Tottenham had every right to purge themselves of the Thomas Frank era as soon as the Dane received his marching orders in February.
Things would ultimately worsen under Igor Tudor, forcing Roberto De Zerbi to clean up a hopeless mess. However, it was Frank who set the wheels in motion for Spurs' demise, despite the club's 17th-place finish the season prior. Ange Postecoglou did allow losing to become habitual, but Europa League glory in Bilbao rendered his Premier League sacrifice worthwhile.
Frank hopelessly failed to scale up from Brentford. His work in west London was admirable, but he was responsible for some of the most cowardly performances I've ever seen in these parts. His style was the anthithesis of what this club supposedly represents: "To Dare Is To Do".
As bleak as his reign was, we remain grateful for the appointment of assistant Andreas Georgson under his tutelage. Without him, Spurs' position would've been even more perilous by the time Frank got the boot, and we're continuing to bear the fruit of his labour amid our upsurge with De Zerbi at the helm.
Spurs remain set-piece reliant but encouraging signs vs. Crystal Palace
Spurs poached Georgson from Manchester United last June and appointed him as our set-piece coach. The early Frank days were dominated by his new assistant, with the Lilywhites prolific from set pieces.
Our gradual, then rapid demise in the new year meant there were limited opportunities for Georgson to showcase his finest work, so we finished with the joint-seventh most set-piece goals in the Premier League (19). Impressively, only Arsenal (eight) conceded fewer from dead-ball situations than we did (12).
So, amid the summer overhaul, the retention of Georgson was important, and he's continuing to prove his worth on the touchline.
Spurs are starting to play some of their best stuff in years, comparable to the early Ange Postecoglou era. An unproductive start has made way for three wins on the bounce, and we ended the weekend in the top half of the table. However, our set-piece reliance remains in tact.
Only Leeds United (44.4%) have scored a greater proportion of goals from set pieces this season than Spurs (40%), while Brentford and Leeds are the only two teams that generate a greater proportion of their xG from such situations.
Chance creation from open play has been an issue for De Zerbi's side, even during their upsurge. However, there were encouraging signs against Crystal Palace on Saturday after a sticky start.
Archie Gray's header from Mohammed Kudus' corner didn't quite open the floodgates as many expected, given that the visitors had already been reduced to 10 men. We generated a measly 0.33 xG from open play in the first half, but found our groove after the restart as sustained pressure took its toll. We generated 1.62 open-play xG in the second-half, although our second goal came from the second phase of a set-piece.
De Zerbi insisted that this team isn't "ready yet to play against a low block (or in) small spaces,” and it didn't help that the Italian was without chief playmaker James Maddison. Another low-block compromiser, Pedro Porro, didn't enter proceedings until the start of the second half.
There's a lot to like about the direction the Lilywhites are heading, but we've got to accept that De Zerbi is currently without some of the profiles needed to break down a deep-lying defence, including a reliable goalscorer up top. And as the division pays more respect to what De Zerbi is doing in north London, we should expect more teams to rock up to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the sole intention of frustrating the hosts.
“Maybe in two to three months we can reach the right level to play better," the boss suggested.
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