Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Johnson 35′, Palhinha 45+2′)
ETIHAD STADIUM — I have a confession to make. I didn’t think Ange Postecoglou deserved to be sacked after winning the Europa League. And my overwhelming feeling when I saw Thomas Frank appointed as successor was “meh”.
It is ostensibly clear already, as Tottenham Hotspur strolled to yet another victory over the might of Manchester City, such ambivalence towards Frank’s arrival was ill-judged on my part. Frank is exactly what Spurs need for where they are right now.
As we saw in the Dane’s Mr Sensible tactical masterclass at the Eithad, Frank is very much the antithesis of Postecoglou. Both have masterminded stunning victories on the blue half of Manchester, but in very, very different ways.
The 4-0 success in November last year suggests Postecoglou has the edge, but rarely has a scoreline been so misleading, with Spurs weathering an almighty early storm before scoring with their only four attacks in the match.
Having settled into the contest against a City side full to bursting with joie de vivre on the back of their invigorating opening-day win at Wolves last week, Frank’s Spurs sauntered to victory without their goalkeeper having had to have the game of his life or using up any of the season’s allocation of Get Out of Jail Free cards.
What separates Frank from his peers is how he goes about his business. Ruben Amorim has been at pains to insist he will not play any other way. He was hired because of this very stoicism, with Manchester United so desperate for any form of identifiable identity.
Frank, through years of his best players being pillaged at Brentford, has adapted his approach, often by the week, to work with the assets available to him, and, most pertinently for this weekend, to the opposition in front of him.
While Postecoglou’s backline remained rarely deeper than the halfway line last December, Frank, whose Spurs team were much more expansive in their opening day success over promoted Burnley, knew City would have the lion’s share of possession, and constructed his game plan to allow the hosts to have all the ball, while ensuring they could do nothing with it.
Oh my
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 23, 2025
A costly City mistake is capitalised on by Palhinha!@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HPkufm9Gyn
It is not an insult to suggest Frank-ball does not exist. It does, but only for 90 minutes, and then a different iteration presents itself the following week.
Having also won with Brentford in November 2022, Frank became only the third manager to beat Pep Guardiola away from home in the league with two different clubs. Two successes that resembled each other, but were anything but carbon copies.
“I think it is two different teams, two different contexts but both performances were top and we can be very proud of the team,” Frank said.
“Before the match, we talked about City’s high line. It is never that easy to train. Our first goal makes our game plan look very successful but there were a few times when we didn’t do it well enough. We were offside six times before we scored today.
“I definitely believe in the aggressive press, I believe in the high pressure. I like that, I feel it is offensive, it is more fun to defend in the opponents’ half. High block, low block, everything.”
Your next read
Watching the Spurs bench through the match at the Etihad was fascinating. Frank appears with regularity, complete with his notes, to issue instructions to his charges – nothing unusual there.
One by one, however, Frank’s assistants each come to the technical area to give their own instructions to players.
At one point, one member of his bench encouraged others to come forward and do the same, get their own message across – this is not common practice, to trust one’s backroom staff to this extent.
In atypical Spurs fashion, they have again flattered to deceive in the transfer market. But Frank has been equivocal in his response – he does not care one iota. He has forged his reputation on working with what he has got, very successfully – why change now?
Daniel Levy is always going to Daniel Levy in the transfer market. Eberechi Eze isn’t the first player the Spurs supremo has dallied over and missed out on. And he won’t be the last.
Antonio Conte could not cope with such an approach. Big Ange’s furrowed brow almost went inverted when asked about a lack of incomings.
Frank is nonplussed. And that contributes to my revised opinion of Frank and his exceptional flexibility.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/hobjM0I
Post a Comment