Why Tottenham's attack can't get firing

When Thomas Frank was hired by Tottenham Hotspur, there was a general acceptance that there would be a considerable learning curve for the job he was taking. Last season was a mess domestically, although the Europa League ended up being their salvation. Frank’s resume with Brentford was impressive, consistently getting the club to overachieve in the Premier League relative to their wage bill.

Part of this was leading an innovative coaching staff when it came to set piece designs. Such overachievement appealed to a club like Tottenham, who aspire to once again be a consistent top 4 team. However, there were questions over how well his style of coaching could scale up to a bigger club, including the set-piece prowess. 

At least on the surface, things have been fine. 6th place through 8 games is about what you’d expect from Tottenham at their current stage. Preseason predictions had them around this area in the table, and they’re only one point off of 3rd place. One can even be more optimistic by pointing out their goal difference of +7 is only bettered by Arsenal and Manchester City. The Champions League has been less fruitful in comparison, but they’re in a playoff spot (15th) so far. Those results are commendable when accounting for several injuries, including long-term ones to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, two of their most influential figures going forward.

Yet, a deeper look into Tottenham’s early season form shows some concern. Depending on the public model used, they’re just below break even in expected goal difference in the Premier League. For reference, Statsbomb has them 13th at -0.16 per 90. As a result, Opta’s expected points model has them in the bottom half of the league. The clubs surrounding them are Everton (11th) and Sunderland (13th), which is not exactly flattering. Although we’ve not yet reached the 10 game mark when the league table can be taken at face value, we are at the point where a team’s underlying talent level might not differ much from the end of the season. In particular, Spurs’ attack has been cause for concern.

Tottenham have been very focused on wingplay under Frank. It’s not a shocking development, given Brentford utilized it a ton last season and they were one of the league’s higher scoring sides. This can be seen with how the fullbacks are situated. Rather than move them inwards to help with control, which has been the dominant way of usage, they’re largely kept out wide to help facilitate wide combinations with the wingers. It’s more in line with how fullbacks were used in the 2000s and most of the 2010s.

On the left side, Xavi Simons is coming deeper to receive while Destiny Udogie provides forward runs as a form of depth. On the right side, Pedro Porro is tasked with a ton of responsibilities. He is constantly looking for long balls towards the front line, ranking in the 98th percentile among fullbacks and wingbacks for attempted long passes according to FBref. If not that, like with Udogie, Porro is trying to help create space for Kudus with off-ball runs.

When it’s worked, you get moments like the first goal versus City in their away victory last month. More often though, it’s been passive circulation from left to right (or vice versa) and constantly looking to go long towards the front line and create off of 2nd ball regains. Tottenham rank 4th in the PL for attempted long passes according to FBref.

There were multiple examples in their recent home loss vs Aston Villa where they’d almost treat buildup like a set play. Eight Spurs players would be in their own third, with Guglielmo Vicario going long towards the remaining two trying to occupy the opposition backline, but it ultimately amounted to minimal success. Other matches included instances of large space being present through the middle yet still trying to go long from goal kicks. When asked to try and break down mid-blocks, you get the infamous U-shape structure, which can be seen in Opta Analyst’s zones of control from open play (purple means Spurs have more than 55% of total touches, while pink means the opposition does). 

Part of the reason for the setup is the available personnel. The makeup of Spurs’ midfield was a sticking point over the summer, especially following Maddison’s knee injury. João Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur have regularly played together, which makes central progression harder for Spurs to achieve. Statsbomb data has them both in the bottom 10 among midfielders for deep progressions and line breaking passes this season, despite them regularly getting into pockets of space. It should be noted that Bentancur was slightly above average in those metrics last season, although ideally he would be paired with a midfielder who could take more of the progressive passing burden off of him. 

The lack of cohesion in fostering advantageous scenarios has put a ton on the plate for the attacking talent in the squad. You look up and down the output for Spurs’ attackers, and everyone is struggling. This includes their big money signings over the summer in Simons and Mohammed Kudus. Simons is trying to connect sequences of play, but with limited help from the midfield, it’s been to nearly no avail. 

