Tottenham suffered another disappointing defeat on Saturday with a 2-1 loss at home to London rivals Fulham – and Thomas Frank is now under huge pressure
Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has outlined the three reasons he believes Thomas Frank is struggling in North London.The ex-Brentford boss has only been in charge since the summer, having been appointed to replace Ange Postecoglou in the dugout.
However, it has been far from a straightforward start to life at the club, with five wins, three draws and five defeats from their opening 13 Premier League games. Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham was their third setback in the space of a week, following losses against Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
The manner in which Frank’s side were beaten by the Cottagers was equally damning, as they found themselves two goals down inside the opening 10 minutes due to significant defensive errors, and the scoreline could easily have been much worse.
Mohammed Kudus offered Spurs a glimmer of hope in the second half with an outrageous finish to halve the deficit. But it wasn’t enough to salvage anything from the game, as the visitors just about held on to secure all three points.
Speaking on social media platform X after the match, O’Hara admitted the job at hand may be too much for the manager. He also outlined three factors he believes have contributed to the team’s struggles.
“I’m starting to think the job is too big for Thomas Frank,” he wrote. “But our recruitment has been so bad; these players just aren’t good enough and most of them are way off it. Big problems.”
In terms of recruitment, the club brought in Xavi Simons, Kudus, Mathys Tel, Kevin Danso and Kota Takai on permanent deals, while Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani joined on loan.
However, missing out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Ebere Eze proved significant blows for the club’s hierarchy. Both appeared close to signing at different stages of the summer, but deals collapsed at the final hurdle for separate reasons.
Nottingham Forest were left unhappy with how Gibbs-White’s release clause was triggered, and the England international eventually signed a new deal at the City Ground. The move for Eze, meanwhile, was hijacked late on by bitter rivals Arsenal.
Now, Frank’s side face another tricky run of fixtures in the lead-up to Christmas. They visit Newcastle United in midweek before the manager takes on his former club Brentford for the first time. After matches against Slavia Prague and Nottingham Forest, a visit from Liverpool also awaits next month.
