The start of Thomas Frank's Tottenham tenure has been good, but there are improvements for the Dane to make.
Frank has helped evolve the Lilywhites into a team that are far harder to beat, with his capacity to coach teams without the ball a big help in that regard. However, Spurs have also been a tough watch at times to kick-off 2025/26.
There were bright sparks against Brighton, Doncaster and even Wolves, but putting together a complete performance against 11 men has so far been beyond Frank's side since they impressively won at the Etihad.
While Frank has seemingly diagnosed the reasons for Spurs' underwhelming attacking performance from open-play, he hasn't exactly helped himself with multiple team selections. Questions were raised about the XI on Saturday night, and Spurs' subsequent display vindicated many people's doubts.
So, here are the lineup changes fans would love to see Frank make when we make our second trip to the Arctic Circle on Tuesday night without captain Cristian Romero, who hasn't travelled.
1. Palhinha or Bentancur, not both
I love João Palhinha. I seemingly like Rodrigo Bentancur more than most. As a partnership, they proved in the UEFA Super Cup that they can work as a functional pair when Spurs are more willing to surrender territory and control.
However, in games we're expected to 'take' the opposition, utilising both profiles in the engine room is far from a necessity. You'd have thought Frank learned his lesson from the Bournemouth defeat, but he wheeled out Palhinha and Bentancur for Saturday night's draw with Wolves.
With these two in the team, Spurs struggle to progress centrally and become even more reliant on success out wide. Palhinha is a reluctant progressive passer, while Bentancur is more willing but inconsistent with his delivery. Moreover, there are rarely connections between the two.
And while Frank was willing to admit that Spurs suffered creatively at the weekend, he also hinted that Bentancur's withdrawal contributed to our structural demise in the second half. As I said, this partnership will work for certain games, but Tuesday night's fixture is another where I don't think it's a necessity. Frank must be braver.
2. Xavi No. 10
Xavi Simons struggled at the weekend, despite producing a few moments of distinct quality that may well have led to Spurs goals on another day.
I don't think it was his role that was the issue. He just had an off day in terms of execution. With Destiny Udogie overlapping, Xavi has the chance to drift inside and work from the left half-space, where he can whip dangerous balls into the balls, or work his way into a shooting position.
What we don't want, however, is Xavi hugging the touchline and being forced into one-on-one situations. That's not his game. At this stage, though, Spurs are struggling for connections down the left flank, even if there was promise between the Dutchman and Udogie in the first half against Wolves. The marauding left-back is a threat on the underlap when Xavi's forced wide.
Thus, I believe Xavi can be effective if deployed with Udogie, not the right-footed Djed Spence. However, we all know that the statement summer arrival will manifest his best in N17 from a No. 10 position. He was thrown into the role in the second half but seldom had the chance to make the difference against a compact Wolves outfit, whose switch to a 5-4-1 stumped Frank's men.
Xavi is yet to take over a game, but he's shown enough to suggest that he'll soon explode in north London. There's just far too much ingenuity and outright quality to work with. The zippy artificial surface should suit him, and I'd love to see Frank trust the Dutch star over Pape Matar Sarr in the No. 10 role on Tuesday.
If Lucas Bergvall needs a rest, it should be Xavi functioning ahead of Palhinha/Bentancur and Sarr.