The damning stat that shows Thomas Frank still has major work to do at Tottenham
Tottenham have made a largely bright start to the season under Thomas Frank.
The Lilywhites find themselves sat fourth in the early-season Premier League table, having shown plenty of positive signs during their opening few games.
However, there are still plenty of things to work on, and Tuesday night’s frustrating 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt highlighted that for Tottenham once again.
The scale of the job that Frank has on his hands has become apparent again following their challenging night in European action, and this damning stat provides the perfect indication of the key issue that is facing the boss.
Own goals are Spurs’ highest scorer in all competitions
Frank shuffled his Tottenham pack for the trip to face Bodo/Glimt, and it simply didn’t work out for him at all.
The Lilywhites were penned in by their hosts for the vast majority of the encounter, and looked set to be leaving the Arctic Circle with nothing to show for their efforts after Jens Petter Hauge fired his side into a deserved two-goal lead.
Spurs were outshout 18-8 on the night by their unfancied opponents, who were certainly good value for their point, if not more, especially considering that the visitors were saved by a fortuitous Jostein Gundersen own goal in the 89th minute.
Rather concerningly for Frank, that means that own goals are now the top scorer for his side across all competitions, according to journalist Tom Barclay via his X account.
The Dane is blessed with a wealth of options in the final third, but ultimately, very few of them have the top-level quality that is needed to take his team to new heights.
| Rank | Team | xG | Goals |
| 9 | Everton | 7.8 | 7 |
| 10 | Bournemouth | 7.3 | 8 |
| 11 | Tottenham | 7 | 11 |
| 12 | Nottingham Forest | 6.5 | 5 |
| 13 | Fulham | 6.3 | 7 |
The N17 outfit have acutally outperformed their xG by a significant total of four strikes in the Premier League, but that suggests that they are not creating enough quality chances to sustain their promising start.
That will quickly catch up to them if it is not adressed, as we have seen in the recent draws with Wolves and Bodo/Glimt.
Thomas Frank has no room to manouvre at Tottenham
Injury issues have plagued Tottenham at the start of the season, as both Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani have been sidelined through injury.
However, there is a concerning lack of room to manouvre for Frank when it comes to evolving the attacking areas of the squad.
Solanke was a club-record buy as recently as last summer, and has since struggled for confidence and now fitness. Meanwhile, Kolo Muani is still an unknown quantity in a Spurs shirt, and thus cannot be relied upon to produce the goods.
Richarlison has performed well so far with three league goals from an xG of just 1.65, but history shows that it is unlikely to be sustainable for him across the campaign.
With that in mind, Frank desperately needs to add another striker in January, but finds himself in a situation where the only option would likely be selling either Richarlison or Solanke for a major loss.
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