Thomas Frank opens up on Tottenham Hotspur’s performance vs Villarreal in the Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur got their Champions League campaign up and running with a slender victory over Villarreal at home on Tuesday night.
There was a different buzz within the fanbase as Champions League nights were returning to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after two seasons. The fans would have been happy to see their edge Villarreal, even though it wasn’t a spectacle on the night.
Spurs showed attacking intent from the offset and were rewarded in the fourth minute when Lucas Bergvall’s attempted cross was mishandled by the Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior and into his own net. The visitors grew into the game as time passed by, but they barely tested goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. Instead, Pape Matar Sarr struck a fierce low drive which was well kept out by Luiz Junior in the first half.
Thomas Frank opens up on learnings vs Villarreal
Villarreal did give the Lilywhites one or two headache in both halves. Marcelino’s managed to play through the middle at times and also exploit spaces out wide by dragging the home side onto one side, but they were toothless in the final third. From their 10 shots, the Spanish side did not have one on target.
On the flip side, credit to Tottenham for defending very well once again. They thwarted whatever little Villarreal threw at them and kept another clean sheet. This once again demonstrates the north London side’s growing defensive solidity and organisation, led wonderfully by Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, who hailed his team’s ‘structure’ after the game.
Thomas Frank was asked what he learned from his team’s performance against Villarreal. The Tottenham gaffer praised the hard work put in by the players and limiting Villarreal to feed on scraps. Whilst being defensively resolute, the Dane wants his group to get better going forward. Here is what he told Amazon Prime (h/t BBC Sport):
“I learned that they are working very hard and we have a very good foundation to stand on in terms of our defensive organisation.”
“I think it’s good and we gave little away. This is the Champions League against a good team. Also, I knew it we took a step forward against West Ham, offensively is the area we need to get better.”
Perfect assessment from Frank
Indeed, Tottenham looked well in control of the game and defended very well throughout the night. Barring one incident where Van de Ven seemed to have conceded a penalty and taken a red card by pulling Georges Mikautadze, which thankfully turned out to be outside the box and only a yellow card offence, Spurs nullified the visitors’ attacks quite easily.
Going forward, things certainly have to improve. Mohammed Kudus was the only bright spot in attack in the second half, with Xavi Simons and Richarlison failing to get into the game. Randal Kolo Muani, making his debut, was not up to the scratch after coming off the bench, which was very much expected given he’s barely had pre-season games under his belt.
Overall, Frank will be delighted to see his team open the Champions League campaign with a win.
