Can Thomas Frank bring the good times back to Tottenham Hotspur – and maybe Bryan Mbeumo with him?
More pertinently, from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, can the newly appointed Spurs boss make the Lilywhites’ assets attractive picks again?
In this Moving Target piece, we take a closer look at the 51-year-old former Brentford head coach.
CAREER SO FAR
An amateur footballer who quickly realised that his talents belonged to coaching, he started from the bottom and worked his way up to become Denmark Under-16s and Under-17s manager, taking the latter to the 2011 European Championship semi-finals.
Coaching his nation’s younger generation continued until he was appointed as Brondby’s first-team head coach two years later. The Copenhagen-based side were Danish champions on 10 occasions between 1985 and 2005, but had just escaped both relegation and bankruptcy. This represented a big move for Frank.
Goals became a struggle and some players saw him as a soft touch, though fourth and third-placed finishes brought stability. However, Frank quit in March 2016 after it was sensationally revealed that Brondby’s chairman was using an anonymous pseudonym to repeatedly criticise him on an online fan forum.
Nine months later, he decided to join Dean Smith’s coaching staff at Brentford. And when Aston Villa tempted away the latter in October 2018, Frank stepped up to become the new head coach.
A heartbreaking 2019/20 Championship playoff final defeat to neighbours Fulham could’ve derailed them. But it didn’t. 12 months later, a team containing Ivan Toney, David Raya and Bryan Mbeumo went one better and beat Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley, earning promotion to the top flight.
Since then, Frank has not only kept Brentford in the Premier League, but he’s mostly had them comfortably mid-table. Finishes of 13th and ninth preceded a 16th-placed season that was injury-ravaged and mostly without the banned Toney. Still, there was a 13-point gap between them and the relegation zone.
The 2024/25 campaign played out much better for this west London side. Tenth in the table, where European qualification was genuinely realistic until the final fortnight. After this, Frank decided it was time to leave and take on a new, exciting challenge.
FRANK AT BRENTFORD: PLAYING STYLE
The Bees achieved Championship success by focusing on possession but, once promoted, Frank changed to a more pragmatic style. Often switching between 4-3-3 (in easier tests) and 3-5-2 (against the ‘big clubs’), it focused on defensive organisation, counter-attacking and some innovative set-pieces.
Above: The most-used Brentford formations during their four Premier League seasons
After Toney’s departure last summer, the Bees’ fourth season brought evolution. They played out from the back more often, seeking wide passing combinations and regular pressing for high turnovers. 2024/25 was almost exclusively a 4-2-3-1 system, allowing Mikkel Damsgaard to shine.
The playmaker assisted 10 times, thriving around three attackers who each scored at least 11 goals.
Brentford remained great at dead-ball situations, too. Over these four campaigns, no Premier League team recorded more expected goals (xG) from set-pieces than their 64.7. This season’s 48 chances from throw-ins were far in front, as were the six goals that came from them. No other outfit exceeded two. This could be good for Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero, if he’s not agitating to leave.
Meanwhile, there was also a quirk where, between Gameweeks 4 and 6, Brentford became the first side in Premier League history to score within the first minute on three consecutive occasions. In Gameweek 7, they were polite enough to wait until the 75th second.
“I came here as a guy who wanted to show off and shine. I became a leader and people remember me as a good captain and a good person. The way he changed me, I will never forget. He is a friend for life, the best coach I ever worked with.” – Pontus Jansson
Frank doesn’t seem to be a believer in long-range efforts. His tactics emphasise getting the ball into the penalty area before shooting. The Bees are usually the league’s best for xG per non-penalty shots (between 0.13 and 0.14). In 2024/25, only Liverpool netted more times from inside the box.
At the back, Frank’s trick is to force opponents into harmless shots from distance. For example, his team conceded the second-most overall attempts (647) – more than relegated duo Leicester City and Ipswich Town. But they also allowed the seventh-fewest big chances (80).
Because of this, Mark Flekken made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the ‘big five’ European leagues (156).
ARRIVING AT TOTTENHAM