Thomas Frank has come under serious pressure at Tottenham.
Tottenham Hotspur have already reinforced their midfield by pulling out an Eze on Aston Villa to land Conor Gallagher in the ongoing winter transfer window.
But that has not been enough, and the Lilywhites are hungry for more quality in the middle of the park. And this has forced their hands into raiding their rivals, Liverpool, to land Curtis Jones this January.
And this Lilywhites interest in signing Curtis Jones is not just another opportunistic transfer, but when you start looking at it from a bird’s-eye perspective, it may be one of the clearest clues about what Thomas Frank is trying to build at Hotspur Way (and also how far away this Lilywhites side still is from it).
Jones is not just another headline signing that brings false glamour with it. No. When you look at him playing for Liverpool, you realise that he is not a pure playmaker, nor a sitting midfielder, nor a headline-grabbing goal threat like your McTominays. But when you start thinking about his possible place on this side a bit tactically, he makes a lot of sense for Frank. Almost too much sense.
Jones is a “runner-creator” profile that Thomas Frank continues to chase
Before we talk about Tottenham and what is not working at Tottenham under Frank, let’s go back to Brentford and what worked for the Dane head coach in West London.
At Brentford, the Dane’s midfield was working because he built it around hybrid eights.
He was playing with a midfield where everyone can carry the ball when under pressure and get better if opponents line up with runs (and not just passes; it was more of a complement of both). Then all of them were playing the ball in contributive zones without being those high-risk, high-reward passers (like Simons or Maddison, to an extent).
And Curtis Jones fits that profile quite ideally. We have seen him being used in that left #8 role at Liverpool.
But as you look into his performances, he does a few things. The Reds academy graduate drives into half spaces and supports wide overloads. He rotates quite fluidly with wide forwards and wide fullbacks (again, a trait of the midfielders at Brentford).
But more than that, he gives you a sense of security and then chaos.
This is extremely similar to what Frank used to get out of Mathias Jensen and Christian Norgaard in different phases at Brentford. Here neither of them acted like specialists but more in a connecting role.
Why Curtis Jones?
When we saw the North Londoners bring Gallagher, we said that this is the first signing that solves that connecting problem in the middle of the park. Frank has largely played with a disconnected midfield, and that makes sense given that Maddison is injured and Bergvall has been quite in and out this season. This means that the Lilywhites have lacked someone who can carry possession through the middle of the park and relieve pressure after bisecting opponents’ press. Moreover, there was no one who could turn those possession wins into quick turnovers.
And Gallagher solves a bit of that with his drive. Now with Jones, you don’t get a final-ball merchant but instead someone who controls tempo and resists press.
We know that Jones has this ability to keep offensive sequences going, along with small but intelligent movements (much like Jensen).
And this is important for Frank given that his system depends highly on repeated pressure in a compact manner.
Where does Curtis Jones fit in tactically at N17?
If Tottenham do end up signing Jones, he will likely play in that left #8 role (when Simons is on the left wing like he was against City earlier today), making it a 4-3-3. But you can also deploy Curtis in the interior midfielder role in a 3-box-3 shape during build-up. The Liverpool academy graduate will not replace the creativity that Maddison brings to the table, but he will stabilise the midfield platform so others can take risks.
And that is telling. Him with Gallagher shows that Frank is less focused on flair right now and more concerned with structure and repeatability (a very Brentford mindset).
Jones right now is more of a player than Lucas Bergvall might become in three or four years. The former is a strong runner but widely more tactically disciplined than the latter. Curtis is also less erratic in possession and more controlled.
Bringing in Curtis Jones now shows that Frank has no time to wait for the player that Bergvall is going to become. The Dane head coach needs someone who already knows when to slow the game and when to pace it up, when to give away space and when to take it up.
In that sense, Jones will not likely block Bergvall, but he will set the template for the latter to follow.
