We have seen that far too many times from Tottenham under Thomas Frank. That first half against Manchester City was unprecedently horrific, yet the second period showed what they can do when the handbrake is off.
Just how Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced to come to Manchester City’s rescue after a first half in which Tottenham were nothing short of a disgrace is beyond comprehension.
It’s genuinely impossible to put into words just how poor Spurs were in the opening 45 minutes on Sunday.
They were so much better in the second half. The bar might have been set lower than the bottom of the Atlantic, but it wasn’t just raised, it was Spurs’ best half of football under Thomas Frank. He will get credit throughout the media for this performance with a makeshift defence, tactical tweaks, and substitutions.
Pape Matar Sarr replacing Cristian Romero at half-time saw Frank’s 3-4-3 thrown in the bin, though the change did raise an important question: why Romero? Either he is injured, or he threw a boot at Frank. We are looking forward to finding out.
With Spurs in the ascendancy and losing, Frank made another positive change as Yves Bissouma and Randal Kolo Muani made way for Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel.
But with Spurs in the ascendancy and drawing in a game that was there for the taking, Frank’s team looked more negative after a quick flurry of attacks following their equaliser.
Frank has been guilty of small-timing the Spurs job, and with the score somehow level in the second half, he should have left the handbrake off. Instead, City were allowed to regain control of a match they had no foothold in. It’s an incredible point considering the first-half display, but Frank being so risk-averse is killing him. It’s actually the riskiest thing he is doing.
At 2-2, Phil Foden comes on for Man City. At 2-2, Spurs have eight players camped on the edge of their box and a 17-year-old centre-back comes on for Solanke, who was on a hat-trick.
We have seen this before from Frank’s Spurs. It happened against Liverpool. They were passive and second-best in every department before a rallying second period while a man down. They still lost, but the fight was there, and risk-averse Frank was immune to criticism.
A superb first half at home to Sunderland was enough to override a pathetic second in which 1-0 was enough before 1-1 was enough.
If Frank is to survive, he has to show his team can play well over 90 minutes, not just 45. But he just keeps getting away with it. How can you sack him after such an incredible rally against the second-best team in the Premier League? Simple answer: you can’t. Especially after so many close shaves before Sunday’s 2-2 draw.
Spurs went from Gary Neville saying it was like watching Soccer Aid in the first half to Total Football in the second. He said Man City “were in danger of getting drawn into this charity match” when ex-Spurs target Antoine Semenyo made it 2-0, and at that point, it did feel like the away team would win by four or five.
The break came at a bad time for the visitors, and they treated the opening five minutes of the second half like Soccer Aid. Solanke’s first goal couldn’t provide a shot in the arm as Spurs kept going and going.
Solanke’s second was a piece of art. A f***ing scorpion kick. Why not? Football is really weird.
Before Frank could get another defender on the pitch, Spurs could have scored a winner, but Donnarumma made some fantastic stops. How he became the hero of the day for City is unforeseeable.
Only managing a draw is more disgraceful than Spurs’ first-half showing, especially considering the hosts’ defence. City lost control and created nothing of note. It was the biggest game of two halves you’re likely to see.
Spurs have done Arsenal a huge favour here. The Gunners’ lead at the top of the Premier League is now six points.
The white half of North London will feel indifferent about that. A draw doesn’t do them much in terms of their position in the table, and the idea of Arsenal winning the league will make them sick to the core.
For a club being small-timed by their head coach, they should probably ditch that small-time mentality. And Sunday’s combeack doesn’t mean Frank isn’t small-timing this thing.
It first turned sour in early November when Frank played for a 0-0 at 0-0 and a 0-1 at 0-1 against Chelsea, and that sourness has relented and hit new heights in the first half of Sunday’s draw.
Those who tuned into a Tottenham match for the first time in a while will ask: “Is it always this bad?” And the most damning response is: “It’s usually worse.”
It was like watching Paddy McGuinness and Chunkz. And Noah Beck would have done better than Yves Bissouma.
The atmosphere was flat, with supporters seeming to view using their season ticket as a chore in what is the worst value-for-money home ground in the Premier League, made even more bizarre by the added context of a positive result for Spurs also being a positive result for Arsenal.
But supporters will go home tonight feeling happy and positive. It’s all part of the Thomas Frank experience. Had the halves been the other way around and the result the same, it would be a completely different perspective and his sacking would be much more realistic.
We have seen this too many times already to be fooled into viewing that performance as a turning point in Spurs’ season. For that to happen, Frank’s handbrake has to remain off.
The final 10 minutes suggest it probably won’t. And Spurs fans will be back to wanting Frank gone at half-time against Manchester United next week.
