JAKARTA - Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank is increasingly threatened after being eliminated in the FA Cup. In the third round duel held at home against Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Sunday, January 11, 2026 early morning WIB, Tottenham lost 2-1.
The match ended with a brawl between the two teams. The incident began when Tottenham midfielder Joao Palhinha made a hard foul against Boubacar Kamara. As a result, Kamara suffered an injury and was pulled out.
Villa players seem to hold a grudge against Palhinha. Once the game was over and Villa won 2-1, forward Ollie Watkins celebrated in front of Villa fans.
Only, Watkins' action was not far from Palhinha, which made the player emotional. The two got into a fight and then spread to several players from both teams.
Watkins' attitude was criticized by Frank whose position began to come under scrutiny after Tottenham's poor results. According to him, Watkins provoked his players who were disappointed at losing a tight match at home.
"The question is that everything must be faced with a cool head. The players have given everything. We lost in a tight game and had a very bad season. In situations like this, Ollie even provoked," Frank told the media after the match.
"He could have walked away. In a tense situation, his actions could have triggered such an incident. In a match, you always play with high passion. Sometimes you don't cross the line, but there are also those who cross the line. I did watch the players play with high spirits. But it's also important that we stay cool-headed," he said.
The failure in the FA Cup makes Frank's position even more uncomfortable even though there have been no rumors of dismissal. However, the steps of English Premier League clubs are difficult to predict. Chelsea and Manchester United can suddenly dismiss their managers.
Ruben Amorim's dismissal as Man Utd manager still leaves questions because the team's position is not bad even though it is still stuck in seventh place. The players still support Amorim. However, he was still fired.
Tottenham not only failed in the FA Cup, the position of the North London club in the Premier League is also very worrying. Tottenham is still struggling at the bottom of the table with a ranking of 14 with 27 points. However, The Lilywhites are still 13 points ahead of West Ham United who are in the top position in the relegation zone.
In that match, Frank did not bring in any substitutes like other teams when starting the fight in the FA Cup. Instead, Tottenham came down with full strength.
In commemorating 125 years as the first non-league team to win the FA Cup in 1901, Tottenham appeared wearing a jersey without sponsors and player names on the back.
However, Villa actually ruined Tottenham's full-memory match. Wing player Emiliano Buendia successfully broke the deadlock by breaking into Tottenham's goal in the 22nd minute.
Being 1-0 down should have given Tottenham the opportunity to bounce back. However, the hosts were unable to take advantage of the opportunity to equalize. Instead, Unai Emery's team was able to increase the lead when Morgan Rogers scored in the first half injury time.
Tottenham's performance improved in the second half. They even managed to reduce the deficit through Wilson Odobert in the 54th minute.
However, Tottenham failed to add a goal to equalize the score and had to end the match with a 2-1 defeat. Frank and the players were booed by their own supporters for failing to defend in the FA Cup.
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