Thomas Frank chomped through his gum and ran his hands through his hair. He paced back and forth, bellowed and gestured repeatedly, like his life depended on it.
To look at this, anyone would have thought he was under pressure.
The idea Frank had questions to answer already, this early into his reign as Tottenham manager, seemed preposterous but, this being modern-football, one win in five matches ensured the spotlight followed him to Merseyside.
It can shine somewhere else now and, you suspect, Frank knows that, too.
Tottenham are up to third thanks to a display of aerial power at Hill Dickinson Stadium to rival the RAF jets that often whizz down the adjacent River Mersey.
Everton, simply, couldn’t withstand the bombardment.
Despite only being in charge for a matter of months, Thomas Frank was under a little pressure to get a result
Everton had little answer for Spurs on Sunday night and succumbed to a convincing defeat in front of their fans
SET PIECE AGAIN! OLE, OLE!
During Ange Postecoglou’s final season, Tottenham scored 11 times from set pieces but they are already up to five under Frank. We know that football is starting to resemble rugby, so beholden are some teams to lineouts, long kicks and tactical plays, but it sure helps if you can utilise them.
Tottenham did that magnificently, on a sodden afternoon. Frank has asked for corners to be lived with precision, into areas that set off alarms, and both Mohamed Kudus and Pedro Porro executed them magnificently. Porro, in particular, fizzed his in from the left, in swinging, with deadly accuracy.
Porro had started the game brilliantly, standing strong at the back post as Jack Grealish looked to capitalise in the third minute. His goal-line intervention there was huge but he surpassed it when picking out Micky van der Ven in first-half added time. It was a defining moment.
‘We have been very good (defending) set pieces but there deliveries were very good,’ David Moyes solemnly conceded. ‘It was not for the lack of preparation. All managers are trying to score from them and defend them well but we were undone. I have to praise Tottenham.’
During Ange Postecoglou’s final season, Tottenham scored 11 times from set pieces but they are already up to five under Frank
Pedro Porro, in particular, fizzed his in from the left, in swinging, with deadly accuracy
HEY MICKY, YOU’RE SO FINE!
Perhaps injuries have stopped van der Ven being spoken about in the glowing terms his talent should demand but here was a game when all eyes were on the Netherlands international, who has morphed, it seems, into centre-forward, too.
His two headers in the first half mean his tally for the campaign is up to five but it is nothing more than Frank has expected from him; with his speed, his height and his power, he should be every bit as potent at set plays for Tottenham as Gabriel is for neighbours Arsenal.
‘Not bad from Micky, huh?’ Frank asked and he was greeted with nods of agreement. ‘He has really grown up and take some big steps in terms of his leadership. But I told him at the start of the season he needs to be scoring more goals with his head. He is centre-half. He gets in where it hurts.’
Van de Ven set the tone, inspiring his team to stay resolute when Everton pressed and probed in the second period with an aerial assault of their own. Behind him Guglielmo Vicario made some super saves, ahead of him Joao Palhinha – an Everton target in the summer – was a midfield gremlin.
Frank knows there is a lot of improvement to come and, possibly, there will be hiccups to come – he is aware of the demands that will be placed on them dealing with the Champions League schedule – but this has been an encouraging start, with solid foundations being laid.
‘I’m very, very happy,’ said Frank, who saw the win sealed in the 88th minute when Porro flipped a ball to the back post that Richarlison teed up for Pape Matar Sarr to score another header. ‘We had come up against a very good team that had been unbeaten at home. 3-0 is a fabulous result.’
Van der Ven’s two headers in the first half mean his tally for the campaign is up to five but it is nothing more than Frank has expected from him
There was nothing wrong with the commitment but Everton simply ran out of ideas when they went two goals behind. Pictured: Toffees’ boss David Moyes
DEAD ENDS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS
As the Tottenham fans sang an ode to the tune of Barry Manilow’s Can’t Smile Without You, Everton’s fans had long since started to depart. There were some muffled boos at the final whistle, no goals and incessant rain doing little to lift the locals’ mood.
Members of The Friedkin family, Everton’s owners, had arrived at Bramley Moore Dock in a helicopter ahead of the game, while Farhad Moshiri – the former owner – was also in situ, adding the sense that this was a big afternoon.
There was nothing wrong with the commitment but Everton simply ran out of ideas when they went two goals behind and it was revealing when Grealish waved an arm in exasperation at Beto, who started up front, when he passed the ball backwards in the first half. It was all a little stop-start.
‘I’ve no complaints,’ said Moyes, who saw a header from Jake O’Brien ruled out by VAR for offside. That decision seemed harsh but the Scot didn’t quibble. ‘I actually thought we played well in periods. There were lots of positives. We’ve just been undone by a couple of set pieces.’
