Why Romero shouted at Udogie as Bergvall admits one Tottenham coach won't be happy with him

There were two particularly keen pairs of eyes up in the directors' box at the London Stadium that would have been happy with what they had seen of Tottenham Hotspur.

For once, neither pair of peepers belonged to Daniel Levy. For the first game since the 63-year-old left his role as executive chairman, the power behind the throne made its presence felt at the first derby of the season for Spurs.

Vivienne Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher have both been key figures in the recent changes at the top of the north London club, as the generations of the Lewis family have flexed their collective muscle. Vivienne's brother Charles, both of them the children of former Spurs owner Joe Lewis, is also expected to become a more regular presence at matches in the future to complete the new trinity of power.

Beucher is co-CEO of Tavistock Group with Levy's son Josh. Tavistock own ENIC, who in turn have a controlling interest in Tottenham. Vivienne and Charles Lewis are senior managing directors of Tavistock.

The two family members at Stratford sat between Tottenham's CEO Vinai Venkatesham and technical director Johan Lange.

While the Lewis family pushed for change inside Spurs after instigating a major independent review so Venkatesham is shaping that new look. A new chief marketing officer Adam Gardiner has been plucked from Arsenal to start early in 2026 and there remains the expected return of former managing director of football Fabio Paratici in a more official capacity.

Venkatesham surrounded himself with football knowledge during his time at the Gunners and it will be the same at Tottenham, with Paratici and Lange said to work well together with complementary skill sets.

It's uncharted territory within Spurs as the staff around the club get used to a new era. The micro-managing nature of the long-serving Levy and his board has given way to a different kind of management, with staff empowered to make decisions and that will take some getting used to.

Whether the club ends up being better for it after 24 years with a single guiding voice will become clear in the months ahead and beyond.

At least on the pitch Spurs have started well under a head coach who struggled to do exactly that at both Brentford and Brondby.

The Bournemouth bore-fest aside, Thomas Frank's team have otherwise showcased the firm foundations he has constructed this summer with three clean sheets in their first four matches and just that single Cherries goal conceded since the season began.

On top of that, the added focus on set pieces, both defensively and offensively from coach Andreas Georgson has been the low-hanging fruit Ben Davies spoke about in pre-season as being the simple things Tottenham could do to improve.

While the derby at West Ham was played at a snail's pace at times, forced by a home side that for once did not look particularly bothered about any London rivalry, it was the set pieces that had the Hammers clinging on for dear life at every corner and free-kick.

In the first half, the officials caused more problems for Tottenham than their hosts did.

A Cristian Romero header from Mohammed Kudus' corner was ruled out. That was after Micky van de Ven was adjudged to have pushed Kyle Walker-Peters in the build-up, yet none of the officials or those in the VAR room seemingly noticed that the West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen had pushed the Dutchman into the former Spurs full-back.

The injured James Maddison tweeted: "Honestly the referees and VAR have had an absolute shocker of a start to the season. If that goal is disallowed for a foul you will never ever see a corner be taken without a referee blowing for something ever again."

Then Van de Ven was wrestled to the floor at a corner not long after, with only the briefest of checks deciding there was nothing to see.

"I think the disallowed goal is for me clearly a goal," Frank told football.london. "When I look back it's Mads Hermansen who pushed Micky into Kyle Walker-Peters and we talk about higher thresholds. For me it's a clear goal.

"If you see the United goal against Fulham a few weeks ago where there were two hands in the back, it was given. I've heard afterwards it was a mistake, but no matter what, for higher thresholds this is clearly a goal that needs to stand.

"I think the Micky van de Ven situation, I think it's the player that marked Micky doesn't look at the ball and he got two hands around him. So it's one of those where it could definitely have been given. I'm probably slightly biased, I would say 60-40 it should have been given, but I know those situations are not easy."

The first half bore plenty of the hallmarks of the dour derby at the end of last season as that day an understrength Spurs side shared the spoils with a poor Hammers one.

This time 10 second half minutes would decide the destination of the three points and they were not remaining in Stratford.

The first moment came two minutes after the restart when Spurs debutant Xavi Simons' deep corner found Pape Matar Sarr completely unmarked at the back post to head home. It was a bewildering absence of defending but that does not detract from the movement and finish from the young midfielder.

