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One point from a road trip to France in the Champions League is not disastrous.
Which so happened to be Thomas Frank’s starting point as he tried to explain a lacklustre Tottenham display in Monaco. The French teams can be strong, Frank noted, and this much is true.
Spurs have not won on any of their three visits to the soulless Stade Louis II. Paris Saint-Germain are the holders and purring. Marseille put four past Ajax in their only home game of the campaign.
Frank also wanted to remind us that his is a team in transition and, having finished 17th in the Premier League, only in Europe’s elite competition by virtue of their Europa League wildcard.
Tottenham did make it their business to recruit players with Champions League experience in the summer and Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani had all played in the competition.
Although none of them while combining it with the relentlessness of English football. The intensity of the Premier League is different for reasons we all know well, and the Champions League is very different to the Europa League.
Thomas Frank instructs his Tottenham players in Monaco but it was another lackluster showing from his side
The busiest man on the pitch was the Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, as Tottenham failed to threaten at the other end
There’s the sheer quality for one thing. The eight league phase games will be more difficult than eight in the Europa League.
There are fewer opportunities to rest key players without feeling the effect. Moreover, players do not want to be rested in the Champions League. It is the competition they all want to play in, whereas they might not mind too much missing a Europa League game to rest up for the Premier League.
And the games come with heightened emotion, more scrutiny and tension, leading to mental fatigue as much as physical fatigue.
Frank, too, is in uncharted territory managing through this minefield and if his post-match comments after his team had been outplayed by Monaco seemed a touch defensive, then perhaps it is with reason because he is heading out of his honeymoon phase.
He still needs to convince Tottenham supporters that he is the right manager for their illustrious club and faith will be tested as the early-season form fades.
‘We are all getting judged every game,’ said the Spurs boss, in response to a question about Simons on the eve of the game against Monaco, where the final whistle was greeted with a blend of groans and jeers, just as it was after Sunday’s home defeat by Aston Villa.
This reaction was probably as much to do with the charmless style of the performance as it was any misguided sense of entitlement about which teams they should be beating.
Monaco outplayed Spurs, who had goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to thank for their point, and looked most likely to score via one of Kevin Danso’s long throws.
Wilson Odobert shows his frustration during the draw with Monaco but his boss Frank says the player is still coming to terms with life at Spurs
Christian Mawissa of Monaco battles for possession with Brennan Johnson of Tottenham in a match where Spurs failed to create any meaningful chances
Frank’s team carried little threat up front in open play. The balance in midfield is maddeningly elusive as it always was under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho and in the late-era Mauricio Pochettino team.
They are no longer able to rely on the clinical finishing of either Harry Kane or Son Heung-min and the gung-ho thrill of the early days under Ange Postecoglou is long gone.
Injuries are eating away. Ten senior players were unavailable in Monaco, which not only denies Frank big stars, such as Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison but limits the scope to rest, rotate and freshen the team without consequences.
‘Kudus has been exceptional for us but has also played more or less every minute, so we lack maybe that extra spark today,’ said Frank.
‘Wilson Odobert is a very, very good talent and he’s been positive but of course he is taking his step into the Premier League and the Champions League.
‘Xavi has just come to the club, Lucas Bergvall is a young player. Kolo Muani we believe can make a difference and looked positive when he came on. But he had that injury, so of course there’s some of that.
‘No complaints, it is what it is. It’s my job to get the most out of the players available.’
The fade is reflected in recent results because Tottenham have won just two of the last seven games. One of those wins was a Carabao Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers of League One.
Tottenham made it their business to recruit players with Champions League experience in the summer and Randal Kolo Muani has played in the competition
Spurs have a growing injury list with James Maddison one of the players in the treatment room
They lost only one of the seven too – against improving Villa – but had to scramble back from behind to draw with Brighton, Wolves and Bodo. They clung on for a point they barely deserved in Monaco.
Weeks have passed since they dominated against strong opposition, and the next set of seven fixtures suddenly looms with severity.
In the Premier League, there is a trip to Everton and home games against Chelsea and Manchester United before the north London derby at Arsenal, plus Newcastle away in the Carabao Cup and Champions League fixtures at home to Copenhagen and away at PSG.
Win only two of these seven and the bright start under Frank will become a distant memory. Lose a few, fail to satisfy the punters with a little more rhythm and flair, and the mood might start to turn.
