3 Reasons Why Tottenham Should Stick With Thomas Frank

Spurs made a strong start to the 2025/26 campaign after landing the Danish coach from Premier League side Brentford. By the end of October, Tottenham were third in the Premier League after going unbeaten in seven of their first nine league matches.

The momentum has slowed recently. Tottenham have dropped to 11th in the Premier League table following just one victory in their last seven fixtures. 

A 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest has increased the pressure on Frank at Tottenham. However, there are reasons why the Spurs hierarchy should stick with their new boss as the 2025/26 Premier League season progresses. 

Tottenham have the second youngest average squad age in the Premier League this season (24.7). The oldest Spurs player to feature in the 2025/26 campaign is Ben Davies (32), while every other player, except for Joao Palhinha, is aged under 30.

Spurs recruited some of Europe’s biggest young talents in the summer transfer window to add to their already young squad. 22-year-old Xavi Simons, 24-year-old Mohammed Kudus and 20-year-old Mathys Tel headlined Tottenham’s transfer business.

Blending a youthful squad comes with its challenges, especially for players like Simons, who arrived in North London with no Premier League experience. The chemistry can take longer for players to adapt to a new league and a new coaching system. 

In addition, Tottenham allowed two key senior figures in Son Heung-min and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, to depart in the summer, which may have impacted the quality of leadership in the squad. 

Spurs’ inexperience may have contributed to dropped points this season, too. The North Londoners have recorded the second most errors leading to goals in the Premier League (5) and have committed the most errors made leading to opposition shots (20).

Undoubtedly, there is a core of exciting young talent amongst the 2025/26 Tottenham team. Spurs have shown glimpses of quality recently, particularly with impressive, controlled wins over Everton away (3-0) and Brentford at home (2-0). 

But greater consistency to get the best out of budding young stars will be one of Frank’s biggest goals as the season progresses. 

Tottenham have a solid run of Premier League fixtures coming up across December and January. Before they resume Champions League action against Borussia Dortmund on January 20, Spurs play six consecutive league matches.

With Frank already under some pressure, it feels like this run is a key period for the Danish coach. 

Tottenham hosts Liverpool, then travels to Crystal Palace before the new year. In January, Spurs will continue their EPL run with games against Brentford, Bournemouth, Sunderland and West Ham.

The immediate task for Frank during this period will be to find consistency with his young team. In particular, Frank must find a way of preventing the recurring mistakes leading to opposition chances and building a system that stops leaking goals, with two or more conceded in five of Spurs’ last six league matches. 

Frank will also need to find a way for his team to start generating high-quality chances, particularly against the lower-mid-table opponents. In their last 11 Premier League matches, Spurs have had 1XG or better just twice. 

Following the heavy defeat at Forest, Frank cut a frustrated figure and acknowledged that Tottenham is a work in progress. Post-match, the Spurs boss said the club is “not a quick fix”.

The immediate concern will be preventing a further Premier League slide after four defeats from seven games. 

However, beyond that, there is clearly a longer-term project in North London based on investment in young talent and Frank has been entrusted to oversee that progression.

In October, Tottenham’s majority shareholder ENIC added £100m in revenue to “equip the club’s leadership team with additional resources to continue the focus on driving long-term sporting success.”

The “long-term” focus is vague, but may focus on being competitive at the top of the Premier League and in the Champions League. Currently, that seems achievable, with Spurs 14 points behind league leaders Arsenal. 

But, the club is unlikely to achieve its future ambitions with another quick managerial change and the hierarchy have clearly identified Frank as the person to get Spurs where it needs to be.

Frank also had notoriously slow starts to his managerial stints at Brondby and Brentford. At Brentford, the Dane oversaw just one victory in his first 10 games before shifting formation and slowly developing success that led to promotion in 2021. 

While the magnitude of the task is far greater at Tottenham, the evidence is there that Frank can become a success if given the time.