THOMAS FRANK already knows what it feels like to be a bit Spursy.
Having barely got his feet under the table at Tottenham, the new gaffer looked absolutely certain to be getting his hands on a trophy.
But somehow, Frank saw his brave team, who defied an admittedly under-cooked PSG for so long, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory here in Udine.
When have we seen this before? Well, at least Tottenham will always have Bilbao and May 21, 2025, so this loss on penalties in the Uefa Super Cup will not hurt too much.
Nevertheless, the sight of PSG defender Marquinhos lifting the trophy was still extraordinary as Spurs were just so close to winning they could see their reflection in the silverware.
Leading with goals from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, Tottenham were just minutes away but they were guilty of staying back, rather than being pushed back.
PSG did look more threatening with the arrival of sub Kang-in Lee who pulled one back, while fellow sub Goncalo Ramos headed the equaliser four minutes into injury time.
Vitinha missed the first spot-kick but as soon as Van de Ven’s shot was saved, we knew where this was all going.
Mathys Tel always looked as though he was going to miss and it was left to Nuno Mendes to lift a spot-kick high into the net.
This was tough on Frank and his team, many of whom were shaking their heads in disbelief while watching the PSG side clamber on to the podium to receive their medals.
Nevertheless, the signs were encouraging. Both Spurs goals were from free-kicks, something we did not see much under Ange Postecoglou.
Also, Tottenham were terrible at defending set-pieces under the stubborn Aussie because they did not practise them.
Tottenham fans were ready to go into work on Thursday and joke that they were the best team in Europe.
But Arsenal fans, who will have been sick to death with this gloating, will have enjoyed the moment PSG won the shoot-out in front of thousands of fans in white shirts.
Apart from those final few minutes, Tottenham were organised rather than chaotic. They defended well and broke with intent on the counter-attack.
This was their sixth game of the summer while for PSG, this was their first match as they only returned to training eight days earlier.
Luis Enrique’s all-singing, all-dancing team only lost the Club World Cup final against Chelsea a month ago so it would have been naive to have expected Ousmane Dembele and his mates to be bang up for this one, both physically and mentally.
When Tottenham did make mistakes, they were not punished, until right at the end. Maybe old habits die hard but at times, Tottenham were too slow in their build-up and this will change under the former Brentford manager.
There was one occasion when Richarlison berated Pedro Porro for not moving the ball quickly, instead playing the ball back to the defence.
Knowing PSG’s obvious threat, Frank instructed his team to play 5-3-2 when out of possession but when Spurs had the ball, it was more of a 4-3-3 with Djed Spence pushing wide left.
But when PSG had the ball – and that was quite a lot of the time – Spence was back in defence, faced with the not particularly easy job of keeping an eye on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
New PSG keeper Lucas Chevalier, who is now the chosen one ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, was not made to work until halfway inside the first half when he tipped over a decent drive from Richarlison.
That chance came from a well-weighted pass by Mohammed Kudus and the £55m arrival from West Ham did look lively when he was given the chance and he had a shot blocked by PSG skipper Marquinhos.
In temperatures of 27C, even though it was nearly 9.30pm local time, both sets of players had a drinks break and Tottenham’s fans, encouraged by what they had seen, gave their team a huge cheer.
But that was nothing to the roar when centre-back Van De Ven tucked away the rebound after Chevalier tipped Joao Palhinha’s shot against the woodwork.
The chance came after PSG failed to clear a long free-kick by Vicario and Romero rose masterfully to head the ball into the area.
Shortly into the second half, Spurs scored again and PSG fans wished they still had Donnarumma in goal. Romero was left unmarked to connect to Porro’s free-kick and Chevalier helped the shot into the net.
After Enrique made his subs, PSG looked slightly better but it still looked as though Spurs had got the job done before Lee drilled into the corner from outside the area to pull one back.
And then disaster. Dembele crossed for Ramos to head over the line when Spurs were just a couple of minutes from victory.
PSG keeper Chevalier made a save from Van de Ven in the shoot-out but it was hardly a glorious night for the new arrival.
Equally, Frank and Spurs must look to be positive and lift themselves. After all, Burnley arrive in a couple of days.
For a club who suffered 22 Premier League defeats last season, Tottenham will not want to start with another one under their new manager.
Read the full article here