Thomas Frank may need more than FA Cup magic to save his Tottenham job | OneFootball

A win will give beleaguered boss a reprieve, but current malaise has no signs of abating

Tottenham are in damage limitation mode heading into this weekend’s FA Cup third-round tie with Aston Villa.

Players are unhappy, fans are apathetic, and even Thomas Frank has admitted he is not enjoying the task of rebuilding Spurs in his image.

For much of his time in charge of Brentford, the FA Cup was of reduced importance. Now, though, with his job on the line, Frank is aware of what a first FA Cup triumph since 1991 could do for his reputation.

Cristian Romero will keep his place

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The Spurs boss will pull no punches with his starting line-up, going as close to full strength as he can amidst the pressures of the fixture schedule.

“I’m very, very aware that a cup run will be fantastic,” Frank said in his pre-match press conference. “The FA Cup is the biggest cup and most historic cup tournament, not only in the UK and England, but also in the world.”

Captain Cristian Romero is expected to keep his place in the centre of defence, despite going after senior figures at the club in an explosive Instagram post.

Romero has not been fined or stripped of the captaincy for the post, in which he said “other people” at the club should come out to speak and claimed they “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies”.

The World Cup winner, who soon after edited the post to remove the accusation of “lies”, has since held an internal meeting with Frank and sporting director Johan Lange.

The matter is considered closed by Frank, but that does not mean the noise Romero’s post has created has subsided. It was not the first time the Argentine has taken to social media to criticise the club, doing so after Ange Postecoglou was sacked in June and again earlier in the same season, and the issues he alluded to are not fresh accusations.

Romero has the support of a number of his team-mates, with Xavi Simons, Richarlison and Pedro Porro among those to interact with the post. It is unclear, though, what impact the lack of retrospective action could have on a dressing room where tempers appear frayed.

Micky van de Ven confronted fans after Bournemouth defeat

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Romero’s centre-back partner, Micky van de Ven, confronted supporters at the full-time whistle against Bournemouth, while Porro had to be led away by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Joao Palhinha fronted up as a peace-maker in an interview with Sky, but the damage was done

Spurs showed fight in nearly stealing a point against the Cherries, but the way Frank’s team are failing to control their emotions is unsustainable. This was not the first time Spurs’ players have let tensions boil over this season.

The problems are piling up for Frank, with the Dane revealing an extensive list of fresh injury concerns ahead of the weekend’s game.

Mohammed Kudus is out until April with a quad injury, while Rodrigo Bentancur’s hamstring injury is worse than first feared.

Frank will be hoping the FA Cup can offer him a reprieve, but up against Unai Emery’s Villa - victors on their last visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October - they face a team whose aspirations know no bounds.

Last season, Spurs rallied after a difficult result away to Bournemouth, saving their campaign with a successful Europa League run and ensuring Postecoglou’s reputation was not dictated by his angry confrontation with Spurs’ supporters on the south coast.

Thirty-five years on from last lifting the trophy, Frank needs to lean on the magic of the FA Cup to conjure some inspiration back into Spurs’ season. It could just save him his job.