Tottenham Hotspur have always suffered when facing off against Brighton, and Saturday afternoon's road trip was no different. In truth, Spurs should be very happy they were able to escape the match with a point, as they were lethargic for much of the game before Xavi SImons came in and offered a spark.
Whereas Brighton's young stars were sprightly and offered moments of individual brilliance, such as Yasin Ayari's blinder from range, Spurs players plodded throughout the match and either looked stale or outright lost.
Aside from Mohammed Kudus, who only really showed up one Simons entered the pitch, Tottenham lacked any sort of star power. And that can be seen in the difference between the quality of the goals these two teams scored, as Spurs lucked out on a scrappy opener and then got even luckier with an own goal for the equalizer.
Coming into the season, everyone knew that Tottenham were lacking game-changing players. Their only two difference-makers were their literal two big attacking summer transfers in Simons and Kudus, and these two were literally the difference offensively in this one.
Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons can't do it all
But alone, Kudus can't do it all. Even Simons and Kudus together isn't enough star power to compete with Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool who all have a handful of highly capable players who can change a game by directly impacting the scoreline - and they have deeper benches than Spurs.
Brighton highlighted how far behind Tottenham are in terms of having enough Premier League quality difference-makers who can change a game with dynamism, one-on-one ability, and create gilt-edged chances with a killer pass or convert efficiently in front of goal.
Lucas Bergvall is still growing, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson showed they aren't at the level Tottenham need each week, and Richarlison was poor up top. Tottenham did well to sign Simons and Kudus, bu for a team that was 17th last season, that's not nearly enough to make sure Spurs are among the top teams in the Premier League, which is where they want to start building towards in this new project under Frank - and without Daniel Levy in charge of it all.
Frank has been a brilliant tactician for Tottenham already, but he can't beat players one-on-one on the pitch. He can't make the through passes or crosses. He isn't the one on the field shooting the ball in front of goal. Tottenham need players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck, because, right now, they only have two of those, and that's not enough to be a real contender in the Premier League.