After parting ways with Ange Postecoglou in the backdrop of Bilbao, Tottenham Hotspur knew they had to nail their next managerial appointment.
Plenty were content with a parting of ways with the divisive Australian coach, who was only able to tease a majestic Season 3 after two up and down—to put it mildly—seasons produced a glorious finale.
There was little outcry when Thomas Frank was named as Ange's successor. His work at Brentford had warranted a step up, with the Dane linked to the Chelsea and Manchester United jobs before Spurs came calling.
However, a chastening North London Derby defeat has seen Frank lose the faith of a considerable chunk of the fanbase just 12 Premier League games into the job. The parallels to Nuno Espírito Santo's ill-fated brief reign are impossible to ignore, with questions beginning to surface over the Dane's viability for the position he currently holds.
Pressure mounting on Thomas Frank after woeful derby display
Sunday's defeat at the Emirates made the drab 1-0 loss to Chelsea at the start of the month look like Amsterdam 2019. Spurs ventured down Seven Sisters Road with the intention of making life difficult for their league-leading neighbours, but Frank's evil scheme teetered well beyond the realm of mere pragmatism.
There were elements which I appreciated. In our current states, Arsenal are a far better team than us. Maximising set-pieces and taking our sweet time with such situations threatened to disrupt the Gunners' rhythm, and there was a period after Arsenal's early burst when they genuinely looked a little stuck.
However, Frank's entire plan was flawed from the moment he picked his starting XI. With the centre of the pitch again unused, why wasn't Pedro Porro's distribution deemed necessary? What was the point of Wilson Odobert in this long-ball barrage?
It was another occasion where Frank got his team wrong. Moreover, Spurs remain a side without an idea as to how they're going to get the ball from one end of the pitch to the other. We're utterly reliant on variance pulling in our favour for success, and Arsenal's dominance in duels meant there was no semblance of a foothold.
But perhaps predicating the entire blueprint for a positive result on overpowering an incredibly physical and athletic Arsenal team wasn't the brightest idea. Once we went a goal down, that felt like game over.
What made the afternoon one of the most miserable experiences of my Tottenham-supporting life was Eberechi Eze's breakout game in N5. That's what we could've won, folks, but do you think he'd be able to produce such a performance within Frank's current framework?
The fluid combinations of Arteta's Gunners shifted Spurs' block all over the place, with diagonal passes from the right accessing Eze in the most dangerous shooting zone. The absence of pressure for all three goals was indicative of just how far off the pace Frank's side were.
There's a chasm between the north London rivals, with Arteta viewed as the model for other rebuilding teams to follow, including Spurs. However, defeats such as this will thrust Frank's potential as a project leader into the limelight. He's squandered two major opportunities to get the entire fanbase onside, with potential statement triumphs evolving into nightmares.
There just hasn't been all that much evidence so far to suggest that Frank will blossom into the coach many of us thought him to be. The scalability of his model was questioned upon his appointment, and those fears are bearing true in the ugliest ways at the start of his reign.
He's an intelligent and personable bloke who shouldn't be given up on just yet, because the squad at his disposal does have holes, and there are major injuries to consider, too. But, disappointingly, Frank isn't correctly platforming those he is working with, nor is this group of players performing as if they can punch above their weight. Sunday's performance was akin to a League 2 team rocking up to the Emirates in the hope of snatching a historic FA Cup upset.
There has to be a rethink from the manager because, otherwise, he may be out of the door sooner than he realises. That one really hurt Tottenham supporters.