Will Tottenham's Thomas Frank be the next Premier League manager to be sacked?

Has Manchester United and Chelsea both parting ways with their managers in sudden and shocking moves signified the start of a merry-go-round of sackings and appointments?

It has certainly got other sets of fans debating if their clubs should make the same moves and, no doubt, some managers sleeping less well.

After all, several teams have not performed as expected this season, such as Premier League Champions Liverpool and 2023 Europa Conference League winners West Ham.

The futures of both Arne Slot and Nuno Espírito Santo respectively have been questioned and debated at length this season, with many fans of both clubs calling for them to go. Espírito Santo certainly seems on the verge of being removed from his position after Tuesday's relegation six-pointer defeat to Nottingham Forest.

However, is it Thomas Frank at Tottenham that is in fact most in danger of the axe striking next? He has certainly delivered on one promise, stating earlier this season that Spurs ‘’will lose football matches.’’

That, the lilywhites, certainly have done, struggling for form under the former Brentford manager. 

Thomas took over the club after they had their first trophy in 17 years, beating Manchester United in a dire Europa League final. Although, as we know, this does not give the full picture, as they only finished one place above the relegation zone last term.

Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca at United and Chelsea respectively drove improved league position compared to their predecessors, Maresca even delivered two major trophies in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

However the jury reminded out on both and their true ability to take either back to the very top.

The same seems to be the issue for Frank. The league position is looking healthier, but the fans are not convinced he can take Spurs back to the top four.

So, does he stay or go?

Why Tottenham Hotspur should not sack Thomas Frank

Frank started life at Spurs very strongly, only minutes away from beating PSG in the Super Cup.

This strong form continued with two back-to-back wins and clean sheets with the latter against Manchester City.

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They have bolstered a very impressive record on the road with the second-best away form in the League.

They have again looked good in Europe with impressive results such as their 4-0 against Copenhagen and sitting at a respectable 11th in the Champions League table.

Not all the fault of Tottenham's woes this season can be put down to their manager. The team has missed three of their starting players in, Madison, Kulusevski and Solanke.

All who are arguably some of the teams better players and Solanke's case their second top goal scorer and missing these three would make winning games much harder.

There is also a big question mark over the overall quality of the squad and the recent recruitment policies. Could any manager do better with these players? 

Why Thomas Frank should be sacked

Frank’s side may have an impressive away record, however, their home record is where cracks show.

Tottenham are 17th in the league for home form despite charging the most for season tickets in the country.

Even the away record has not been perfect with embarrassing results on the road such as a 3-0 hammering by Nottingham Forest.

It also hard not to ignore the abstract, that Tottenham have lost their spark under Frank.

The team, under Ange Postecoglou suffered a lot of losses and now hold the record for the most losses without being relegated with 22. Yet, it was hard to ignore the flashy style of football.

This has gone with Frank’s team, who rather than relying on controlling the ball in play, look to grind out results and hope for set pieces to get them over the line.

Tottenham's attack may be looking dull this season, not scoring more than one goal in their last five matches but what could have helped was Brennan Johnson.

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The Welshman was Tottenham's top goal scorer last season and even scored the winner in the Europa League final for the team yet, has just been sold to Crystal Palace.

The winger was out of favour and rarely played by the Tottenham boss, despite scoring four goals in his four starts this season. 

Johnson, could have helped against Chelsea where Spurs lost 1-0 and put up their lowest xG for the last 10 seasons, at just 0.05xG.

This game revealed the contentious relationship between the players and the manager, with one of Tottenham's leadership team, Micky Van De Ven, ignoring the boss at full-time. 

This is despite the players retaining a strong relationship with Ange even through hard times last season. 

Going back to last season, the performances showed Ange's side were unfortunate as the xG table predicted them four places higher than they finished.

The xG table this season however, shows Frank is lucky to even sit at 13th with stats showing Spurs should be 14th in the League.

Yet, more pressing than all of this is that Spurs so far this season have accumulated their lowest points total at this stage since 2008. 

Should Tottenham sack Thomas Frank?

It is important to give managers a chance at a club. Mikel Arteta only found form at Arsenal during his third season in charge.

However, it is important Tottenham look to their rivals if they want to compete at the highest level like they want.

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Manchester United sit sixth in the table and Chelsea sit fifth yet both clubs felt these positions were not good enough. Tottenham sit 13th.

Overall, with Thomas Frank's tame style of football and bizarre decisions such as not playing the player who is most likely to put the ball in the net and his potentially weak relationship with some players, there is a strong argument for him to be sacked.

Who should replace Thomas Frank as the Tottenham manager?

Tottenham are lucky in that the quiet manager market has just livened up with Enzo Maresca recently becoming available and if Maresca would be interested in joining the lilywhites, he should be selected to replace Frank.

Maresca as a former student of Pep Guardiola, is known for beautiful attacking football which has regularly been on display at Chelsea since his arrival in 2024. 

Tottenham and Chelsea are not afraid to share managers either, with Mourinho, Conte and Pochettino calling both clubs home in recent years.

Maresca was able to win two trophies with Chelsea and Tottenham fans hoping to capitalise on the end of their trophy drought would be hopeful with this alliance.

However, would Maresca see Tottenham as a step down from Chelsea and also be resistant to heading to another club where he would seemingly not control the transfer policy?

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Another manager who would be suitable is Xavi Hernandez. The former Barcelona man has already been shortlisted by Manchester United as a potential replacement for Ruben Amorim however, if he decides not to go to the Red Devils he could fit in at Spurs.

Xavi would bring strong man management such as we saw as his time at Barcelona. Pedri's improvement was notable and regularly sidelined Bergval is a similar talent to the Spaniard, which could mark a good combination between the player and manager.

Pedro Porro has also struggled with form with his sloppy defending regularly criticised which is something Xavi could fix. The former Barca boss moved Kounde from centre-back to right-back which saw a sharp increase in his performance.

Potentially, Xavi similarly could move Van De Ven to left-back permanently. The Dutch player has already played there for his nation. This would allow Danso to accompany Romero at centre-back, leaving Spurs very protected.

Porro's defensive woes would be less noticeable as he would be able to attack similar to how Balde was deployed on the other flank at Xavi's previous side. 

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