Thomas Frank confirms Tottenham Hotspur did not react well to going behind vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
It was a frustrating night for Tottenham Hotspur as Thomas Frank’s side secured a 1-1 draw with bottom of the table Wolves. The Lilywhites also missed a chance to go into second place in the Premier League table with those dropped points.
Going into the game, it did look like Tottenham are going to come blazing through it given how the North Londoners have been playing since Thomas Frank took charge of the proceedings at N17. But then if we think about the performance yesterday, we never saw that sense of structural system that the former Brentford manager is known for. It was also a night where Tottenham.
Thomas Frank reflects on Wolves draw
The Lilywhites had the home crowd behind them as Tottenham had an opportunity to tighten the gap on leaders Liverpool after the Merseysiders dropped points against Crystal Palace. But instead, Thomas Frank & Co. left the pitch with a disjointed showing which cost them two valuable points.
And reflecting after the game, Thomas Frank went on to admit that his side ended up losing their discipline once Wolves scored the opener. Speaking in the post-match press conference (via Vavel), the Dane said:
“The goal meant we lost a bit of structure and coolness.
It took more passes to get up into the right positions, cross it from the right area or produce from the right area instead of a cross with your weaker foot or a difficult position and a shot from 30-yards even though they crowd scream shoot.”
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Now that is quite a damning reflection of how impatient the Lilywhites ended up getting with the ball. Suddenly you see that players become more frantic rather than sticking to the patterns and waiting for the right opening to push for a goal. And this ended up feeding Wolves more instead.
It was a game where Spurs didn’t do a few things right. To start with, there was this lack of cutting edge when it came to creativity with most of the crosses or balls in behind finding the visitors. And then there were a lot of speculative efforts (which comes down to poor decision-making in the final third).
Moreover, things were not flowing down the middle. Thomas Frank played a midfield three of Palhinha, Bentancur, and Bergvall. But all of them looked more functional in how they played, but none of them gave that raw creative passing which could help the forwards.
Tottenham cannot afford to drop these points given how Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City play with consistency every week. This barely leaves Champions League openings. And if Thomas Frank & Co. want to qualify for the European elite come next season, more creative edge is needed, especially in these must-win games.
