With Thomas Frank’s press working, do Tottenham need a creative No 10 against top sides?

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It’s impossible to put Tottenham Hotspur’s convincing 2-0 win over Manchester City into context without acknowledging their failed pursuit of Eberechi Eze.

In Thomas Frank’s pre-match press conference, the Dane confirmed Dejan Kulusevski’s recovery timeline for his knee injury is “a longer one”, with no date on his return. With James Maddison out for most, if not all, of the season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in pre-season, Frank’s need for a creative spark has seemingly never been more pronounced.

The Etihad Stadium is a ground where Spurs’ attacking superstars have shone in recent years, evoking memories of standout performances and goals scored by Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Maddison. With that in mind, the line-up, featuring no recognised No 10, seemed to punctuate the need for chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s decision-makers to delve deeper into their list of targets, beyond Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White, to sign a player capable of making a creative spark.

But if individual brilliance inspired previous Spurs sides to victory against Pep Guardiola, Frank has shown that, against the right opposition, there’s no better playmaker than a rampant press.

Thomas Frank praises his side – “A real team performance” 🤝 pic.twitter.com/axQPrXJTJr

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 23, 2025

Spurs set out their stall inside the opening 10 minutes. Before James Trafford had time to settle into his first home start for the club, Tottenham’s man-to-man approach gave the 22-year-old and the City defence an early fright.

With options in deeper positions blocked off by Spurs players, Erling Haaland came short to receive the ball on the edge of his box — an unfamiliar position for the Norwegian, who is more used to contributing at the opposite end. Cristian Romero demonstrated the man-to-man press wasn’t exclusive to midfielders and attackers, robbing the ball on Haaland’s touch, which resulted in a potentially dangerous free kick on the edge of City’s area.

After a spell of control for the home side, broken by Brennan Johnson’s goal on the counter-attack after Spurs breached Guardiola’s aggressive offside trap, Tottenham doubled their lead. In this instance, Frank’s side proved that, as currently constructed, intensity and structure high up the pitch may be their most effective route to goal against sides willing to take risks in their build-up.

With Trafford in possession inside his six-yard box, Richarlison was positioned a few steps to the ‘keeper’s left, blocking off the passing lane towards Ruben Dias (circled, below). On the other side, Johnson was stationed between John Stones and Rico Lewis. This ensured Trafford couldn’t play into Lewis in midfield, while Johnson was close enough to Stones to press him quickly should the goalkeeper play square to his right.

Trafford ultimately chose Nico Gonzalez a few yards directly in front of him, potentially with the aim of Gonzalez laying the ball back and playing around Sarr’s pressure. But the Senegal international went to Gonzalez quickly and won the ball. It eventually broke to Palhinha, who fired the ball into the net, putting Frank on his way to his first statement win as Spurs boss.

“I definitely believe in the aggressive press,” Frank said in his post-match press conference. “As you saw today, as you saw with my Brentford team, I believe in the high pressure. I believe we can be front-footed. I like that mentality. I think it’s offensive. It’s a more offensive way of defending, and then it’s more fun to defend on the opponent’s half.

“And of course, today, I think we’re very successful. Also scored a goal from it. So yeah, happy.”

Led by Sarr, who won the player of the match award in another outstanding performance as a pressing No 10, Tottenham gained control in the second period and were unfortunate not to widen their margin of victory in the second half.

Like he did against Paris Saint-Germain, where a late collapse undid Spurs’ justified two-goal lead, Frank found an effective solution to being without a recognised No 10, a position he very apparently covets given their recent pursuits.

With three wins in their last five visits to the Etihad Stadium, it’s something of a trademark Spurs win — but this time it was executed in a trademark Frank manner.

Oh my 🙈

A costly City mistake is capitalised on by Palhinha!@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HPkufm9Gyn

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 23, 2025

With six points and a plus-five goal difference, Spurs haven’t started a league season better in more than a decade, and having beaten two very different sides in City and Burnley in successive weeks, the early signs of Frank’s tenure couldn’t be more convincing.

Continuing from his Brentford reign, where he beat City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, Frank has always been highly effective at game-planning for the best opponents. Evidence suggests he’s now putting that into practice as Spurs coach.

Still, bringing Lucas Bergvall into the starting line-up as a No 10 last week for Burnley indicated Frank knows he will need to have something different against teams Tottenham are expected to beat.

Given the signs of success with Mohammed Kudus and goalscorer Palhinha, whose bite in the tackle and positional awareness underpinned a first-class defensive performance, Frank has a strong understanding of what will elevate his squad.

After a dream league start, backing Frank with at least one statement creative signing may be what the coach needs to unlock another level. Only then will he be equipped with the tools to demonstrate the extent of his potential as Spurs coach this season.

(Photo: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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