When your luck is completely exhausted, there is very little a manager can do to stem the tide of misfortune. Thomas Frank must be looking toward the heavens in disbelief following Tottenham Hotspur’s demoralizing 2-0 loss to Manchester United.
Since taking the reins in North London, Frank has endured a whirlwind of chaos, much of it beyond his immediate control. A relentless injury crisis has gutted his squad, leaving him with a skeletal group of players. However, while excuses are plentiful, the cold, hard reality of the statistics is starting to become impossible to ignore.
Following the defeat at Old Trafford, Frank now holds the unenviable title of the least successful manager in the history of the Premier League’s “Big Six.” His average of 1.16 points per game is a staggering low, dipping even below the record of Ruben Amorim during his troubled tenure at Manchester United.
In the high-stakes environment of elite English football, these numbers usually signal the end of a project. While Frank can certainly point to the medical room as a reason for the slump, he is also being fundamentally undermined by senior players who should be providing the backbone of his leadership.
The primary lightning rod for criticism lately has been the club captain, Cristian Romero. The Argentine defender has had a week to forget, starting with a social media outburst where he described the club’s injury situation as “disgraceful.” Frank attempted to play down the tension, insisting the matter was handled internally, but Romero’s performance on Saturday suggested his mind was elsewhere.
His reckless, over-the-top challenge resulted in a straight red card, leaving his already thin squad to play with ten men for the majority of the match. For a captain to call out a lack of availability and then immediately get himself suspended for four games is a level of irony that the Spurs faithful find hard to swallow.
Romero’s disciplinary record is becoming a historic burden for the club. He is the first player in the Premier League to be sent off twice this season, and his total of six red cards for Tottenham sees him tied for the most in the club’s history.
Despite this, Frank has stood by his leader, indicating that there will be no stripping of the captaincy. While Romero has been linked with prestigious moves to clubs like Real Madrid in the past, his current stock is falling rapidly due to a perceived lack of emotional maturity on the pitch.
| Big Six Manager Records (Points Per Game) | Average |
| Thomas Frank | 1.16 |
| Ruben Amorim | 1.23 |
| Roy Hodgson | 1.25 |
| Graham Potter | 1.27 |
| Ange Postecoglou | 1.37 |
However, as problematic as Romero has been, there is another high-profile figure whose future at the club looks even more untenable. While Romero still provides flashes of brilliance evidenced by his crucial goals against Newcastle and Burnley earlier this season the same cannot be said for Yves Bissouma.
The £25 million signing from Brighton has become something of a ghost in the Tottenham midfield, and his decline has been one of the most disappointing subplots of the current campaign.
Bissouma’s relationship with Thomas Frank got off to a rocky start before a ball was even kicked. The manager left the Mali international out of the squad for the UEFA Super Cup clash against PSG, citing “persistent lateness” as the reason. It was a clear attempt by Frank to set a standard of discipline, but Bissouma has struggled to recover his standing ever since.
His season has been further disrupted by a significant knee injury and a stint at the Africa Cup of Nations, but even when fit, he has failed to justify a starting spot.
The most damning indictment of Bissouma’s current status is that even with a squad ravaged by injuries, Frank opted to drop him to the bench for the Manchester United game. This decision followed a disastrous outing against Manchester City a week prior.
In that match, Bissouma was directly responsible for the opening goal, losing possession cheaply in the center of the park and allowing Rayan Cherki to capitalize. It was a moment that perfectly encapsulated his time in North London: a player with immense natural talent who seems incapable of maintaining the concentration required for top-level football.
While the club looks toward a future built around exciting youngsters like Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and the incoming Luka Vuskovic, the veteran core is looking increasingly fragile. Players like Pedro Porro have seen their form dip, and Guglielmo Vicario has had several shaky moments in goal, but Bissouma feels like a player whose time has completely run out. He was even left out of the club’s Champions League squad earlier in the year, a move that signaled just how far he had fallen in the pecking order.
The argument for keeping Romero usually revolves around his “ceiling” the idea that on his best day, he is one of the world’s elite defenders. With Bissouma, that argument is becoming harder to make.
His defensive contributions have dwindled, and his ability to dictate play from deep has vanished. For a player who cost £25 million and arrived with a reputation as one of the league’s best ball-winners, his current output is a shadow of his former self.
As the summer transfer window approaches, the hierarchy at Tottenham will have some difficult decisions to make. If Thomas Frank is replaced with rumors of Mauricio Pochettino’s return growing louder by the day the new manager will likely want to clear out the “dead wood” to make room for the club’s burgeoning youth talent.
While Romero might be given one last chance to fix his disciplinary issues, it is hard to see a world where Bissouma remains part of the long-term plan. For the sake of both the player and the club, a parting of ways this summer seems like the only logical conclusion.
