FootyChatter.com

EPL For the second year in a row, Tottenham Hotspur’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium featured a dramatic comeback. Last season, Spurs collapsed after leading 2-0 at half-time and conceded three times in 21 minutes. It was a defeat that punctured the momentum under then-head coach Ange Postecoglou. On Saturday afternoon, it was their turn to come from behind. They did not manage to find a winner, but rescued a point. Thomas Frank, who replaced Postecoglou in June, boldly claimed that it was their “most complete performance of the season”. Advertisement “We conceded two goals but it is never that black and white, ” Frank said. “We defended well. The high pressure was very aggressive and we were winning the ball back more or less all the time. In phase one, we got out every time, more or less. We controlled it up there and we created many good opportunities. Counter-pressing and rest defending. On top of that, the mentality to come back from two goals down is so important. ” Jan Paul van Hecke’s 82nd-minute own goal might have slightly clouded Frank’s judgement because there were multiple occasions in the first half where Spurs looked vulnerable. The 51-year-old said, “I don’t think Brighton were over the halfway line in the first 10 minutes, ” but after that, they started to control the game. Frank described Destiny Udogie, who made his first start of the season after fully recovering from a knee injury, as “exceptional” and that “he was almost unstoppable going forward”. The Italy international provided a lot of dynamism from left-back but the issue was how Brighton targeted the space he vacated. Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter kept darting into that gap, stretching Spurs’ defence. On one occasion, Brajan Gruda burst down the right wing and Micky van de Ven nearly shoved him into the linesman in his desperation to prevent another dangerous attack. Frank praised his team for the barrage of corners and crosses that they launched into the box but a lot of them were ineffective. A minute after Minteh opened the scoring, Richarlison rolled Van Hecke and played a smart pass out wide to Wilson Odobert, who was making his first start of the campaign too. Odobert’s cross with the outside of his right boot was poor but Richarlison should have shown more urgency to catch up with him. It happened again in the second half when Udogie flew past Joel Veltman and looked up to see nobody attacking the six-yard box. By the time he attempted the cross, Brighton’s defence had recovered their positions. Frank even admitted that “if Richy had run in the right gaps, he could have scored maybe two more goals today”. Advertisement However, Tottenham’s second-half performance was encouraging. Frank waited until the 61st minute before he made his first substitution, with Xavi Simons replacing Rodrigo Bentancur. Frank keeps insisting that Simons can play in multiple positions, but based on his electric cameo against Brighton, he has to be the starting No 10. Simons is only 22 and less experienced than the other creative midfield targets Spurs chased in the summer, including Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White, but his decision-making is consistently good. He seemed to perfectly understand when it was the right moment to dribble at the opposition or make a simple pass to a team-mate. Within the first eight minutes of coming off the bench, Simons had three chances to score with his right foot. The Netherlands international creates space with his clever off-the-ball movement. The way he linked up with Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus down the right wing in the second half was crucial to Spurs eventually finding an equaliser. It cranked up the pressure on Brighton and prompted Fabian Hurzeler to switch formation to a back three. The most pleasing aspect of the performance was the resilience they showed. Spurs lost 22 times in the league last season and there were lots of occasions where they crumbled after conceding. They had plenty of potential excuses lined up for them here: this was their third game in eight days after victories over West Ham United and Villarreal; Frank is experiencing European competition for the first time, embedding new players into the squad and finding a way to cope without club-record signing and first-choice striker Dominic Solanke; Randal Kolo Muani missed the game with a dead leg. After conceding twice in the first 31 minutes, things could have become ugly. But Frank was in constant communication with his assistants as they looked to find ways to threaten Brighton. After equalising, it looked like he had made two defensive substitutions by replacing Pedro Porro and Lucas Bergvall with Djed Spence and Archie Gray. The pair then combined down the right wing in stoppage time and created a chance for Kudus but his shot was deflected for a corner. Everybody was proactive. They came away frustrated at not winning instead of relieved they earned a draw. Advertisement This result should give Spurs and Frank belief. They have been excellent this season when they take the lead but faced a completely different challenge on Saturday. Having lost twice to Brighton during the 2024-25 campaign, this represents progress. Frank’s claim that this was their “most complete performance of the season” might seem slightly bizarre when you consider they beat Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad and drew 2-2 with Paris Saint-Germain in the European Super Cup. Maybe he actually meant that this result was significant because of what it represented. Spurs showed great character and attacking flair in the second half, qualities that had been absent from other games. It felt like the first sign of everything coming together for Spurs, in complete contrast to what happened here 12 months ago. (Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Jay Harris reports on Tottenham Hotspur for The Athletic. He worked for Sky Sports News for four years before he joined The Athletic in 2021 and spent three seasons covering Brentford. He covered the 2022 World Cup from Qatar and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. Follow Jay on Twitter @jaydmharris