Tottenham Hotspur began their UEFA Champions League journey with a 1-0 win over Villarreal on Tuesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
It was a shocking display from Villarreal's goalkeeper Luiz Junior who fumbled Lucas Bergvall's cross into his own net and handed Spurs the win on the night.
Despite taking the lead, Tottenham struggled to really kick in as they somehow managed to see off the slender lead.
Overall, it was an underwhelming performance from the North London outfit as they failed to keep up the pressure and lost possession in tight spaces.
New signing Xavi Simons looked threatening in the first half, but the Dutchman faded away in the second period as he grew a frustrated figure on the left flank.
The Dutch international also struggled for chemistry with left-back Djed Spence as the duo lacked synergy with their runs on the left flank.
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What did Thomas Frank say about the Tottenham duo?
Frank admitted that the two players need to develop chemistry on the left flank which was visible against Villarreal.
But the Danish manager has seen the positive signs against West Ham in the previous league fixture where Simons featured from the start and Spurs registered a 3-0 win.
Simons is new at North London, and he is still learning about his teammates and develop a relationship with them which will reflect on the field with time.
"Obviously, we are building the offensive structure more and more. Xavi Simons has just come into the club. It’s fair to say he and Djed need a little relationship, of course, to get going," Frank told Football London.
"On the right side, Pedro and Kudus, they definitely have something going. I think Lucas came over to that side, it looks right. I think on the left side, Xavi and Djed, good against West Ham, but it’s not 100% in sync when maybe it’s not going, as an example. We gave so many times the ball away, where we could have played it more second half, which just happens sometimes."
Tottenham have started the Frank era with a lot of positivity as they had won four out of six games across all competition including Super Cup defeat to PSG on penalties.
They have registered four clean sheets and have looked a solid defensive unit, who are tough to beat and break down. Apart from the PSG defeat, the only other loss that they suffered came against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
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