On 54 minutes Tomas Soucek reacted to a loose first touch in the West Ham half with a lunge that saw his studs tear through the sock on Joao Palhinha's shin. The Portuguese would have been thanking the inventor of shinpads and the red card was brandished with little complaint from anyone on the home side.

Tottenham pressed home their advantage when just three minutes later, Lucas Bergvall sent a looping header over Hermansen from Romero's pinpoint ball over the top.

Just after the hour mark, it was 3-0 when a good little move between the marauding Mathys Tel and Palhinha culminated with the latter sending Bergvall into the box and his dribble ended with the ball falling for Van de Ven to sweep home.

When the Dutch centre-back came off later, to be replaced by Kevin Danso, Frank put his arm around him and walked him back to the dugout, pointing and laughing and getting the same reaction from the 24-year-old.

football.london asked the Tottenham head coach what that was all about.

"I want a goal from him from set-pieces. It was a second phase set-piece but it didn't count if it was left or right foot. I need a header," the Dane explained with a grin.

Van de Ven and Romero were both imperious in the centre of the defence again yet Frank will continue to push and challenge them both. For when both are fully fit, their partnership brings one of the best blends of centre-backs in the Premier League.

Romero delivers the front foot, aggressive drive that Tottenham need and Van de Ven the pace and anticipation to mop up almost everything that falls behind his team-mates.

Romero has responded to the captaincy and his new contract with a greater sense of purpose and responsibility. While sometimes others will speak in the pre-match huddle, as Guglielmo Vicario did on Saturday, it is the World Cup-winning Argentine that they all look to on the pitch.

He is not shy of getting his opinions across to them, both positive and negative with Destiny Udogie getting a furious telling off from Romero after West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen got through at 3-0 up late on.

Romero wanted that clean sheet for all of the defenders after a season when the number zero was rarely seen beneath the opposition's name.

"It's hugely important that we are good defensively," said Frank. "Obviously we want to score, want to play forward, want to play offensive football, we've scored eight goals, clearly we want to score goals.

"But over so many, many games, that foundation, being able to get clean sheets is key. It's something we worked very hard on throughout the pre-season. The players deserve a lot of praise, all the coaches, and especially Matt Wells, who really drives that. And I have a big, big, big focus. I said that's the first aim when I walked in the building."

Ahead of the defence there were plenty of things to continue to build upon. Mohammed Kudus dealt with the expected boos that came his way from the Hammers fans by constantly terrifying his old team whenever he had the ball. It was the cruellest of responses but perfect for Tottenham.

West Ham could not keep the Ghana international contained and at 3-0 up he was pulling out all the flicks and tricks. Many of those who had booed him inside the London Stadium had departed anyway by that part, having begun to file out after Bergvall's goal to perhaps enjoy the delights of the nearby shopping centre instead of an afternoon of misery.

Bergvall again showed just how much promise he has as a 19-year-old playing in the toughest league in the world. His first Premier League goal was perfectly executed, in both the run and the cushioned looping header.

On the day the Swede became the second youngest player to score and assist a goal in the Premier League for Spurs at 19 years and 223 days, after Nick Barmby.

Bergvall is getting stronger and stronger. In one moment in the Spurs half, he managed to keep the ball while falling with three players around him and challenging him, and spun on the floor with it at his feet before jumping up and motoring away.

Bergvall was also on long throw duty and mostly sent them into the danger area apart from one late launch that fell short.

On that one, he admitted in his club interview after the game that "Andreas is not going to be happy with me on that one". The teenager looked down the corridor with a cheeky grin to see if his compatriot and the club's restart coach was down there before saying that he would ask Kevin Danso for some tips as he's "another level" with his long throws.

"First and foremost I think his performance was good today. I really like his energy, his pressing skill, his enthusiasm," Frank said of Bergvall. "I think he drags the team with him, in a kind of way, and there's so much he can learn and improve.

"So I think that's promising as well. Fantastic goal. Well-timed run. Top ball from Romero and a well-executed header."

In his club interview, Frank explained further that part of Bergvall's improvement will be knowing when to slow his game down and when to play at the frantic pace he often does.

Alongside him, Sarr continues to mature and is a growing force to be reckoned with in Frank's midfield. The Dane has a lot of time for the Senegal international, who scored a late winner for his country in midweek.

Sarr is the Spurs player who has impressed Frank the most by a distance since his arrival. The head coach believes the 22-year-old has unlimited potential with his all-round skill set.

