Tottenham Hotspur have been the most improved team in the Premier League through the first five matches of the 2025/26 season, as they are one of the teams in the crowd who are fighting for second place behind Liverpool.
Although Spurs didn't win this past weekend against Brighton, they were the better side in the second half and gave themselves plenty of positives to carry with them into next week. One of those positives is another successful new signing, though it's not the one who has been getting the most mainstream praise.
Defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha has been everything Spurs have hoped for as a ball winner and more. He is leading the team with 3.8 tackles per game, making him one of the best tackling machines in the Premier League, which is exactly what he was in 2023/24 before moving to Bayern Munich.
Obviously, the brunt of the credit goes directly to Palhinha for his own success and quality as a defensive midfielder, but an assist should go to Thomas Frank for building a midfield system and role that has unlocked Palhinha's full potential defensively.
Rodrigo Bentancur has been a key
Although Frank allows Palhinha to spend around half the time playing deeper as a defender and screening for the defense so he can clean up tackles, he also allows Palhinha to play further up and shuttle box-to-box as an 8, winning the ball higher up the pitch in a bit more of a free defensive midfield role.
And he's achieved this by pushing Rodrigo Bentancur gradually further and further back than usual, turning the Uruguayan passer into a regista type. Bentancur has been solid defensively as a shielder and reader of the game, and he is still one of several Spurs players averaging more than 1.2 tackles per game in this aggressive Frank defense.
Bentancur, though, is also fifth in the team in total passes and key passes per game with a completion percentage only a couple of ticks below 90. The deeper role suits the cerebral midfielder well, and it enables Palhinha to be fully unleashed defensively because it allows him to focus on winning possession with reckless abandon.
The tweak to play Bentancur deeper to cover and allow Palhinha to focus solely on tackling and running has paid dividends for the entire Tottenham side, both offensively and defensively. It's another example of Frank's keen tactical eye and the impressive way he has learned the unique strengths and weaknesses of his players in such a short time.