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But can he do it in the Champions League? It was one of the grumbles from the Tottenham fanbase when their club appointed Thomas Frank given how his experience of European football extended to little more than a handful of Europa League qualifiers with Brondby more than a decade ago.
It was a nervy debut for Frank in the big time, his team retreating into their shells after half-time, looking to hold on to the lead they were presented with at the outset by one of the great goalkeeping howlers. It was a moment to haunt Luiz Júnior.
Villarreal pressed on to the front foot and it was a night when the yellow cards fluttered and the referee, Rade Obrenovic, never gave the impression that he was fully in control. Spurs certainly had none of that.
Villarreal advertised the equaliser and there was the moment on 84 minutes when Micky van de Ven barged over Georges Mikautadze on the very edge of the area as the striker ran through. Van de Ven escaped with a yellow card and the Villarreal winger, Nicolas Pépé – a danger throughout – whipped the free-kick inches wide. Spurs got away with it, relief the overriding emotion when it was all over. Frank could simply cherish the points.
Tottenham’s appearance in the European Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain had been nice, a spin-off from their famous Europa League triumph over Manchester United at the end of last season but this was the real upside, the tournament that everyone connected to the club wants to contest. It is fundamental on every level; for the finances, for the sporting culture.
It was a surprise to see there were empty seats in the upper tiers at kick-off and it was easy to wonder whether it was down, in part, to it being only a visit from the fifth-best team in last season’s La Liga. On the other hand, Spurs season-ticket holders do not have cup games included in their packages. They cost extra.
Spurs made the perfect start as they were given their present from the football gods. Lucas Bergvall had worked his way into a crossing position on the right and he could see the run of Richarlison in the middle but the low delivery was too close to Luiz Júnior, who went to ground to collect. Why, then, was the ball now rolling into the net? It needed a double take to see that the goalkeeper had somehow pushed it there himself. Did the impact of his gloves against the turf cause the catastrophe? Frankly, there were no satisfactory answers.
Frank had kept rotation to a minimum, his key selection being Rodrigo Bentancur over João Palhinha in midfield. Has he come to see them as an either/ or choice for the home games? He went for the energy of Pape Matar Sarr and Bergvall around Bentancur, with the trickery of Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons on the flanks. Kudus was in the mood to endanger the ankle ligaments of his Villarreal markers with the sharpness of his turns.
Marcelino set his Villarreal team up in an old-school 4-4-2 and they stabilised after the early horror. Nicolas Pépé heard his every touch jeered, the consequence of his Arsenal previous but he flickered, advertising an equaliser in the first-half. He shaped a curler for the bottom corner, which Micky Van de Ven deflected just off target. And it was Pépé who played in Tajon Buchanan for a glorious chance after some less than convincing Spurs defending. Buchanan shot wastefully wide.
Sarr extended Junior with a low drive in the 30th minute – it was Spurs’s only first-half effort on target – and they would chunter about the non-award of two penalties before the interval. Pape Gueye seemed to kick through Richarlison; the decision was that the Spurs striker had fished out his leg to anticipate the contract. And Gueye felt a Bergvall flick rear up to hit his outstretched hand. He could not really have got it out of the way.
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It was the first home game since the ousting of the chair, Daniel Levy; an extreme novelty for him not to be seen in his familiar seat in the stadium that he built. The new boardroom powers were present and correct, including Charles and Vivienne Lewis, the children of the former owner, Joe Lewis.
It was subdued in the stands for long periods. Perhaps the jeopardy was not there at the beginning of this lengthy league phase. Although the decibel levels did rise when Thomas Partey, another former Arsenal player, emerged from the substitutes’ bench to warm up early in the second-half. Partey will appear at Southwark crown court on Wednesday morning to answer rape charges.
Spurs were sloppy after the restart; their passing was poor. Villarreal stepped higher, with Frank seemingly happy to preserve what he had. It felt as though he was inviting trouble. He needed Cristian Romero and Van de Ven to stand tall at the back. Pépé continued to be booed and he continued to threaten, pushing one shot just past the far corner on 55 minutes. Simons was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card for a hack at him. Marcelino was booked for his incensed reaction.
Frank made changes, Palhinha among them and there was a Spurs debut off the bench for Randal Kolo Muani. It was Marcelino’s introduction of Partey in the 77th minute that truly raised the temperature inside the ground as Villarreal pushed for the equaliser. Simons got away with a barge on the substitute Ilias Akhomach inside the area while there was an element of desperation about Van de Ven’s foul on Mikautadze. Spurs survived.
