Football writer Alex Keble looks at the tactical flexibility of new Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank after just three matches and how his approach differs to predecessor Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham Hotspur supporters know not to get carried away by a strong start.
Ange Postecoglou won eight and drew two of his first 10 Premier League matches in charge, prompting talk in some quarters of a 2023/24 title challenge.
Spurs went on to collect 78 points from his remaining 66 matches.
Still, what’s the point of supporting a football club if you don’t dare to dream big, if you don’t let yourself get carried away?
And Spurs fans have every right to be excited about what they’ve seen so far from Thomas Frank, victorious in his first two Premier League matches in charge and just a penalty shootout away from beating Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.
Yet that isn’t the main reason fans are optimistic. Postecoglou’s UEFA Europa League triumph means he will go down in Spurs folklore but supporters wanted change – and Frank could not be more different to Postecoglou.
Where Postecoglou was idealistic and inflexible, Frank is a pragmatist willing to switch up Spurs' tactics.
It is that adaptability, and the speed with which his tactical ideas have been embedded, that makes the Frank era deserving of early hype.
In just three matches, Frank has shown us three different but interrelated ways of playing.
PSG: A 3-5-2 formation with a high press and two-pronged counter-attacks
Postecoglou started with a back four in every match up until 19 January of his second season at Spurs, when his switch to a 3-4-3 formation proved disastrous.
Everton were 3-0 up by half-time and Postecoglou reverted to the old system. He never swayed from it again.
By contrast, Frank has already shown he can coach Spurs in two distinct formations.
In Frank’s first match, he opted for a 3-5-2 system that focused on defensive solidity against a fast-paced PSG attack and counter-attacks played through Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison.
As shown below, Richarlison launches a breakaway from within the compact 3-5-2 that blocked PSG’s path through the middle.
The wing-backs jumped out to defend one-on-one against Bradley Barcola and Achraf Hakimi, who held the width for PSG, while Spurs showed the humility to drop into a rigid 5-4-1 shape once the ball was in their half – and go long from goal-kicks.
That’s not to say they didn’t play good football. Spurs pressed aggressively from the front and caused problems for PSG. The way Kudus and Richarlison combined telepathically, was testament to a well-drilled system around them, drawing obvious comparisons with Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo at Brentford.
Another similarity with Frank's former club came at set-pieces, with both Spurs' goals coming from free-kicks.
All the width came from Pedro Porro and Djed Spence, and it was only when they became pinned – a consequence of Spurs dropping deep late on – that PSG pulled themselves back into the contest.
A 3-5-2, hard pressing from the front, dogged defending in their own half, and set-piece goals: this was a Brentford-esque Spurs.
Burnley: Youthful midfield, possession football, forwards excelling
That changed completely for the first Premier League match of the season, when Spurs’ possession jumped from 30 per cent against PSG to 67 per cent against Burnley.
Knowing the tactical setup would have to be adapted, Frank moved to a 4-2-3-1 formation and swapped both of his central midfielders, the more physical Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur giving way for technicians Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.
That midfield selection sums up the size of the lurch from one match to the other. You never, ever saw that with Postecoglou.
Spurs were happy to move into a compact 4-4-2 shape when Burnley had the ball, although their defensive line was higher than against PSG, while Kudus and Richarlison continued to connect – albeit from different areas.
Kudus, moved to the right, operating more as a traditional winger as Spurs dominated the ball and used it with purpose, thanks to the intelligent passing of Gray and Bergvall.
There will be far bigger challenges ahead than this one, and Postecoglou’s expansive Spurs would probably have achieved a similar result.
Nevertheless, Frank has already shown he knows how to unlock a low block, something critics were concerned about when he first arrived from Brentford.
Man City: Sarr and Palhinha lead 4-2-3-1
The 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium was a pleasing hybrid of the two systems.
Spurs pressed high and hard, refusing to let Manchester City settle into their rhythm, a brave approach that paid off when James Trafford was forced into a mistake that gifted the visitors a 1-0 lead.
“The big, big thing is how we press from a goal-kick,” Frank told TNT Sport after the game. “That’s also linked to the high pressure, and as you see we go man-to-man, and that’s big for us.”
The organisation of that press was particularly impressive. Spurs were never beaten despite taking huge risks with a man-to-man system that saw both centre-backs press all the way up the pitch.
Guardiola had probably anticipated a low block, which is why Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki started as high No 8s.
Their positioning helped the imperious Palhinha and the energetic Pape Sarr – the unsung hero of Frank's first three matches – dominate central midfield.
Watch highlights of Palhinha's performance at Man City
We also saw long balls forward – one of which led to the second goal – and longer kicks from Guglielmo Vicario, who kept Man City guessing. Sometimes Spurs passed out from the back, drawing a press, and sometimes they hit it long.
Man City looked confused and, pulled around the pitch, they capitulated.
Herein lies the secret to why Frank’s flexibility will be a success. Against Man City the combination of powerful midfielders but sharp possession football, of long balls but a high press, kept the opponent on their toes.
Postecoglou was often accused of being too predictable, of only having a plan A. Already we know Frank will never face the same accusation.
Bournemouth: A whole new challenge
This weekend’s opponents, AFC Bournemouth, represent a very different challenge. It is also their most important one so far.
Spurs have a history of winning at the Etihad Stadium and their season clearly won’t be defined by results against the title challengers.
Instead, it’s how Frank's side function against the teams further down the table that will decide if they can qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
Frank will be looking to press high and deploy a more direct route to goal, while somehow ensuring he does not leave Spurs open to Andoni Iraola’s fast transitions.
His man-to-man press might just play into Bournemouth’s hands, which, of course, means Frank might try something completely different.