The demise of Ange Postecoglou at Nottingham Forest has thrown into relief the benefits of having a pragmatic manager back in the dugout at Tottenham, although events of the last few weeks ought to serve as a warning too.
Perceptions change fast, projects are quick to unravel, and the two most recent Spurs managers have more in common than you might think, or rather, are mirror images of each other.
Ange was asked to temper his expansive football and could not. Frank’s challenge is to do the opposite.
At Forest, it is the perception that did for Postecoglou, who can’t have been sacked for playing Ange-ball - because he hadn’t played it yet.
He was gradually turning the dial towards progressive football, just as everyone had asked him to, even reverting to conservatism with a back three and long balls forward in three of his five Premier League games, all against clubs who finished in last season’s top five.
Instead he was dismissed by media and fans who had already decided what they thought of his ideology. In the Premier League our belief in a manager often comes down to an idea we project onto them, rather than the real evidence.
This is instructive when we consider the speed with which Thomas Frank’s strong start has become an average one; when we consider how easily managers praised for flexibility and adaptability can become derided for boring or regressive football.
Frank, it should be remembered, has only ever managed Brentford, an underdog able to play on the back foot.
In its own way his step up to Spurs is just as ambitious, just as big a leap into the unknown, as Postecoglou’s from Scotland and Australia into the Premier League.
Spurs have won just one home game in the Premier League, and aside from the impressive 2-0 win at Manchester City (where Brentford-style reactive tactics were appropriate) have only beaten Burnley, West Ham, and Leeds; three clubs we can now state with confidence, eight games in, are relegation candidates this season.
More concerning is Spurs’ stifled way of playing. A workmanlike central midfield on Sunday meant too many sideways passes and too much reliance on set-pieces – in particular Kevin Danso’s long throws – that allowed Aston Villa to look the more progressive and creative side in north London.
That follows an established pattern. Only six clubs have a lower ‘expected goals’ than Spurs’ 8.34, 2.5 of which came from set-pieces, and indeed Frank’s side top the charts for over-performing xG, scoring 14 times.
That suggests Tottenham are currently scoring above expectations and, if they continue playing in this way, will further regress in the final third.
This is not necessarily a tactical issue.
Tottenham are embarking on their first campaign since 2015 without being able to rely upon Harry Kane or Heung-Min Son.
Almost all of their forwards – Xavi Simons, Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, Randal Kolo Muani – joined the club less than a year ago, explaining why there are no clear attacking relationships to speak of.
Injuries to established players Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison only make matters worse.
But Frank is not blameless.
His tendency to field Joao Palhinha with either Pape Matar Sarr or Rodrigo Bentancur against all but the weakest opponents is having an impact.
You don’t need to have Postecoglou’s philosophy to see the benefits of Archie Gray or Lucas Bergvall stitching things together – risking forward passes – to help connect the forward players to one another.
It was too easy for Villa to defend against such a conservative setup last weekend, and the same has been true for Leeds United (unlucky in 2-1 defeat), Wolves (who drew 1-1), and Bournemouth (who won 1-0).
In fact, Burnley are the only opponent against whom Spurs have recorded an xG above 1.3.
These are very early days and there is, in theory, plenty of time for Frank to learn how to dominate possession and territory against smaller clubs without becoming flat; how to show ambition and progressive intent when the situation demands.
Time is very much on Frank’s side here, especially with Tottenham performing well in the Champions League and sitting sixth in the Premier League table.
But, as Ange knows all too well, things can turn very quickly. The football industry is remarkably fickle.
Frank faces the exact inverse of Postecoglou’s difficulty at Spurs which, for all intents and purposes, is precisely the same problem.
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