Thomas Frank walked into Tottenham in June 2025 on a deal running to 2028, inheriting a club still living off last season’s Europa League high and trying to reframe its identity again. The squad has clearly shifted shape and tone. Son Heung-min left in the summer, and the dressing-room hierarchy had to reset in public.

Even off the pitch, the noise has not stopped, with Daniel Levy resigning as chairman in September 2025. All of that would test any coach, but Tottenham fans do not grade on sympathy; they grade on league position, cup runs, and whether the football feels like it’s taking them somewhere.

So far, Frank has given Spurs moments that look organised and purposeful, but also long spells where the team plays like it is still deciding what it wants to be. And when a season starts to feel like “transition” by January, it usually means the bigger targets are already slipping

Cups and context

The domestic cups have been the clearest evidence of a side that has not built momentum: Tottenham beat Doncaster Rovers 3-0 in the EFL Cup third round, then went out 2-0 away at Newcastle United in the fourth round. In the FA Cup, they entered at the third round and lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa, exiting at the first hurdle.

That combination matters because it removes the “shortcut” to feel-good weeks, the kind that can steady a new manager’s first season, and leaves the campaign leaning heavily on league recovery and European nights.

In Europe, the contrast is stark: Tottenham have taken 11 points from six Champions League league-phase games (W3 D2 L1), sitting 11th as of now. That suggests Frank can prepare a team to compete tactically, but domestic knockout football punished Spurs for familiar issues, complete with concentration swings, thin margins in key moments, and not turning control into goals when the tie is there to be grabbed

League and home form

The Premier League table does not flatter Tottenham right now: after 21 league matches, Tottenham are 14th with 27 points (W7 D6 L8). The “false narrative” argument, that performances deserve more, only goes so far when the split between home and away is this extreme.

Spurs’ home record stands at 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats, with 12 scored and 12 conceded, which is mid-table at best in output and far too soft in results. Away from home, they have been noticeably better (W5 D3 L3), which almost makes the domestic picture more frustrating: the team can travel, compete and pick up points, but cannot consistently handle the responsibility of dictating games in their own stadium.

That home wobble also shapes perception. When a side looks more comfortable counterpunching away than controlling at home, it often sparks the same recurring Tottenham debate: style versus substance, intention versus execution. The reality is simpler; top-four teams stack points at home, and Spurs have not.

Thomas Frank and the window for Tottenham

Thomas Frank’s case for the future is built on whether this is a painful settling-in period or the start of another false dawn. He was appointed in June 2025 with a contract running to 2028, which signals a club-level intention to give him time. But time only becomes useful if the direction is obvious: clearer patterns, fewer self-inflicted setbacks, and a home-game edge that feels like Tottenham again.

This January, Tottenham are trying to change the mood, with Conor Gallagher close to joining from Atletico Madrid and is expected to sign a five-and-a-half-year deal. The Englishman’s engine and rhythm could lift a midfield that too often looks either overrun or over-stretched when games turn messy.

At the same time, there is risk in what Tottenham have already cashed in: Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace for £35 million on 2 January 2026. The Welsh international was not just a useful option, he finished last season as Tottenham’s top scorer with 18 goals in all competitions, including the winner in the Europa League final.

If Spurs struggle for end product in the spring, that sale may come back as the move that made financial sense but football pain

Conclusion

Tottenham’s season has drifted into a worrying place because the basics no longer support the ambitions. 14th after 21 matches is not a quirk of luck; it is a reflection of too many dropped points, and the home record (2 wins in 10) is a loud warning that control, authority and confidence are missing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Add the domestic cups: out of the EFL Cup in the fourth round after losing 2-0 at Newcastle UNited, and dumped out of the FA Cup at home by Aston Villa, and suddenly the year feels stripped of the usual rescue routes.

Thomas Frank can still argue there is a foundation, as UEFA Champions League performances have been steadier, with 11 points from six games. However, the Tottenham boss needs proof in the league, quickly.

The surface-level fixes are obvious: restore home-game intensity, simplify chance creation (more runners, faster entries into the box), and stop turning one bad moment into five-minute spirals. The transfer window can help, especially if Gallagher arrives as expected, but recruitment won’t mask the core truth: Tottenham look further from their top-four objective today than they did when the season began, and the next eight weeks will decide whether this is a detour or the start of another reset