Forest slapped Frank in the face with three goals
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 14.12.25. | 19:09
Spurs have now only won 1 out of their last 7 Premier League games
The Spurs bench has become red-hot for Thomas Frank, so much so that the question is whether — and for how long — the Danish coach will remain on Tottenham’s bench. Judging by how his team looked away at Nottingham Forest, it is hard to believe it will be much longer. Just as they had strung together two wins without conceding a goal against Brentford and Slavia Prague, the London side produced one of their worst performances of the season in the 16th round of the Premier League. A Forest side fighting for survival outplayed them in every aspect and quite deservedly ran them over at the City Ground, inflicting — along with the North London derby — Tottenham’s heaviest league defeat of the campaign: 3–0 (2–0).
However, although Arsenal had also dealt with them routinely, Tottenham managed to look even more unconvincing against a significantly weaker opponent. Inferior in attack, porous at the back, last season’s Europa League winners were handing out gifts at the City Ground with both hands, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays. Yet more than the defeat itself, however convincing it was, Tottenham supporters will certainly be worried by the impression that Frank has completely lost the plot. It’s not as if it previously looked like he knew exactly what he was doing, but this at the City Ground…
One detail in particular caught the attention of the British public. In the 59th minute, Frank decided to bring on left-back/centre-back Ben Davies, holding midfielder Joao Palhinha and central midfielder Lucas Bergvall. There would have been nothing controversial about that had the former coach introduced the trio to close down space and protect a lead. The problem was that Tottenham were already heavily behind at that point.
That was largely due to Callum Hudson-Odoi, who put his name to Forest’s first two goals, although he also owes thanks for ending his nearly four-month drought to Archie Gray and Guglielmo Vicario, whose huge mistakes significantly contributed to the hosts being two goals up by the 50th minute. As expected, the substitutions Frank made around the hour mark failed to improve Tottenham — in fact, Forest could have extended their lead even further. In the end, they did. Ibrahim Sangare, who had hit the post as early as the fifth minute, crowned a superb performance featuring two assists with a spectacular long-range strike about ten minutes from time, thus bidding farewell to the fans in the best possible way ahead of his departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.
PREMIER LEAGUE - ROUND 16
Saturday
Chelsea - Everton 2-0 (2-0)
/Palmer 21, Gusto 45/
Liverpool - Brighton 2-0 (1-0)
/Ekitike 1, 60/
Burnley - Fulham 2-3 (1-2)
/Ugochukwu 21, Sonne 86 - Smith Rowe 9, Bassey 31, Wilson 58/
Arsenal - Wolverhampton 2-1 (0-0)
/Johnstone 70 (og), Mosquera 90+4 (og) - Arokodare 90/
Sunday
Crystal Palace - Man. City 0-3 (0-1)
/Haaland 41, 88 pen, Foden 69/
Nott. Forest - Tottenham 3-0 (1-0)
/Hudson-Odoi 28, 50, Sangare 79/
Sunderland - Newcastle 1-0 (0-0)
/Woltemade 46 (og)/
West Ham - Aston Villa 2-3 (2-1)
/Fernandes 1, Bowen 24 - Mavropanos 9 (og), Rogers 50, 79/
19.30: (2.00) Brentford (3.60) Leeds (4.10)
Monday
23.00: (1.83) Man.Utd. (4.00) Bournemouth (4.05)
*** odds are subject to change ***
