Spurs star now looks like Harry Kane 2.0 under Frank & it’s not Solanke

Tottenham Hotspur have now won only two of their past 16 matches in the Premier League, though Thomas Frank will be beyond frustrated by the nature of his side’s defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Club captain Cristian Romero was sent off in the first half after a studs-up challenge on Casemiro, ending a well-contested opening half-hour and seeing the visitors play out the remainder of the match largely under the cosh.

It’s ironic that Romero should have seen himself sent off and banned for the next four fixtures after such a critical outburst, directed at the board, suggested that a failure to strengthen during the January transfer window was ‘disgraceful’.

It’s another winless week for the Lilywhites, but it would be unfair to say that Tottenham completely flattered to deceive as a unit.

How Spurs played vs Man United

Man United carried their fine form of recent weeks into the early round against Tottenham, but Spurs held their own and will be bitterly disappointed to have been sucked from the contest after Romero’s dismissal.

Frank will take the positives, but there’s no denying his malaise has deepened as hopes of qualifying for next season’s European competition, at any level, get weaker and weaker.

It was a somewhat front-footed display for the first 30 minutes, though the injury Destiny Udogie picked up, plus an extension of a Premier League winless run that dates back to December, is beginning to see fans’ tensions boil over.

While Frank isn’t to blame for this one, you get the sense that Tuesday’s clash against Newcastle United in London needs to bear fruit for the underperforming Lilywhites, whose tenuous hopes of rebounding and sealing a European finish are becoming weaker still.

Dominic Solanke’s return to fitness continues to offer encouragement, providing a target for deeper teammates to work toward during their creative endeavours.

If they are to turn things around, it will require a Herculean effort, with the club’s new version of Harry Kane the one who could prove the difference.

Frank has found Spurs’ new Kane

Solanke provides Tottenham with a focal presence at number nine. He is powerful and deceptively quick, with a natural instinct in front of goal. The thrice-capped England international, however, is not emerging as the Kane-esque hero to save the day.

Kane is one of the greatest players of his generation. He’s still going, of course, chasing riches in Germany with Bayern Munich, but the Three Lions captain will go down in England as one of Tottenham’s best-ever players.

However, Micky van de Ven could be emerging as the London outfit’s most influential player since Kane scored goals by the bucketload down N17.

The Netherlands international has been a monstrous presence for Tottenham since joining from Wolfsburg in 2023, so often catching the eye with athletic, front-footed displays.

Van de Ven might have looked off the boil at times through the first half, but he rallied and galvanised his team after the interval, with that bursting forward run becoming a staple of his game.

Small wonder the likes of Liverpool are interested in snapping him up, but the Premier League champions’ recent curiosity has seen Spurs respond by placing a £100m price tag on their Dutch defender – which would be a world record for a centre-half.

Journalist Eduardo Hagn called the 24-year-old a player who « Real Madrid should sign » after ten minutes of action between Spurs and the Red Devils, and while his team lost, Van de Ven put in a solid shift against the hosts with their extra man.

Van de Ven might not be a striker, but he’s arguably playing as influential a role for Tottenham as anyone right now, standing proud as one of Europe’s finest centre-backs despite the ever-rising pile of problems that Frank and his side are beset with.

Given that he would potentially fetch a nine-digit cheque if he were to leave Tottenham are the end of the season, it’s not out of the question that Van de Ven is the club’s star player, especially when considering how he is being let down by the skipper beside him.

In this, he is the new Kane, a diamond among coals and undoubtedly one of the strongest and most valuable members of Frank’s struggling squad.