Thomas Frank admits the Tottenham Hotspur attackers had an off day in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at home
Tottenham Hotspur played hosts to Bournemouth on Saturday, hoping to make it three wins on the trot in the new Premier League season.
Spurs had won their first two games against Burnley and Manchester City and were heading into the match against Bournemouth with high confidence. However, the Cherries brought the Lilywhites crashing down to the earth. Thomas Frank’s side conceded their first Premier League goal of the season, as Evanilson opened the scoring with a deflected effort past Guglielmo Vicario in the fifth minute. That goal proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Tottenham did not register a single shot on goal in the first half. They were blunt going forward, failing to create any clear-cut opportunities, while the visitors had ten attempts on goal. Andoni Iraola’s men began to put more pressure on the Spurs defense after the interval. The home side were fortunate not to concede a penalty when Mohammed Kudus caught Marcos Senesi.
Tottenham lacked any sort of creativity vs Bournemouth
It was an uninspired performance from start to finish as the north London club lost 1-0 to Bournemouth. Spurs rode their luck in the opening two games without a true No. 10. Thomas Frank’s decision to use Pape Matar Sarr in an advanced role had merely masked this underlying problem.
Against Bournemouth, though, Frank’s side simply lacked guile and creativity, only managing to test the opposition goalkeeper late in the second half via Lucas Bergvall. This illustrated just how ineffective the home side were in attack without a creative midfielder. Brennan Johnson and Mohammed Kudus struggled to create anything of note from wide areas, while Richarlison never really managed to get into the game.
Frank spoke to the media after Tottenham’s first defeat of the new season. When asked in the press conference if he needs another creative midfielder after signing Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig, the Dane said (h/t Football London):
“It’s fair to say we didn’t defend as well as we should do and we have done in the first three games. That I am quite confident we will come back to defend well again but that could have helped massively.
“The creativity, yes, that’s why we signed Simons to have an extra offensive player but I also think on the day with all due respect to our offensive players none of them hit a high level and that happens sometimes. I’m very aware. I don’t want to say it’s okay but it’s natural.”
Xavi Simons will be available after the international break
The silver lining from Spurs’ first defeat of the season is that new boy Xavi Simons will be available for selection after the international break. The Dutchman was watching his team against Bournemouth from the stands following his unveiling at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A classy, elegant playmaker who can operate in multiple attacking roles, Simons will be hoping to make an instant impact in north London. He can solve Tottenham’s creativity issues, as Frank is currently without James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski. In their absences, Kudus has been the go-to-man to give a spark in the final third, but as he wasn’t at his best this season, Tottenham struggled to create anything of note throughout the defeat to Bournemouth.
Fans will be excited to watch Simons in a Tottenham shirt, hoping that the Netherlands international quickly adapts to the demands of the boss.