Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Monday, ahead of our Premier League clash against Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening (7.30pm UK).
Here’s what he had to say…
What’s the latest on Destiny Udogie?
Thomas: “Unfortunately, Destiny has a hamstring injury, he is out for the next four to five weeks.”
Is Cristian Romero a leader or a liability?
Thomas: “I think a couple of things, I will of course answer this question, but then I think we have spoken enough about Romero in the last two press conferences. For me, I think he is a leader, I said it before, he is a young leader, so he is learning every day. I remember when I was 30 years old, I thought I was on top of the world, I was nowhere near the level I am today in terms of leadership and understanding things. Then when you have a player that is playing with so much passion and aggressivity, then sometimes things like that can happen. That's not to say that he shouldn't learn from it, of course he needs to learn from it going forward.”
Are Spurs in a relegation battle?
Thomas: “There is no doubt, we are desperate to win games, desperate. I am focusing on Newcastle tomorrow, that's a great opportunity ahead of us against a good team. That's the main thing, of we can go out there and get three points tomorrow, that will be very good and then climb from there and look forward, that's what we need to do and that's the main focus.”
Do you think you’ve got enough to get away from this?
Thomas: “Yes, I think we have, of course there is no doubt that we have a lot of players out, that never helps. I put a very competitive team out against Man United and I think we looked very good for the first 30 minutes. We lose two players for tomorrow, but Djed Spence is back and I think Dragusin looked good when he came back in, so I know we will put a very competitive team out tomorrow as well.”
Is it (Romero) about learning how to play with that edge, having that aggression in these games but obviously not getting sent off, and not getting that accumulation of yellow cards as well?
Thomas: “Yes it is and again, it would be super to focus on the available players for tomorrow and for the next four games, but no matter what we do in life, we need to learn from it.”
Given the winless runs for both sides tomorrow, are you expecting an intense battle and from your point of view, does it have to be a battle from your players to get that result?
Thomas: “I think every Premier League game is a battle. If someone doesn't understand that, then they shouldn't play in the Premier League. It's the most physical, competitive, relentless league in the world, no doubt about that, so every game is a battle. That will not change tomorrow. Newcastle are very physical, very intense in the way they play. Eddie is a coach I admire a lot, what he's done in Newcastle, he came in there for four and a half years ago, I think the first year when I was there with Brentford, so I followed them closely. He, in my opinion, basically has been part of transforming the club, so made sure they didn't go down. Then the next year when they had no European, I think they finished fourth. Then you can see how, even though they have a second year of experience in terms of Champions League, you can see it's not easy to play Champions League and Premier League. I think they have four points more than us and they've been with that project, worked for that for three or four years. He's a very good coach and there's a very good coaching team up there that I admire a lot what they do. So, it just shows it's not so straightforward. There's no, how can you say, recipe for, ‘you just do this and you do this and you have success every year no matter what you do’, no, no, no, it's every day and relentless how you work with things. So, I try to improve it.” They’ve done fantastic up there.”
You have no FA Cup action so, after tomorrow, how do you plan the team schedule? Will there be time off for the players?
Thomas: “I'm a big believer that you need to plan the time for everyone involved. I also think there will be training but there will also be some days off, especially the international guys, who haven't had a day off since we started the season in August. So, that mental freshness is important as well. Also, there will be a lot of training.”
I'm very interested by the word ‘desperate’ that you used in an answer earlier - you used it before to a question about tomorrow's game - is it desperate for the confidence? Is it desperate so we get three more points, and we move away from the relegation zone? Is it desperate because you haven't won a home match this season?
Thomas: “I could have worded it differently maybe, but I do think there is something where It should be that feeling. It should be that feeling when you haven't won enough. The way I work, we're all different, is that if you haven't won enough, then you do everything you can and you actually do a little bit more. You work a little bit harder. You just know that's the way out of the tough moments. So, that's what I expect from the players. I think they run very hard. That's why I was so annoyed that we couldn't get anything out of the United game, because that would have been five games and I was convinced 11 against 11 and we would have gotten something out of it. Of course, you never know, but there were five games where we were positive and then we could really try to turn a corner. When you haven't won enough, you need to be desperate, because if you're not desperate, you don't understand how can I say, the situation you're in, in terms of you don't win enough, you need to turn it and win enough football games. That's what we want for the fans. That's what we want for the team, for the club.”
Are you getting the real oomph from the players, do you feel, that I'm seeing now from you in the press conference?
Thomas: “I think I do, because there's always small ups and downs in games and where there is different momentum, but I really mean what I've said. I've said that quite a few times - not everything has been perfect, but the ability to run and fight from the team in the last 11 games has been very, very good, especially in some tough moments. I keep referring to some second halves against Bournemouth, Villa and West Ham. Now lately Man City and actually Man United, it's so easy to crumble when it's tough and it's not going well, there’s scrutiny and there's everything else. You see a team that was fighting and running hard, away to Man United. We were going down 1-0 and they kept going. I think I see a lot and sometimes, for whatever reason, it just sometimes takes a little bit longer. Then you just need to do a little bit more to make sure that everything you do is more to make sure you can get to three points.”
