Thomas Frank must avoid same fate as Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham vs Chelsea horror show revisited
Tottenham will face Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, almost two years to the day when Ange Postecoglou’s first season fell apart.
Newcastle United beat Tottenham 2-0 on Wednesday, putting a swift end to the momentum Thomas Frank‘s team had built up against Everton last week.
Fabian Schar and Nick Woltemade scored to knock Tottenham out of the Carabao Cup, in a game that the Lilywhites never really looked like winning.
Richarlison was slammed for his performance against Newcastle, with the Brazilian failing to leave any impression on Eddie Howe’s back-line.
Frank is expected to make several changes against Chelsea, with the Dane keen to avoid tempting a run of successive defeats.
Ange Postecoglou’s side fell apart vs Chelsea
Tottenham sacked Postecoglou in June, after a terrible Premier League season had seen the Australian’s side finish 17th.
But this time two years ago, everything was going swimmingly for Postecoglou. Tottenham had won eight of their opening 10 games and were playing incredible football.
| Tottenham | Match stats | Chelsea |
| 1 | Goals | 4 |
| 0.89 | Expected goals (xG) | 4.12 |
| 8 | Shots | 17 |
| 5 | Shots on target | 8 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 5 |
| 2 | Red cards | 0 |
Summer signings James Maddison and Micky van de Ven had hit the ground running, and in many ways, the North London club looked unstoppable.
Then came the visit of Chelsea, and one of the most chaotic games in Premier League history. It had started perfectly, with Dejan Kulusevski scoring within six minutes.
But when Cristian Romero dived in on Enzo Fernandes in the penalty area, everything flipped. The challenge was checked, and a red card and a penalty were awarded.
Destiny Udogie‘s second yellow card and three more Chelsea goals in the closing 15 minutes would confirm a crushing loss for Tottenham, but the real damage came in the first half’s stoppage time.
Maddison and Van de Ven were both injured, with Postecoglou later confirming that the pair, who had been so crucial to Tottenham’s start, would be out for months.
- Read more: Joao Palhinha experiment failed, Thomas Frank can’t let it happen again after scenes vs Newcastle
Tottenham collapsed after Chelsea loss
The following four games after the loss to Chelsea would see any Tottenham dreams of a title challenge spectacularly dashed. Losses to Wolves, Aston Villa and West Ham surrounded a draw with Manchester City.
Postecoglou’s team would return to form but never rediscovered the consistency they had shown at the start of the season, ultimately finishing fifth.
Frank has had a different start to his Tottenham career. Worse results, and certainly worse football, but a feel of more stability.
The Dane must avoid that stability being thrown to the wayside on Saturday, however, as it was with Postecoglou.
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