Only Porro ‘Elite’? Frank’s Brutal Spurs Verdict and the Dash for De Zerbi
Well, that didn’t take long. Tottenham have pulled the plug on Thomas Frank after eight Premier League games without a win, a joyless run capped by a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle that left Spurs languishing 16th. The Dane’s parting legacy? A blunt assessment of his squad that’s ruffled feathers across north London.
Frank’s stark assessment: only Porro at ‘elite’ level
According to The Times’ Tom Allnutt, Frank privately concluded that only Pedro Porro belongs in the top tier of European performers. Read that again. Not Cristian Romero, not Micky van de Ven — just Porro. It’s a withering verdict that underlines how far Spurs have drifted from their own lofty ambitions, and it shines a harsh light on recruitment since Frank took the reins last summer.
Frank’s misgivings weren’t sudden. Per Allnutt, he was frustrated from the off as moves for Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze — precisely the kind of inventive, game-changing creators Spurs have been crying out for — slipped through the net. In the end, the football looked as muddled as the market strategy.
Big spend, bigger headaches
It’s not as if the chequebook gathered dust. Spurs shelled out north of £180m in Frank’s sole summer window, bringing in Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani. January added roughly £50m more with Conor Gallagher and Souza through the door, while Brennan Johnson departed to Crystal Palace for £35m. On paper, that’s a serious overhaul. On grass, it never knitted.
To be fair, fate didn’t help. Injuries battered the spine of the side — Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison among the long-term absentees — and at one point up to 11 first-teamers were unavailable. Toss in Romero serving a four-match ban after that red against Manchester United and you’ve got the makings of a perfect storm.
Yet even allowing for chaos, Frank’s “only Porro is elite” stance tells you he felt the technical level and mentality weren’t where they needed to be. Porro’s delivery and engine have been bright spots; the rest, in Frank’s eyes, too ordinary for a club with Champions League pretensions.
What next: De Zerbi on speed dial… or a Poch reunion?
Spurs, never ones to linger in self-pity, have already sounded out candidates. Roberto De Zerbi is firmly in the frame after leaving Marseille last week. He’s available now, he knows the Premier League inside out, and his Brighton vintage — sixth in 2022-23 — still glitters. The pitch is obvious: tempo, bravery, automatisms, identity.
But De Zerbi’s football isn’t plug-and-play. It demands courage under the press and patterns rehearsed to the millimetre. Given the current injury backlog and a squad Frank didn’t trust, the next man will need more than a blackboard and buzzwords — he’ll need alignment from the boardroom down.
If you fancy a flutter on where this is heading, the odds across the best betting sites have swung towards De Zerbi post-Frank — though the romance of a return for Mauricio Pochettino continues to whisper around the corridors. Sentiment can be intoxicating at Spurs, but cold, hard structure matters more than nostalgia right now.
My two pence? Frank’s Porro call is provocative, but it’s also a mirror held up to years of scattergun planning. Whether it’s De Zerbi or a delayed dash for Pochettino, Tottenham must pick a footballing identity and recruit to it — not the other way round. Until then, even an “elite” full-back can only paper over so many cracks.
