The appointment of Thomas Frank as head coach is certainly going to give Tottenham options heading into the 2025/26 season. The Dane has come in for so much praise during his time at Brentford and he is the pick of Daniel Levy and the Spurs board to replace Ange Postecoglou at the helm.
Brentford have never looked in danger of losing their Premier League status under Frank in their four years in the top flight, with the team pushing for Europe in the 2024/25 campaign. Due to the work he has done in west London, the 51-year-old always looked likely to move on from the Bees to take on a bigger job in football at some point in the future.
This summer will see Frank make the move across the capital to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The hope will be that he can take Tottenham on and compete for more trophies after Postecoglou guided them to the Europa League trophy last month.
During his two years in N17, the Australian often came in for criticism with many mentioning his unwillingness to shift from his attacking approach. Postecoglou did change things in his system, though, with Tottenham's performances away from home in the latter stages of the Europa League highlighting that it is not always all-out attack he plays as his side produced some outstanding defensive performances to get their hands on the trophy.
Whereas Postecoglou may be viewed as someone with only one way of playing, that cannot be said about Frank. The ex-Brondby boss is known for playing with a number of different formations and adapting to the teams his side are facing.
So how exactly could Tottenham line up under Frank from August onwards? football.london takes a look using Spurs' current squad.
Brentford mainly used a 4-2-3-1 setup last year to get the very best out of Mikkel Damsgaard. The Dane had struggled in his first two seasons in the Premier League but the decision to make him a focal point in the team saw him thrive in his attacking midfield role.
Tottenham have Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison who are perfect for this role, leaving Frank with a big decision to make over the duo unless he can find a way to get both players in his team. Sticking with Postecoglou's preferred backline and a midfield two of Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall, Spurs can then have Brennan Johnson and Son Heung-min either side of whichever No.10 he opts for and Dominic Solanke leading the line.
One way of getting both Maddison and Kulusevski in would be to switch the latter to the wing, meaning Johnson would be the unfortunate one to miss out in this case.
The Bees also used a 4-3-3 formation quite a few times across the 2024/25 campaign. This allowed Frank to go with an eye-catching front three of Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade.
Tottenham certainly have the players for the system as Johnson, Solanke and Son could all line up together. There are also players such as Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, Manor Solomon and Mathys Tel, providing he signs on this summer, as other options to form a fierce front three.
A midfield three would allow Frank to either go with one of Kulusevski or Maddison in the side or potentially both.
Frank does adapt his formation depending on which team he is coming up against and he has been known to switch to either a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2 formation. In either system, there would be a real onus on full-backs Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence playing a real attacking role for the team.
All three are excellent going forward, as we saw during Postecoglou's reign, and it would suit them down to the ground. In defence, Kevin Danso would come in to join Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in the back three, with Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and summer arrival Luka Vuskovic others to consider there.
As mentioned above, Frank could go with one of Kulusevski or Maddison or both in a midfield three. It would then be a question of who joins Solanke up front.
Son may be the man to play through the middle with him but there is also Richarlison to consider as he has excelled in that role in the past. Johnson and Tel are alternative options to play centrally as well.
Finally, 4-4-2 is another formation Frank used at Brentford during the season. That, though, would raise questions about where exactly Kulusevski and Maddison would fit into it.
Kulusevski, of course, could be used as a winger but he did excel playing centrally last season. If Son is to be played from the left, Richarlison could lead the line with Solanke.