Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank had almost a dream start to life at N17, save for a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth that was only made less embarrassing by Guglielmo Vicario, but now that beginning has been largely forgotten.
Whereas Spurs were a disorganized mess under Ange Postecoglou, they have now run into the opposite problem by being a completely borefest that can scarcely score, even against inferior opposition.
Another issue that Spurs are running into under Frank is that he's already starting to play favorites, and by that, he is hedging his bets on veteran players even when they aren't the better option. A common theme of that is playing out most specifically in the middle of the park.
Pape Matar Sarr
For some odd reason, Thomas Frank has almost completely discarded Pape Matar Sarr as an option even though the Senegalese international has been his biggest breakout star of the season and looked like a huge, immediate success for Frank from Sarr's time with Ange Postecoglou.
Even though Sarr started in three big blowout clean sheet wins for Tottenham, he hasn't started since that 3-0 win over West Ham in the middle of September. For literally over a month, Sarr hasn't started in the Premier League despite being one of the best No. 8's in the entire division to start the season, and the decision-making behind that is completely inexplicable.
Lucas Bergvall
Similarly, Lucas Bergvall is another dynamic 8 who has the potential to be a superstar for years to come for Tottenham, and he's already a much better option than Rodrigo Bentancur, which is something even Postecoglou picked up on by the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
Now, though, Bergvall has only even started a couple of games under Frank, and in most of those starts, he has been used as more of a 10 than an 8, taken out of his most optimal role as a box-to-box maven.
Archie Gray
Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Pape Matar Sarr should be foundational pieces of the entire team already and players that the club builds a decade around, so Thomas Frank not making any of these three regular starters is vastly puzzling and represents almost a specific bias in his thinking to go against dynamism in midfield.
Compared to Rodrigo Bentancur, Gray offers so much more to the Tottenham attack with his ability to progress the ball aggressively as a dribbler, break the lines when the spaces are tight, and go for riskier passes that actually lead to goals. Gray is one of the most talented young midfielders in England, yet he can barely get a game in for Spurs, and even though Frank was bloviating about giving Gray opportunities a few weeks ago, the man hasn't started since.