Tottenham 2-2 Man Utd (Tel 84’, Richarlison 90+1 | Mbeumo 32’, De Ligt 90+6)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — The moment Xavi Simons’ number came up, Thomas Frank’s reign threatened to turn toxic. Spurs fans booed his substitutions and then watched them change the game.
It felt inexplicable that Matthijs De Ligt’s 96th-minute equaliser for Manchester United turned the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into a crushing swamp of disappointment, given few inside it really believed the hosts had deserved the three points. But that is the extent to which Mathys Tel, Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert had reinvigorated a lifeless, inept attack.
All three should have started. The ecstasy of Richarlison’s late celebration was infectious but he had been symptomatic of everything wrong with an insipid front four. It took Spurs 54 minutes to register a shot on target.
Frank is experimenting with an attack still hurting from Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison’s long-term injuries, Dominic Solanke’s absence and Son Heung-min’s departure.
THIS GAME!
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Matthijs de Ligt heads home to equalise in the final minute of stoppage time. @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/F03WrntZUB
It was never going to be quite so appalling as in the defeat to Chelsea, but in the final third, Spurs were for the most part horrible. Their xG for the season so far is close to Wolves and West Ham’s and they are registering some of the fewest shots and through balls among top flight teams.
Randal Kolo Muani has had one shot in his 191 minutes of Premier League football. So much creativity has come from Mohammed Kudus down the right that when he was missing, there was no real width at all until Udogie and Odobert’s introductions. Odobert created more chances than any player on the pitch, having only come on at the break.
So Frank had every right to celebrate their impacts vociferously, even if he got his starting XI wrong.
The beginning of the end for Ange Postecoglou was when he cupped his ear towards the fans after a substitution which had been jeered produced an equaliser. It is not Frank’s style to do the same but he is operating with a freedom and confidence not afforded to many of his predecessors – not least because the make-up of the boardroom has changed so drastically.
The seat above the dugout used to be occupied by Daniel Levy, who before his shock summer exit cast an ominous shadow over his managers. Tottenham’s form here has been appalling but the rot set in long before Frank’s arrival – against United a dismal run stretched to three wins in 20 games at home this calendar year. At the same time, their supporters pay some of the highest ticket prices in Europe, and so it is little wonder they expect better than what they are being served up.
The hallmark of Frank’s team is that they are now supposed to be defensively astute, rather than an outfit who allow Bryan Mbeumo and De Ligt to score two headers unmarked. That they were United’s only two shots on target and both resulted in goals is an unhappy statistic for Guglielmo Vicario.
It is still the lack of urgency at the other end that rankles more. You had to feel for Simons, who could not find the rest of the front three every time he looked up. As their only creative outlet, it was no surprise the crowd reacted so badly to him going off – even if Tel, his replacement, pulled off a brilliant finish to make it 1-1.
At Brentford last season Frank had Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade combining to hit 50 league goals – where are those numbers coming from in this attack? Who even looks close to reaching double figures?
And identity is particularly important at Spurs. Glenn Hoddle was about the worst half-time guest imaginable in the circumstances – the living symbol of the creativity, incision and ingenuity on which Tottenham base their heritage.
How times have changed, though Frank is muddling through it as best he can.
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