurs need I think a real top quality midfielder is the biggest priority. Lucas Bergvall could take that helm in the coming years, but to compete at the top right now, Spurs need a conductor of the orchestra. Who that could be? I honestly don’t know. They are rumoured to be linked with Xavi Simons and Eberechi Eze, who do fit a need in the creative section of the pitch but a real do it all midfielder is hard to come by. Depending on the future of Christian Romero, another centre half could be in order, as well as any player that Frank decides he needs to be successful and implement his tactics and game plan. Frank could deploy a back five at times but will also use a back four at various times, having the players who can adapt to his styles, formations and solutions is essential.
I am still confused that Ange is gone. Levy cries out for success and then a trophy isn’t enough. Thomas Frank has proven himself in the Premier League but has never managed at the highest of levels. Not that Tottenham currently fall into that category but I’m very unsure whether the success that Levy craves (apparently) can be attained by Frank. I will support him no matter what, as Spurs have put me and all other Yids through enough and we keep coming back, but I am still just unsure of the appointment. Hopefully there are signings coming through the door and we get to see what Frank and his highly sought after assistant Josh Cochtrane can bring to the table.
