Thomas Frank’s preparations for the Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night have been rocked by injuries to Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven – and a car crash affecting Randal Kolo Muani and Wilson Odobert.
The Tottenham manager reported that Kolo Muani and Odobert were OK after pictures emerged on social media of them standing by a black Ferrari with significant damage to its front end.
It is understood that the car belongs to Kolo Muani and had a tyre blowout on the motorway. Odobert was following behind in a separate vehicle and stopped to check on him. The players were making their way from the Spurs training ground to Stansted airport for the team flight to Frankfurt. Frank said neither had boarded it and they had to take a different flight to Frankfurt later on Tuesday night.
It was a less than ideal detail for Frank, who is under heavy pressure after the Premier League draw at Burnley on Saturday when he was again barracked by the Spurs support – especially as he digested the setbacks for Porro and Van de Ven.
Porro is out for four weeks with a hamstring injury, having come off at half-time against Burnley, while Van de Ven’s problem, according to Frank, is less serious. The manager did not specify what it was but said it was not a hamstring – the muscle that the centre-back had problems with last season. Frank said Van de Ven could return for the league game at home against Manchester City on Sunday.
Frank did have some positive news on the selection front, with João Palhinha back from injury and Pape Sarr available after illness. But the manager is down to the bones of his squad – with only 11 available outfield players.
“Kolo Muani and Wilson Odobert are both fine,” Frank said. “Unfortunately they were both involved in a minor accident … everyone else involved in that accident was fine. It was a tyre blowing up and so the two of them are a little bit delayed. But they will land later tonight. I haven’t spoken to them personally yet. The first message is that they are fine and nothing happened. I fully expect both to be available for tomorrow.
“Then, Pedro hasn’t travelled. Unfortunately, he picked up a hamstring injury to be out for four weeks. Micky has not travelled. It’s a minor thing. It’s possible he’s available for the weekend.”
Spurs have been tracked to Frankfurt by dreadful domestic form. Out of both cups, they have won just two of their past 14 league matches to sit 14th. The Champions League, however, has offered respite with Spurs fifth in the table. They are guaranteed at least a playoff spot and, if they beat Frankfurt, who are in turmoil after sacking their manager, Dino Toppmöller, on the Sunday before last, they would qualify directly for the last 16.
“I’m very happy that the team and club are in a position where, with a win tomorrow, we can finish top eight in the best club tournament in the world,” Frank said. “Those results and some of those performances are also what we need to take going forward and build on that.
“It’s my job to look a little bit in the bigger perspective. Even though we haven’t won as much as we want, it’s [only] very, very few things that need to go our way, the small margins. We need to keep doing the right thing.”
Spurs faced Eintracht here last season in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final, having drawn 1-1 with them in London, and there are clear parallels between then and now. Ange Postecoglou, the manager at the time, was under heavy pressure, his team’s league form having crashed. Out of both domestic cups, Spurs lagged 15th in the table.
There was the feeling that if Spurs lost, Postecoglou could be sacked. As it was, his team won 1-0 with a Dominic Solanke penalty en route to winning the competition. Postecoglou even took a defensive approach that night.
Frankfurt, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season to qualify for the Champions League, have endured a frustrating campaign this time out. The pressure on Toppmöller grew to intolerable levels and the club took the decision to replace him on an interim basis with Dennis Schmitt, the manager of their under-21s.
Schmitt has lost his opening two games, the first away against Qarabag in the Champions League when his team threw away a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining to lose 3-2. Frankfurt are fourth from bottom with only four points and cannot qualify for the knockout round. They are eighth in the Bundesliga. In each of their previous five matches in all competitions, they have conceded three goals.