Kudus will regularly try to pretend to come towards the ball before sprinting along the flank to one of Porro’s long balls, which can turn into advantageous scenarios for him to create. Kudus is very capable of bringing down high balls due to his strength, so it’s not a bad idea in theory to progress play, but being tasked with those responsibilities while having to win 1v1s constantly across the flanks proves to be an exhausting way of moving the chains forward.

Otherwise, he’s something of a solitary figure on the right flank in the opposition half, with little support to work with. Often, he ends up having to manufacture a cross with minimal breathing room while the rest of Spurs’ forwards pack the box, or he takes on multiple opponents off the dribble. Kudus is certainly not without his faults, including occasions where he’ll slow down the tempo too much in sequences which fizzles it out, but the degree of difficulty is very high.

The best moments for Tottenham in possession during open play have come from being able to attack a non-set opposition, including winning the ball around the halfway line. Opta Analyst has them ranked 5th for direct attacks generated, which are open-play sequences that start just inside the team’s own half and have at least 50% of movement towards the opposition’s goal and ends in a shot or a touch in the opposition’s box. Palhinha and Bentancur are valuable in these situations because their defensive actions can help launch attacks, with Spurs’ 1st goal versus Leeds being an example of such a case.

The early returns of Tottenham’s attack in open play have been sub-par. For long stretches of play, they have been stymied and look to be a side lacking in ideas when they have to take the initiative. Their most convincing performance was their season opener versus Burnley, who have conceded the most shots and expected goals in the league. There’s enough talent up front to muster up moments of impressive quality, but maintaining a conversion rate of 16.1% (2nd behind Manchester City) is not reasonable.

What’s helped Tottenham early in the Thomas Frank era is the defensive results have been solid, ranking above average in the PL for shot suppression inside the box, and by extension expected goals conceded.

While largely being aggressive without the ball, that’s not been an automatic as the out of possession play has been tailored towards who they’re up against. Some matches have seen them be very committed to defend high up in a man-to-man marking scheme, to varying degrees of success. Other matchups have seen them abandon it, forcing opponents to play through them, although they’ve not shown the sturdiest mid-block setup. The match vs Villa saw Spurs try to shade them towards one side to trigger man-to-man marking, with the far sided winger zoning up against two opponents. Such attention to defending isn’t surprising, as managers look to first settle the out of possession stuff before looking to improve on what the team can do with the ball.

Over the years, we have examples of coaches who were successful in fixing the defense, and then adding layers to the in-possession gameplan over time. The gold standard would be someone like Jürgen Klopp, who helped improve Liverpool’s floor by quickly implementing counterpressing and general pressing structures. Being able to solve low blocks took more time, until eventually utilizing both Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as chief playmakers from out wide with the midfield essentially doing the dirty work. Tottenham themselves had a coach who also accomplished this in Mauricio Pochettino from 2016-18, which still remains the best period they’ve had for multiple decades. The hope is Frank will be another successful example.

There is a ceiling on just how good Tottenham’s attack in open play can be with the players available to Frank, and we’re still more than two months away from the next transfer window as a method for fixing the situation. That said, although the other options aren’t amazing in their own right, it is fair to say Palhinha and Bentacur should be played less together. You’re sacrificing too much penetrative passing through the middle with those two together on the pitch.

Perhaps Spurs can utilize a midfield featuring one of them, Lucas Bergvall, and Simons in matches where they’ll have plenty of possession. Bergvall is not a seasoned on-ball technician, but his carrying and forward movement could help grease the wheels and provide some spark. The eventual return of Dominic Solanke should also help, since he’s a much better focal point at the striker position than others on the squad.

Tottenham Hotspur have had a clunky attack in Frank’s first few months in charge. Their best avenues towards chance creation have been from quick attacks originating in the middle third, or various set pieces routines. He’s not the only manager dealing with an attack lacking cohesion in open play, as it’s been a problem for several clubs in the Premier League through the first 21% of the 2025-26 season, leading to complaints about the league’s entertainment value. There are some possible ways for Tottenham to improve their ability to create good chances, although to what extent is debatable. Keeping the defense at a good level, with an uptick in set-piece play, will keep their floor from falling below mid-table. What will define the Thomas Frank era for Spurs in the future is how much improvement will be seen in their ability to create in a sustainable manner.

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