Thomas Frank might claim otherwise but there seemed to be a serendipitous quality to his Tottenham reprieve.
Selecting from a dozen senior players, Frank options were limited. Sure, there were brave decisions to make. He stood tall, made them and should take credit because they went the right way and, for 45 minutes against Borussia Dortmund, Spurs were as good as they have been all season.
But, let’s be honest, their luck turned, too. The soft red card and a fluky finish by Dominic Solanke for 2-0 soothed nerves and made everything a little less stressful.
Suddenly ‘catalyst’ was the word of the day inside the camp. Frank’s long-term future is not secure, but could Dortmund be his tipping point? Will it go down as the night he stumbled into his best system? Will he trust fate and stick with it? Will players and fans throw support behind it? Will something tempt him to retreat and tinker?
Return of the back three
Although with only 11 fit senior outfield players Frank had very little room for manoeuvre, his decision to match up against Dortmund’s 3-4-2-1 shape worked perfectly.
It came complete with the pre-match trickery, warming up on the pitch with a bogus back four. Frank has previous with this. Away at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in November, his team warmed up with three centre halves. Archie Gray was one of them, but he played in midfield. Not that it troubled PSG who scored six.
Thomas Frank’s Tottenham were lucky against Borussia Dortmund, but the under-pressure boss stood tall and made brave decisions
Frank has started three games with a back three and wing backs. The first, against PSG in the Super Cup, was deemed a success although they lost on penalties and with the caveat that the European champions were just back from their holidays.
The next, at Arsenal, was calamitous and abandoned at half-time, and not revisited until Frank’s job was on the line. Maybe he trusted his instincts.
The system plays to the strengths of so many of those who were available. Pedro Porro and Djed Spence go forward better than they defend and are therefore natural wing backs. They, and Cristian Romero, were signed under Antonio Conte who always committed to 3-4-3.
Spence’s strength is to raid forward but is prone to switch off when it comes to defensive duties. Porro’s strength is his delivery from wide right and as a wing back he should operate further up the pitch.
The centre halves are the key to this system because it hinges on the decisions made by the wide centre halves when they feel comfortable enough to slide wide into the full back position and release the wing back, and when to revert from the three into a back five.
Kevin Danso has experience in this system at Lens and Micky van de Ven has all the physical attributes to excel in the role, but van de Ven was suspended from the Dortmund game and Destiny Udogie stepped in admirably.
Injured warriors
With Frank’s back to the wall, there was no messing around with so-called red zones. Udogie started despite six weeks out injured and played for the full 90 minutes.
Just as Solanke on his first start since May played 70 minutes and Xavi Simons playing through pain with a badly swollen ankle, the best player on the pitch and still strong in stoppage time, fuelled by adrenalin.
There was no messing about with selection for Frank – the likes of Dominic Solanke played despite not starting a game since May
Head coaches have surrendered selection power to the new army of sports scientists, medics and performance analysts.
All in the name of progress, but selection decisions might be different if the sports scientists, medics and performance analysts were to face the sack like the coaching team when results go awry.
Solanke so vital
As Spurs discovered last season, they are so much better with Solanke up front. He is a centre forward who can hold up play, work across the front line, press, engage and occupy his markers, link up with teammates and still get into the right areas in front of goal, even if his finishing is not always clean.
He meets the criteria of the lone centre forward more completely than either Richarlison or Randal Kolo Muani. Frank was rewarded for backing him at the risk of upsetting Mathys Tel and will be desperate Solanke stays fit for the rest of the season after missing the first six months of his Spurs tenure with an ankle injury.
‘One of the hardest moments of my life,’ said Solanke after scoring his first Champions League goal and his first of the season against Dortmund. ‘It has been quite complicated. Really tough. But I’m just happy to be back now and hope to be fit for the rest of the season.
‘It’s difficult when you don’t have the chance to help and make an impact. That’s one of the hardest parts of being injured. But I just want to get back firing for Tottenham now. The World Cup is on my mind as well so I’ll be pushing for that, too.’
Youthful energy
With a full deck to choose from, Frank is unlikely to have selected teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall as a midfield pair. It seemed lightweight and lacking nous but with the strength of the back five around them they rose to the challenge.
Their fearless enthusiasm set the tone in the opening phase when Spurs took control, with Spence raiding forward from left wing back, Simons fizzing on the ball and Wilson Odobert finding space and combining so effectively with Porro on the right.
Frank was rewarded for upsetting Mathys Te; and kicking him out the Champions Legaue squad, instead opting to back Solanke
Archie Gray (right) was unlikely to have played with Lucas Bergvall if other options were available but their fearless enthusiasm set the tone
Rodrigo Bentancur, now injured, has been a fixture for Frank but would they have generated this same chaotic tempo with him beating the drum in the midfield? Or with Mohammed Kudus taking extra touches and twisting his full back one way and the other.
The quick start and direct approach rocked Dortmund who seemed surprised by the intensity. The urgency stirred the home crowd and averted the problem of dissent from the stands.
For 45 minutes, it was like a flashback to the early days of Ange Postecoglou when untidiness in possession almost seemed to be part of the plan, creating havoc in advanced areas and pouncing on the spillages, with fans roaring them on.
So… can it last?
Spurs faded in the second half and there were fair reasons. Solanke ran out of steam. Bergvall went off injured. The youth team was on the bench. Dortmund woke up and tension crept back into the atmosphere.
Frank though must try to capture the formula of the first half. He will know better than anyone what worked well. And he will have theories about whether it can work in the same way at Burnley on Saturday.
Within the same system, Van de Ven will return and could easily relieve Udogie. Conor Gallagher can slot into midfield if Bergvall is not fit. It must be tempting for Frank to run with it, but the onus will be on Spurs to make the game at Turf Moor.
This has been a long-running problem for these players and probably a reason Frank has resisted the back three. His 4-2-3-1 shape involves four forwards as opposed to three in 3-4-2-1 and better in theory for unlocking the massed ranks of deep defences.
It would seem wise though to keep surfing the wave of good fortune he caught on Tuesday night.
