There is a familiar rhythm to the life cycle of a Tottenham Hotspur manager, a sequence of emotional and tactical checkpoints that many before have encountered. With Thomas Frank, Spurs appear to have reached one of the most recognisable stages: the appeal for patience.
After last Sunday’s chastening 3-0 Premier League defeat at Nottingham Forest, Frank struck a tone that will feel familiar to Tottenham supporters. “If nobody gets this, nobody will be able to turn this around,” he said, stressing that what Spurs face is not a “quick fix.” It was a statement few could reasonably dispute, even if many fans are weary of hearing it.
Frank now appears to be edging towards another well-known phase — the moment where a manager seems desperate to articulate the scale of the challenge before him. In Nottingham, he spoke of an “inner hurricane,” a vivid phrase that captured his growing frustration. The unspoken question beneath his words was clear: does anyone truly see what he sees?
Frank has been careful not to frame Spurs’ struggles as excuses. Publicly lamenting obstacles rarely plays well in modern football, especially at a club where patience is in short supply. Yet he is clearly searching for understanding and context. On Friday, while previewing Saturday night’s visit of Liverpool, Frank used his customary calm and charm to outline why Tottenham’s recent form cannot be reduced to simple underperformance.
One of his central arguments was about workload and adaptation. The Champions League, he pointed out, is not the Europa League. The physical and mental demands are significantly higher, and Spurs’ return to Europe’s elite competition has come at a cost. While their Champions League campaign has been solid — putting them in a strong position to reach the knockout stages — Frank believes it has drained energy from league performances.
At the City Ground, that lack of sharpness was evident. Spurs had played their sixth Champions League match of the season just five days earlier, hosting Slavia Prague. Frank saw a direct connection. The rhythm of playing every third or fourth day at this level, he suggested, remains unfamiliar territory for much of his squad.
Compounding the issue has been injury disruption. Frank pointedly referenced the absence of players who provide goals and creativity — “a few good players out with a lot of goals and assists in them.” Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke have all spent time on the sidelines, leaving Spurs short of cutting edge at crucial moments.
Beyond the immediate problems of fatigue and injuries lies a deeper frustration for Frank — one that has troubled many Tottenham managers before him. It is the gap between ambition and reality.
“What is the potential of Tottenham?” he asked. “That is: I would like to win trophies. And we would like to compete with the best clubs in the country and hopefully win the championship one day. That’s what all Spurs fans are dreaming about. That’s what I’m dreaming about. But how do we get that?
“Reality is: we finished eighth [in 2022-23] with Champions League [participation], then we finished fifth with no European competition, then we finished 17th with the Europa League. Now we’re in the fourth season and there’s been some players through the systems and so on. That’s the reality.”
It was a masterclass in expectation management. Frank did not deflect responsibility, but he did underline the instability that has defined Spurs in recent years. Squad turnover, fluctuating league positions, and shifting European commitments have made sustained progress elusive.
Yet Frank himself acknowledged the brutal truth of modern football when he admitted: “No one will want to hear about this.” Fans, understandably, crave results more than explanations.
Tottenham’s predicament is a difficult one. They are expected to challenge for the Premier League title while operating with, at best, the sixth-largest budget in the division. They are expected to qualify for the Champions League consistently and to do so while playing exciting, attacking football that justifies some of the highest ticket prices in England. When performances fall short, discontent surfaces quickly.
Frank’s calm, reasoned press conference rhetoric can only go so far. Supporters want to see tangible progress on the pitch, not just coherence off it. And this is where the pressure intensifies.
Results have been mixed. Spurs’ Champions League form has been respectable, but their league campaign has been deeply erratic. Three wins from their last 12 Premier League matches tell a worrying story, with five defeats in that run landing like seismic shocks. Victories over teams such as Copenhagen and Slavia Prague in Europe, while welcome, do not earn unlimited goodwill.
Perhaps more troubling than the results is the lack of a clear attacking identity. Frank has undeniably improved Spurs on set pieces and tightened defensive organisation. But these gains have come at a cost. In possession, Tottenham often look laboured and disconnected, struggling to build fluidly through the thirds. Too many league performances have ranged from frustrating to outright unacceptable.
Frank knows it. He has spoken openly about the need for greater creativity and cohesion. The central question now is existential: what are Spurs becoming under him? Is there a discernible direction, a vision that supporters can believe in during difficult moments?
That uncertainty casts a long shadow over Saturday’s clash with Liverpool — a fixture that has rarely been kind to Tottenham in recent seasons. Spurs have beaten Liverpool just twice in their last 18 meetings, one of which was a narrow 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg victory last season, later eclipsed by a crushing 4-0 defeat in the return leg.
The most recent league encounters were sobering: a 6-3 defeat at home and a 5-1 loss at Anfield. Frank addressed those wounds with characteristic understatement. “We conceded a few goals in those games … it’s probably a good idea to also defend a bit,” he said.
It would indeed be a start. But for Thomas Frank, Tottenham’s problems run deeper than defensive lapses. They are structural, historical, and emotional — bound up in years of unmet promise. Whether time, patience, and incremental progress will be enough remains the defining question of his tenure.