Behind the two young midfielders was the ever-patrolling, experienced Palhinha, who is looking like the most astute loan move of the summer and he's still not fit yet.

"Some players hit the ground running in a season. I think we need to - even though he's played in the Premier League before - it's still a new club, a new coach, crazy new ideas from the coach, all those things," said Frank of the Portuguese.

"And then he had a little disjointed pre-season because he played at the Club World Cup, without playing too many games, or barely any. So I think he will grow and be better. Happy again with his performance today. Solid. He just gives the team that structure and solidity."

Then there was Xavi's debut, on the left flank rather than in the number 10 role Frank told football.london on Friday that he will mostly employ him in.

The wing role won't get the best out of the 22-year-old, but he does have the dribbling ability to make it work when the circumstances require it.

"I have played my whole life in the number 10 position but in the last couple of years I have played on the left," he said in his post-match interview. "I want to go one v one and take on my defender. I want to help the team by scoring goals and making assists so I'm happy about that. That was one of the things that I spoke with the coach before I came here."

The Dutchman needs to be involved. He's confident on the ball, progressive in his play and looks to make things happen whenever it is at his feet.

This was a debut that pointed towards what's to come without being remarkable and that's how Frank saw it as well.

"I think he was promising. I liked what I saw from him. I liked that he took initiative on the ball," said the head coach. "Every single time he had the ball he tried to create something, and I think he had a wonderful assist for the first goal from a corner. Worked hard as well. I think it was a good first game."

Up front Mathys Tel had a battling day. He picked up a painful knock to his knee in the first half but just did not want to come off despite hobbling for a good 10 minutes.

At a club level, it's been a difficult time for Tel with being left out of Frank's Champions League squad. He responded for France U21s with a couple of terrific goals and his Spurs head coach admitted the 20-year-old Frenchman had been incredibly mature about the whole situation.

People forget how young Tel is and he's a fighter. He kept going against West Ham and played a key part in the third goal with a good bit of play down the right. He always looks more threatening down the flanks, rather than trying to hold up the ball centrally as a focal point.

Frank spoke about the young attacker when explaining how important it was that he was able to use his squad with Tuesday night's Champions League return in mind.

"I think it's important that I trust my players. Of course they need to perform and train well and show the right attitude and all that, but they do and they train well," he said. "So I have the privilege to, for example, rest Rodri. Of course he could have played today, but he played two 90 minutes, he landed Thursday morning.

"So I'm not too worried about this [game], but what about Tuesday? What about the next one? And they can't play 70 games, all of them, all the time. Rodri is a key player for us. Richy is the same. He could have started but also played at 4,000m height against Bolivia and so on, and then others have done well.

"Lucas, look how he came on the pitch, and how he performed as well. I think Mathys, very impressive, the performance was maybe not through the roof, but it was very solid, I would say 7/10, worked hard, pressing, constant pressing, and that's very good also. You know he's not in the Champions League squad. Very happy with the [club] squad."

Tottenham sit second in the fledgling Premier League table for now, on the same points as leaders Arsenal and third-placed Liverpool, who play their fourth game tomorrow at Burnley.

Frank is only the third Tottenham manager to win his first two away top-flight matches at the helm of the club, although the others were Ossie Ardiles and Tim Sherwood so he will be hoping to outlast them.

Frank was a happy man after the game, so enthusiastic in his press conference that he could barely keep up with the speed he was getting his own words out.

"A very good clear win, a good performance and I think we all know the derby and the importance of the game for the fans and I think it's a testament to the boys and the group that we haven't won here in six years," he told football.london.

"It shows everything about how difficult it is to play here and now we won 3-0 today. I think that's impressive."

It's certainly been an impressive start overall for the new head coach and his team and now the games come thick and fast, including Frank's first foray into the Champions League.

He will continue to use the depth of his squad. Archie Gray, a £40million signing last summer, could not even find a place in it on Saturday and the club's latest arrival Randal Kolo Muani is yet to make his debut as they build up the fitness of the 26-year-old, who has not played a match since July 1 and was not training with PSG in pre-season.

Muani does have Champions League experience, as do Xavi, Kudus and Palhinha and that was a strength of Spurs' transfer window in bringing in players who will not be overawed by the occasion when that famous music begins.

Neither though will Frank even if he's never experienced it before. It's something the Dane will have been dreaming about and now he has the chance to show it's where he and this new-look Spurs side belong.