Five things we learned from Bayern Munich 4-0 Tottenham as Thomas Frank suffers first defeat

Tottenham were torn apart by Bayern Munich in Thomas Frank’s final pre-season tie ahead of their first competitive game of the 25/26 season against Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Tottenham 0-4 Bayern Munich:

Tottenham struggled to compete against top-class opposition

4-0 in a pre-season tie is not something fans should be losing sleep over, but this feels different. For one, Tottenham Hotspur were poor last season, and each time they came up against any opponent with a bit of quality, they seemed to crumble.

Today was the same story, as Bayern Munich outclassed Tottenham in every department. The difference between the two sides was night and day, men against boys.

Seventeenth in the Premier League is enough to prove how poor this side was. Today’s defeat would certainly have felt like a reality check for even the most optimistic of Spurs fans.

Add to that a clash against Paris Saint-Germain is up next, which is now looking like a scary proposition. At least the only positive is that this performance came before the big final clash, instead of on the main day.

Cristian Romero was not there to make friends with Harry Kane

The defending was poor on the day for Tottenham, as there was no sense of urgency to close their man down. The defenders often looked to jockey, trying to defend the spaces and allowing the Bayern Munich players enough time to line up shots from range.

Of course, it comes as no surprise that two of Bayern’s goals came from outside the box. But that did not look like it was going to be the case from the off, as Cristian Romero looked to set the tone of the encounter with a rather strong challenge on his former teammate Harry Kane.

However, the Englishman got the last laugh, as he scored and saw his team beat Tottenham 4-0 on the night – a nightmare end for Romero, who was captain of the side.

Huge gap in the Tottenham squad at number ten

Tottenham lack creativity. The makeshift experiment of Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr is not working and clearly will not have any effect when they are up against a serious side with quality.

Seven shots for Tottenham, with three of those on target, is not enough to win any game at the highest level.

Tottenham need a number ten, and with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski out, the next signing this club makes has to be a creative player, as creativity is non-existent in this squad – especially with the full-backs playing more conservatively.

Palhinha needs more game time to get up to full fitness

It was a debut start for Joao Palhinha against his former side today, and he looked off the pace throughout the first forty-five minutes.

A lazy leg to give away a penalty screams a lack of match sharpness. Harry Kane did miss, but it is not the sort of start the Portuguese midfielder had in mind.

His job is to be a destroyer, and Palhinha simply cannot be effective if he is lacking fitness. However, that is something Thomas Frank and Tottenham would have to deal with as they managed to get a deal done with one pre-season game left to play.

Next up for Palhinha is a trip to Italy to take on an electric Paris Saint-Germain side. It does not get any easier.

We probably know the starting XI for the Super Cup

Spurs cannot afford to keep crying over this latest setback. They have to move on and fast, as the next game is as big as it gets – with Paris Saint-Germain lurking in the final.

Thomas Frank certainly had that time in mind when he put out his starting XI this evening against Bayern Munich, and it would not be surprising if he looked to try out some of his tactics for that game as well.

It did not work out for the Dane this time, but at least we do know what his starting XI could look like when he faces Paris Saint-Germain next time out.

All things being equal, no new signings or fresh injuries, and we could see Frank line up with this XI: Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Djed Spence; Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall; Mohammed Kudus, Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert; Richarlison.

• READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings from 4-0 thrashing vs Bayern Munich, 7/10 star the only silver lining

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