PRIORITY ONE: THOMAS FRANK TARGETS PSG AFTER ROMERO'S 'STYLE' WARNING
Spurs boss Thomas Frank remains detached from criticism after the Arsenal loss as his team faces a crucial test of style against PSG.
Even a tough loss to Arsenal wasn't enough to get to Thomas Frank.
The Tottenham coach often says he doesn't pay much attention to the chatter around the club, except for what his press officer tells him or what reporters ask.
Sitting in Paris before a Champions League game against the champs, just days after a 4-1 defeat, Frank insisted that hasn't changed.
I don't read anything—no articles, no social media. So, I don't know if people are upset, he said.
Frank is smart, though. He probably has an idea what Spurs fans thought of the game and knows where the team needs work.
He's also heard enough this season to know people aren't thrilled with the way they play. Some home games have ended with boos, and after the Arsenal game, Frank and the players walked over to clap for the mostly empty away section.
Spurs now play Paris Saint-Germain tonight in what feels like the least important game of the week.
Fulham is coming to north London on Saturday, and that's a key game for Frank. If they don't win and win big, he'll have a hard time avoiding the criticism.
The Champions League isn't as risky since Spurs already have eight points from four games. A few more points should be enough to get them to the next round.
Frank's team needs to almost double their current points to finish in the top spots and move straight to the final 16, and a good result against PSG would help.
But that's not the biggest thing right now. How they play in this game will matter more than the score.
Losing 3-1, but really going for it against PSG, creating chances, even if they fall short against a better team, would be better than a boring 0-0 tie.
Frank's time at Spurs won't be judged by the PSG game. It'll be judged by whether Spurs start playing better together on offence.
Spurs have three of the five lowest xG scores in the league this season.
They were great defensively in the UEFA Super Cup against PSG in August, holding a 2-0 lead until the last few minutes despite having the ball only 25% of the time.
That was okay for Frank's first game, but it would be worrying if they haven't improved after a few months.
The fans need to see improvement, and so do the players. They can only be told to defend and disrupt so many times before they want to create. Too often, Frank's approach has made the players scared of the other team.
That can't be fun, and it won't work for long. Cristian Romero didn't like the mood at Spurs under Antonio Conte's style and praised Ange Postecoglou's more attacking style.
"It's the way Tottenham always played," Romero said in 2023. It's about taking risks and trying to control the game.
Again, a year later, the Spurs captain said, "We play in a fun style, and we're all happy with how the coach sets us up."
If Romero, a defender, doesn't like sitting back, the forwards definitely don't.
There's no such thing as an easy game at a club like Spurs, but fans will accept some losses.
This is one of those games, but only if Frank and his players show they're trying.
MARTIN ODEGAARD AND KAI HAVERTZ MISS FINAL TRAINING; CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HOPES FADING
Arsenal's Champions League hopes are in doubt as Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz miss final training ahead of the Atletico tie.
Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz didn’t show up for Arsenal’s open training on Monday, just a day before the crucial Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Both missed Saturday’s comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham because of injuries: Odegaard with his knee and Havertz with a muscular problem.
Odegaard hurt his knee in last week’s draw with Atletico, while Havertz hasn’t played since picking up an issue against Newcastle. After beating Fulham, Mikel Arteta sounded confident they’d be ready for Atletico, but on Monday neither player was seen with the first team. That’s a big hint they won’t be involved at the Emirates.
Arteta is set to speak to the media soon, though don’t expect him to spill much; he’s known for keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to team news.
There were a couple more missing faces at London Colney. Jurrien Timber (groin) and Mikel Merino (foot) were also absent. Timber hasn’t featured since before the international break, and it’s unclear when he’ll return, but Arsenal hope it’s before the end of the season. Merino’s been out nearly three months since foot surgery. He might not play again this month.
On the upside, Bukayo Saka was back in training after getting subbed at halftime against Fulham, where he started his first Premier League game since mid-March.
Now, Arsenal really have a headache. Odegaard, who scored 15 goals last season, just hasn’t looked the same. Staff are increasingly worried about him; he’s missed 25 games in all competitions this year, thanks to a pileup of injuries: two freak shoulder issues, two muscular injuries, and the recurring knee problem. When he’s fit, Odegaard can still make magic happen; just look at his four assists across six games in January, but right now, his body keeps letting him down.
Havertz’s story isn’t much brighter. He’s managed only 20 appearances this season, mostly because of a serious knee injury in the summer and more muscle problems afterward. He’s Arsenal’s top earner at £280,000 a week, while Odegaard sits fourth at £240,000. Having two high-paid players sidelined so often is not ideal, and Arsenal need answers.
To try to sort out this ongoing injury crisis, Arteta has reportedly brought in a trusted expert from the medical field to lead an investigation. Arsenal hope this move finally sheds some light on their troubled injury record.
DECLAN RICE ACCUSES REFEREE OF CRUMBLING UNDER PRESSURE IN MADRID PENALTY DRAMA
Arsenal head to the Emirates with a 1-1 draw, but Declan Rice is fuming over the officiating standards in the Champions League.
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Declan Rice didn’t hold back after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw in Madrid, backing Mikel Arteta’s outrage and insisting the team deserved a “clear” penalty. He even went so far as to say that Atlético Madrid’s fans pushed the referee, Danny Makkelie, into changing his mind.
Arteta was livid. Late in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, Makkelie first pointed to the spot for Arsenal after Eberechi Eze went down. But surrounded by Diego Simeone’s wild sideline antics and the roar of 70,000 Atleti supporters, Makkelie stared at the replay 13 times, then flipped his call and waved play on.
Looking back on it, Rice couldn’t believe it. “It’s a clear penalty,” he said. “I don't know how that's not been given. I think the fans got to him and changed his mind. UEFA is just a different world. In both boxes, you have to be so careful because referees call everything.”
Arsenal ran into trouble with VAR twice. First, the ref ruled Ben White handled a Llorente volley, and Julián Álvarez buried the resulting penalty, cancelling out Viktor Gyökeres’ earlier spot-kick. Rice felt for White. Talking with Stan Sport, he said, “If that happens in the Premier League, it doesn’t get given. The ball’s hardly off the ground, and it’s not even on target. But in the Champions League, the refs make these snap calls and whistle for everything. It’s just more strict. But whatever, we move on. We want to beat them next week.”
Despite the drama, Arsenal is still in a solid spot. They’ll head back to London, hoping the home crowd can push them into their first Champions League final since 2006. Bukayo Saka, freshly back from an Achilles injury, is counting on it. “We’d have liked to win, but we’ll take the draw. It’s halftime, and we’re full of confidence going back to the Emirates,” he said. “I’m sure the atmosphere will be even bigger, and that will give us a real boost.”
Before that return leg, Arsenal face Fulham at home on Saturday. They could put more heat on Manchester City by stretching their Premier League lead, though City still has games in hand and plays Everton next. The race is on.
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