The scenes after Tottenham's 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa told a familiar story. Another narrow loss, another post-match scuffle. It's becoming a worrying pattern for Spurs.
Ollie Watkins celebrated Villa's third-round win right in front of Tottenham's Joao Palhinha. The Portuguese midfielder shoved him away, which seemed fair enough. But then Palhinha escalated things, following Watkins and pushing his head toward the striker. Villa players jumped in, and chaos followed.
Just four days earlier, after losing to Bournemouth in stoppage time, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro, and Palhinha had an angry exchange with traveling Spurs fans. Two incidents in four days doesn't look good for anyone.
Thomas Frank defended his players when asked if they're losing control. "Of course, it's all about keeping a cool head," he said. "The players gave everything out there, losing a tight game, season not going perfect." He also pointed out that Watkins was deliberately provocative, walking into Palhinha when he could have easily gone around.
Fair enough, emotions run high when results are poor. But Tottenham's discipline issues go deeper than frustrated reactions to defeats. There's a pattern forming throughout Frank's first season.
Problems Started Before the Season Even Began
Yves Bissouma was left out of the UEFA Super Cup squad in August for persistent lateness. "He has been late several times," Frank explained. "The latest was one too many." According to sources close to the dressing room, teammates have had private conversations with the 29-year-old midfielder multiple times about his timekeeping.
Even with a fresh start under a new manager, Bissouma couldn't make it through pre-season without testing Frank's patience. That's a worrying sign for any squad.
After a disappointing 1-0 loss to Chelsea in November, Van de Ven and Djed Spence ignored Frank's attempts to keep them on the pitch to applaud the fans. This sparked a string of negative post-match reactions from players. There have also been two occasions when players reported late for pre-match meetings and were dropped from the starting lineup as punishment.
Frank is learning how to manage players who are important on the pitch but fall short off it. He's trying to address it by actively penalizing misconduct, but it's clearly a work in progress.
On-Field Discipline Is Even Worse
Only Brighton have received more yellow and red cards combined than Tottenham this season. While Brighton haven't had anyone sent off yet, Spurs have had two dismissals—both in the same match against Liverpool on December 20.
Xavi Simons received the first red card after a late challenge on Virgil van Dijk. The initial yellow was upgraded to a straight red after VAR review. The €60million summer signing from RB Leipzig is still adapting to English football and has a habit of mistiming tackles.
Club captain Cristian Romero got the second red card, kicking out at Ibrahima Konate in stoppage time while Spurs pushed for an equalizer. He received his second yellow of the game. The FA then added an extra one-match ban because he "failed to promptly leave the field" and behaved in a "confrontational and aggressive manner" toward the referee.
Expecting Romero to be "exceptionally cool-headed," as Frank suggested, seems unrealistic. The World Cup winner with Argentina is passionate and outspoken, which has its pros and cons. He delivered an inspiring halftime team-talk against Bournemouth that improved the second-half performance.
But hours after that loss, Romero released an Instagram statement criticizing the Tottenham hierarchy. "At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't—as has been happening for several years now," he wrote. He later edited out the part saying club officials "tell a few lies."
Frank described it as a "mistake" from a "young leader" and said they had a "good conversation" the next morning. Still, it's another incident the manager would rather not deal with when sitting down with reporters.
For anyone betting on Tottenham matches, these discipline issues matter. Spurs sit 14th in the Premier League at the halfway stage and have been eliminated from both domestic cups. A team struggling with discipline is unpredictable, which makes backing them risky. Red cards, player suspensions, and internal disputes all affect on-field performance.
Adding good characters and leaders—new signing Conor Gallagher appears to tick both boxes—might help prevent things spiraling further. But it's clear Spurs' problems run deeper than poor results. Frank is trying to avoid a media circus around discipline, but it seems only a matter of time until the next incident occurs.
