Thomas Frank revels in European debut as Spurs win on Champions League return

By Kaz Mochlinski
5 days ago
5 min read

Tottenham Hotspur (1) 1 v Villarreal (0) 0

By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Champions League

MD1

Talking Points

It did not take long for Spurs to score in Thomas Frank’s first match in the Champions League as head coach. When his side went ahead after just 188 seconds, he must have wondered whether football’s reverence for the competition was really justified.

Under Frank’s guidance last season Brentford gained widespread recognition for scoring such early goals. And this Spurs strike replicated the Bees’ trademark approach of whipping quick crosses in from the wings.

But the own goal bundled in by the Villarreal keeper, Luiz Júnior, was more than anything a reminder of Tottenham’s previous game in Europe - when winning the Europa League final against Manchester United with an identical 1-0 scoreline.

Back then in May, facing English opposition in Spain rather than playing a Spanish team on home soil, the winner credited to Brennan Johnson similarly had a strong hint of a slow-motion near-post own goal from contact with Luke Shaw.

If anything, in Luiz Júnior’s case the ball crossed the goal line this time in an even slower trickle. It was still celebrated wildly, and thereafter the biggest surprise of the evening was that he was not beaten again.

Spurs mustered one shot on goal over the 90 minutes, from Pape Sarr, but didn’t allow Villarreal even a single attempt on target, with the players’ pride in their new “clean sheet mentality” being revealed by Lucas Bergvall afterwards.

It was something which Frank focused on as well in his post-match analysis, stating: “I thought it was a big win. In any competition it’s good to get three points and get a good start. I’m happy with that.

“Happy with a clean sheet. Happy with the defensive side of the game. I think we were extremely good, and limited Villarreal to very, very little throughout the game. A good team, I really, really admire.

“Obviously, offensively we struggled on the day to create something, against a good team, who also defend very well, which we knew, in their 4-4-2 structure. Very aggressive.

“And where we were, on the day, I think they need the highest level in terms of touch and passes and decision-making, and nailed that. Then it was a very even game that we edged in the end. What I like is that our foundation is strong.

“Now we’ve had four games in the Premier League, one in the Champions League, and we have four clean sheets, which is massive. Obviously we are building the offensive structure more and more.”

Frank switched seamlessly from a 4-3-3 set-up to 4-2-3-1 and then 3-4-3 against Villarreal, with an emphasis in attack on combinations, through Pedro Porro and Mohammed Kudus on the right, or Djed Spence and Xavi Simons on the left.

“Xavi Simons has just come into the club. It's fair to say him and Djed need a little relationship, of course, to get going. No complaints, it’s just natural” explained Frank, before asking rhetorically: “Now, also how do we get gelling?

“Is that when you get that good relationship? So, I think, there’s, for example, on the right side, Pedro and Kudus. They definitely have something going. I think Lucas came over to that side. It looks right.

“And then, on the left side, I think actually Xavi and Djed did good against West Ham, but, you know, it’s just not 100% in sync when they really start going. As an example.

“And then I think we gave so many times the ball away, where we could have created more second half, which just happens sometimes.”

Tottenham’s new coach made his early concerns very clear: “This team, these players, we will score goals. I’m not in doubt of that. I know we only scored an own goal today, and struggled a little bit on offence. But we will score goals, I’m not in doubt of that.

“I think the big thing was that we needed to defend better. So we worked very, very hard on structure, key principles, recovery runs. Do the tough job, that gives you a top opportunity to win games, as we’ve proven so far.”

The changes should be unequivocally welcomed by Spurs supporters. However, never mind the team, the fans are still unrepentantly ‘Spursy’. Indeed, a little idiosyncratically the club’s kit supplier Nike has produced a ‘Spursy’ t-shirt for sale in the stadium store.

On Tottenham’s coveted return to the Champions League after an absence of two and a half years the stands failed to be filled, with an attendance announced of 54,755. Nevertheless, those who were present provided their team with vociferous backing.

Equally, many were surprisingly quick to vent their frustration at a perceived concentration on controlling the play by keeping the ball with passive possession rather than taking greater risks and being more creative.

Truthly it was not too dissimilar to Spurs’ last Champions League match, a 0-0 draw against AC Milan, when the Londoners under Antonio Conte and with Harry Kane still in the side at least had two attempts on target but did not score and were eliminated.

Since then Tottenham fans have witnessed the wild ride of Ange Postecoglou’s attacking football before he reverted to a more pragmatic approach to win the Europa League, hanging on to a first half goal with a determined defensive display in the final.

Frank started with seven of the line-up and in all used 11 of the 15 who played in that game in Bilbao which ended the club’s 17-year wait for a trophy - and 41 years from their previous success in one of Europe’s club competitions.

On this occasion, those who were not selected were also interesting. Johnson came on as one of the subs along with Randal Kolo Muani (for his debut), João Palhinha, Destiny Udogie and Kevin Danso. Archie Gray remained on the bench.

Dominic Solanke was unavailable due to injury, while that was likewise the reason for Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison to be left out of the Spurs squad for the Champions League altogether, as were Yves Bissouma and Mathys Tel by choice.

Without them, Frank’s first foray into European football was decided by a first half goal followed by defending that was not really desperate nor completely comfortable before Spurs stretched their unbeaten run at home in UEFA competitions to 21 matches.

That sequence includes 17 wins, to which Frank was satisfied at adding one more victory, summarising succinctly the novel for him experience: “The Champions League is unbelievably tough. Also it was a very good team we faced today.

“And managed to get out of a very tight game as winners. With that feeling that you fight and run and you do a lot of things as a group together, and then get out on top and win. I think it’s exceptionally good.

“And that just builds that extra foundation, extra layers. And sometimes, you know, you can’t hit the highest level, and still get away with a win, in an even game. I think it’s fantastic.”