Thomas Frank looks like he’s set for the Tottenham job after Ange Postecoglou was relieved of his duties at Spurs.
Indeed, Frank is the clear frontrunner for the Spurs job at this point, and there’s plenty of reason to be excited about the Brentford boss’ arrival in north London.
Frank has proved himself to be a tactically astute manager in recent years, and he has a real knack of helping players improve.
Bryan Mbeumo has improved massively under Frank, so much so that Manchester United now want Mbeumo.
Meanwhile, Ivan Toney was an Arsenal target after flourishing under Thomas Frank.
The Brentford boss will hope to have a similar effect on a number of players at Tottenham. Archie Gray could seriously improve under Frank, while Dominic Solanke could become brilliant under the Dane too.
However, there is one player who may actually begin to look less impressive under Frank at Spurs.
Micky van de Ven could go backwards under Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank’s tactics will hopefully take Tottenham to a new level, but one player who may not shine as brightly under Frank is Micky van de Ven.
Indeed, the Dutchman is one of few players who came away with any huge credit from the Ange Postecoglou era.
Van de Ven earned huge praise for his performances under Ange Postecoglou, and for good reason.
The centre-back suited Postecoglou’s extreme tactics as his incredible pace was so useful when Postecoglou played his ridiculously high line.
Van de Ven is absolutely rapid, and that showed when he was playing in such an extreme system.
However, under Frank, that may not be the case.
The Dane plays a much more conservative style of football, with a deeper line that tries to protect slower defenders rather than highlighting quicker centre-backs, and that may, in a way, take some of the gloss off of Van de Ven.
Thomas Frank’s Brentford defenders analysed
While Van de Ven’s incredible pace in Postecoglou’s high line made him stand out at Spurs, he may not have that same platform under Frank.
Indeed, Frank likes to use a deeper defensive line, and that means Van de Ven will not be able to showcase his speed with those lung-busting last-ditch runs as often.
The £45m man will have to play a much more traditional defensive role where speed will still be important, but it won’t be as noticeable as it has been for the past two years.
Just look at Frank’s preferred defenders at Brentford and you’ll see how unimportant pace at the back has been for the Brentford boss in recent years.
Ben Mee and Pontus Jansson certainly weren’t the fastest players in the world, while Ethan Pinnock, Nathan Collins and Kristoffer Ajer aren’t renowned speedsters either.
Frank doesn’t need his defenders to be like Van de Ven, he’s much more conservative than Postecoglou was, and while that may lead to fewer goals being conceded, individually, it may make Van de Ven look a little bit less flashy and exciting.