Thomas Frank was pictured holding an Arsenal coffee cup before Tottenham lost 3-2 to Bournemouth on Wednesday night – and it will be hard to shake off the mounting pressure.
Whether he likes it or not, Thomas Frank’s reign as Tottenham manager will be decided by a coffee cup. Arsenal coffee cup.
There is a photo of the Tottenham manager holding a cup with the name and logo of his team’s rivals in all its glory. This photo is one of the stupidest gaffes in soccer history. It’s like a manager standing under an exit sign feeling pressured.
How do we remember Steve McClaren? The England manager was also known as ‘Wally with the Broly’ from that rainy night at Wembley. Former Everton manager Ronald Koeman famously had to change his Christmas tree because it had red decorations on it.
Big Ron Atkinson made the wrong attack in his first game in charge of Nottingham Forest. Tottenham legend Harry Kane can’t escape the photo of him wearing an Arsenal shirt and dyed his hair red in a book from his youth.
Koeman, Atkinson and Kane have definitely put those pictures behind them. McLaren doesn’t do that. And I don’t know if Frank can do it either. Nothing is going well for Frank at the moment, both on and off the pitch.
read more: Tottenham civil war with players preferring the hierarchy after the bombing, edited by Cristian Romeroread more: Thomas Frank issues ‘very distressing’ verdict on Spurs following outrage from Micky van de Wenfan
Arsenal’s coffee cup was of course left behind after the Gunners’ win at Bournemouth last Saturday. Frank innocently picked it up and used it to drink coffee. Frank said it was “completely stupid” to claim he did it on purpose, and admitted he was irritated at even being asked about it.
But the reality is that most football fans have now seen all the mocked up photos on social media to make fun of the Spurs manager. Frank wearing Arsenal pajamas on top of an Arsenal bedspread. Frank wearing an Arsenal dressing gown and drinking an Arsenal mug. Frank imitated Ty being interviewed by Robbie on Arsenal Fan TV.
These AI-generated photos fade to the side, but the real coffee cup photo remains, giving the Spurs fan another stick with which to beat him.
In addition to boring soccer, there are too many set pieces, and the manager is unable to attract fans. And that’s the whole problem with this photo. Judging by their performance level, the players don’t seem to be completely on board.
And now supporters have to face this coffee cup fiasco. Will Frank have time to turn things around? That’s one thing. But is he getting the fan support he definitely needs?
Does it really matter? Isn’t it a bit of fun? Yes, probably. Similar to a great Spurs supporting friend who was once gifted a JVC stack system for Christmas back in the 90’s. He took pliers to the radio and managed to pry off the Arsenal sponsor logo. We still laugh about it.
There’s nothing weirder than soccer fans. And unfortunately, Frank doesn’t seem to understand that either.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
