Spurs Break the Break Curse | OneFootball

There’s finally some joy on the faces of Tottenham supporters going into an international break, with Thomas Frank’s men going seven games unbeaten in all competitions.

Spurs last ten results. Green is beautiful! Source: Sofascore

It also sees the end of an unwanted statistic: Spurs going winless in the game played before the international break. This dubious distinction included seven consecutive defeats, starteing in November 2023 with a 2-1 defeat to Wolves. It then continued through Ange Postecoglou’s tenure and right up to the 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth under Frank last month.

There’s rumours that Frank actually used this stat in the dressing room to motivate his squad. If this is true, it certain worked in the 2-1 win away to Leeds United on Saturday.

Kudus to Mohammed

Much of the credit for three points on the road must go to Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanian international scored his first goal in a Tottenham shirt and assisted the other. This was also a first home league defeat for Leeds in over a year. This dates back to early September 2024 when they lost to Burnley in the Championship.

25-year-old Kudus has already impressed the Spurs faithful with his dribbling skills on the right-hand side this season, it’s just goals that were missing. He should’ve done better with a first half chance that he blasted well wide with his left foot. He made up for that effort by netting the eventual winner, drifting across to the left before hitting a low drive into the bottom corner. Kudus has played nearly every minute of the league campaign so far, creating 13 chances. Against Leeds he contested 19 duels, winning 10 of them. This was more than any other player.

Tel you what

Another big positive for the boys from White Hart Lane was a first league goal of the season for Mathys Tel. After the disgusting racial abuse he received after the Super Cup defeat, this is just the response he needed to give the haters. Running onto a through ball from Kudus, Tel smashed a dipping shot into the back of the net from 20 yards. It did take a deflection off of Pascal Struijk, but it was still a wonderful goal from the young forward.

Plenty to shout about

With Tel and Kudus getting on the scoresheet it gives Spurs fans an unfamiliar feeling of euphoria going into the international break. They’ll be hoping that no one comes back injured to dampen those high spirits, especially any attacking players.

Dominic Solanke has been having trouble with his ankle and had to undergo minor surgery last week. More news is expected on this after the international fixtures, so fingers crossed it’s good news. The north London outfit are sitting at the right end of the table, so despite some teething problems no one can really complain about the progress Frank has made so far.

Better mentality

The word ‘mentality’ is something Frank has mentioned a few times in recent interviews and the players are certainly displaying a positive attitude in the way they fight their way back into games. Getting a draw from losing positions against Brighton, Wolves and Bodo proves that.

In the past, Tottenham fans wanted the international break to end to try and get back to winning ways. Now it’s quite the opposite, as the break is an unwanted distraction that seems to slow down the momentum of the performances.

Looking forward

Next up for Spurs is a home game against Aston Villa, followed by a trip to France to face Monaco in the Champions League. We could go as far to label this the ‘Eric Dier Derby’ and after his late penalty equaliser against Manchester City, the former Tottenham defender will be relishing facing his old club under the European lights.