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First-half goals from Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers were enough to see Aston Villa beat Tottenham and progress through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Spurs mustered a fightback in the second half, with Wilson Odobert reducing the arrears, but Villa held on in a feisty encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Here are three things we learned from Spurs’ latest defeat…
Spurs’ season is at breaking point after crashing out of the FA Cup
Emi Buendia opens the scoring for Aston Villa
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It was a well-worked goal from the visitors, with the ball being played neatly through the lines before Buendia rifled home, but it was all too easy.
Villa were allowed to play at their own pace, picking their way past Spurs’ midfield, with Donyell Malen bouncing off the challenge of Pedro Porro to set up Buendia. Unai Emery’s side continued to flood forward after the goal.
There was nothing in the form of a reaction from Spurs in the first half, who had taken an age to adjust to going behind away at Bournemouth in the week.
THST cited a ‘dramatic fall in ambition’ in their statement, and as Buendia’s strike crashed into the back of the net, what optimism remained quickly drained from the stadium.
Villa doubled their lead as Rogers finished coolly inside the area, and while Odobert’s second half strike instilled some belief, it was all too little too late again.
Spurs go strong, but still lose out
Determined to take the FA Cup seriously and inject some impetus back into their season, Thomas Frank said he would name a full-strength side against Villa.
Spurs have not made it past the fifth round since the 2017/18 season, and in truth, Frank had little choice but to prioritise the FA Cup. 14th in the Premier League, and with the Champions League nothing but a pipe dream for even the most optimistic of fans, the FA Cup felt like the Dane’s last shot at saving Spurs’ season and saving his job.
There were five changes from the defeat to Bournemouth, but with the now-injured Richarlison, Archie Gray, and Wilson Odobert coming back into the team, Frank was by no means rotating. A strong start was expected from the hosts, yet it was Villa who made the early inroads and eventually built a comfortable lead from which Spurs were unable to recover.
Frank had bit back at claims of his side feeling the pressure in his pre-match press conference, but despite their manager’s backing, his players wilted in dramatic fashion as Villa took a two-goal lead into the break. There was fight, as there had been against Bournemouth, in the second half, but ultimately the damage had already been done.
Knocked out in the fourth round by Villa last season, Spurs were hoping to exercise some demons by beating Unai Emery’s side, yet failed to do so once again.
Frank’s days look numbered after latest defeat
Thomas Frank was frustrated that he even needed to address the fact that he was pictured holding a coffee cup emblazoned with an Arsenal logo after his side’s defeat to Bournemouth. These things stick, though, and Frank was on the receiving end of jibes from all corners of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The boos that greeted him at half-time have become commonplace, but cries from the away end of ‘He is an Arsenal fan, Thomas Frank’ will have cut deep. The Dane, a man of commendable honesty and humility, does not deserve to be made into a caricature. The problems at Spurs are much more pronounced than anything he has done in six months in the job.
Frank turned to the tactics board to try to stop the rot in the first half but with those huddled around the manager half-listening and half-turning away, the message was not getting through. Spurs’ dressing room looks to have checked out.
The accusatory glances after each Villa goal said a thousand words, and the next step seems inevitable.
After more than seven years at the helm, Frank had the measure of Brentford’s dressing room. At Tottenham, he has had to start from scratch, earning the trust and respect of a team that has repeatedly shown itself to be short of the right characters to compete at the top level. In this regard, Frank has struggled, and there is nothing to suggest he is going to be able to change things.
Spurs need to build for the long term. The current results are immaterial in the bigger picture, but Frank is running out of time to prove he is the man to enact systemic change at the club.
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