Thomas Frank has reflected on Xavi Simons’ home debut for Tottenham Hotspur and the reasons why things did not click in attack for his side, particularly in the second half of the game.
While Tottenham would be delighted to start their Champions League campaign with three points and a clean sheet, the performance was far from convincing.
The Lilywhites showed that they are still a work in progress as a side and failed to click as an attacking unit.
New boy, Xavi Simons, looked threatening when he got on the ball on the Tottenham left and in the half-spaces in the first half, but his threat was nullified after the interval.
Thomas Frank reveals what Tottenham should have done better in attack
The Spurs head coach admitted that his side should have played the ball to Xavi quicker than they did on quite a few occasions.
When asked why the Netherlands international was not as effective in the second-half, Frank responded (via Football.London): “No, I think there could be many, many reasons. I also think there were three, four, five times where he should have had the ball quicker to create something. But around that day, it was just unfortunate.”
The 51-year-old also confessed that he wanted to see his side get the ball wide and have overlapping runners more often than they did in the game.
When asked if Tottenham needed their midfield runners to go beyond Richarlison more often, he responded: “Yeah, I think actually we got some good runs from Lucas and Pape on the sides. When we were a little bit deeper, I think that worked okay.
“I think it was too few times that we got it high enough and made a run and produced the crosses we wanted. That was probably the thing that didn’t edge enough throughout the game. But there were actually quite a few situations where we got both to Kudus and to Xavi where we didn’t produce what we should.”
Frank expects Tottenham to get better at combining in the final third
The former Brentford boss suggested the main issue may be down to players in attack not understanding each other’s games fully yet.
He remarked that Tottenham’s attacking play will improve once some of his players form better partnerships by understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
When asked about the key to unlocking Spurs’ creativity, Frank said: “How do we get gelling, it’s when you get that good relationships. So I think, for example, on the right side, Pedro and Kudus, they definitely have something going. I think Lucas came over to that side, it looks right.
“I think on the left side, Xavi and Djed, good against West Ham, but it’s not 100% in sync when maybe it’s not going, as an example. We gave so many times the ball away, where we could have played it more second half, which just happens sometimes.”