Finally, the role of the fans - how much do they need to have patience?
Thomas: “I can say we desperately need them, because when you are in a situation where it's not going straight forward, you need the fans even more. So, we need the fans massively to back the team and when they do that on the highest level – and, of course, we need to perform - if they see a team that's running and fighting and giving everything. They do everything to help. When they do everything to help, it just creates those magic moments. I refer that to the City game, but also the Dortmund game. That was fantastic to be there. That, we need tomorrow, because when you're a little bit down to the bare bones, not that many players. It's not that straight forward, it's maybe not as confident a team and all that. Then we need to push together.”
How are Kevin Danso and Deki Kulusevski, who you left out of your Champion League squad…
Thomas: “Kevin, he met the consultant, it's going forward but still weeks before he's available. Deki has another appointment at the end of this week, then we’will know more. Of course, without the Champions League squad, it's a sign of that, it's not tomorrow.”
Will he be available before the end of the season?
Thomas: “I don't know.”
Fans fear that they're in a relegation battle right now - do you have the players that can get you away from this area of the table? Are they up for this kind of battle?
Thomas: “As I say, I focus on the game against Newcastle tomorrow. That's the most important thing is if we can get a good performance out there and get three points, then we will start to climb. That's what it's all about. We need to climb. Every year, every day, we need to climb the table until you are where you want to be. There's only one place where you want to be in the future. That's the main focus."
In your first press conference, you said we will lose matches. Do you regret starting off your tenure talking in that way, even though it was a reality that people might have to face up to?
Thomas: “I think there are two things. It needs to be the nice combo between reality and selling hope. That's a fine balance. I knew it would be a tough season. I didn't expect it to be as tough as it's been. That's down to injuries, down to margins, down to a lot of things. You can say it’s two red cards after 30 minutes - that's not what you plan for. A lot of seasons you go through a season with zero red cards. It hasn’t been straightforward. I know where I want to go. I see a lot of good things going on as well. I would just say it's not as positive when you don't win the games.”
A former manager talked in a podcast this week about how this club should be aiming for bigger trophies in the Europa League. I think that's what I was asking…
Thomas: “I want to win trophies. I want to do that, but I'm also very aware of where we are. It's not that we haven't done everything we could to do what we could achieve this season.”
Why is it easy at the minute for teams to score against Spurs?
Thomas: “I definitely think that the defensive side is something that we would like to be even better at, especially as we started the season very well. It's very simple. If you can keep the ball out of the net, then you have a better chance of winning. It's something we are highlighting. It's something we are working on and talking about.”
Eddie Howe said he’s got to do better - are you having those same conversations with yourself and the coaching staff? Do you feel like you're performing at your best right now?
“I try to find the margins every single day. I try to put the hours in every single day together with the staff and the coaches to do everything we can to get a bit of momentum. It's a bit of a stop-start. That's what we're working very hard on. There's only one way. That is head down, do what you believe in, keep going, stay calm."
Does Johan Lange face more accountability now for the situation two years in a row where the squad he has built is not serving the purpose it’s been built for?
Thomas: “I think it's like with me. There's never only one person. I understand it's the head coach who gets the most blame when it's not going well. Maybe, you get a little bit of praise if it's going well. That's part of the job. I knew that. In my opinion, the way I've already seen it, I can't speak about what happened before. Of course, I've inherited a squad and some players, but the way I see it and the way we do it now is that we do things together. In the September transfer window, it was Fabio as a consultant, Johan, Vinai, Daniel and I. Now this window has been the Lewis family, Vinay, Johan, Fabio and I. That's been the way the whole time. It's us that do that.”
Is Radu Dragusin physically ready to play multiple games in a short space of time?
Thomas: “He’s looked good in the games he’s played. He looks strong and I like that. I think as a defender, he's very good. You can just see his alert, his movement, the way he anticipates different situations, the way he tries to do the principles. I really like that and he's really competitive in every aspect. He's fine, he's strong and he's ready to go again tomorrow.”
How do you manage Destiny’s fitness long-term so that he's consistently available?
Thomas: “It's an ongoing process to keep building him more and more robust every day so that it's a long-term process.”
What does that process look like of making him more robust?
Thomas: “I think it's a combination of different things – gym work, recovery, training, managing, game load, all that.”
What did you make of Souza’s performance against United?
Thomas: “He did very well, I'm very happy for him. Coming from Brazil, 19 years old, to Tottenham, Premier League, getting his debut at one of the most iconic stadiums in the world, that's a big thing. I hope him and his family are proud."