The Dane's former club was beaten by Ange Postecoglou's side in a Premier League game back in February and Frank was full of praise for several Tottenham stars, including full-back Pedro Porro
Thomas Frank has delivered a glowing assessment of the squad he is inheriting as the new Tottenham Hotspur manager. Frank has signed a three-year deal with Spurs, replacing Ange Postecoglou, even though the Aussie won the Europa league, the club’s first trophy in 17 years.
And Frank clearly believes Postecoglou is leaving him a good set of players, despite the fact Spurs suffered a staggering TWENTY-TWO defeats in the Premier League, finishing 17th. One of Spurs’ rare Premier League victories came at Frank’s former club, Brentford, in February and after the 2-0 loss, the Dane spoke positively about the Postecoglou’s squad.
And Frank even compared one of his new players to Real Madrid new boy Trent Alexander-Arnold, saying: “I know they haven’t had their best season but look at their line-up. Just take their front three - I think a lot of clubs would have taken them any day.
“Their midfield? (Dejan) Kulusevski, (Rodrigo) Bentancur, (Yves) Bissouma. That’s a very, very, very, very good Premier League midfield.
“And then I know they haven’t had a centre-back but maybe (Archie) Gray and Ben Davies played their best defensive game of the season (against Brentford). They were great.
“(Pedro) Porro is fantastic at right-back. He’s got Trent-ish offensive qualities. And Spence has done very well.”
Daniel Levy’s appointment of 51-year-old Frank was confirmed after it was agreed he could bring his Brentford backroom staff. It means a complete coaching reset at Spurs with the highly-regarded Justin Cochrane arriving as a first-team assistant coach, alongside Chris Haslam, who is also head of performance.
Joe Newton has joined as an analyst while Andreas Georgson - who worked with Frank before moving to Arsenal in 2020 - is also linking up with his old boss as an assistant coach. It is also assumed Levy has promised Frank considerable backing in the summer transfer market.
It is understood the new manager would like to hijack Manchester United’s move for Bryan Mbeumo. Other names to be linked with Spurs include Crystal Palace gems, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, but Frank would face considerable competition if it looked as though either - or both - of those would be open to leaving Selhurst Park.
In conjunction with Tottenham technical director Johan Lange, Frank will also have to make key decisions on outgoings, with Son Heung-Min thought to be considering an exit. Cristian Romero is attracting significant interest from Spanish clubs, Atletico Madrid in particular.
And he might have to reassure Bissouma of his future. The Malian midfielder was only a fringe operator under Postecoglou.
In their extensive talks, a detailed transfer plan will have been worked out by Levy and Frank but it is clear the new boss thinks he already has a squad that should be finishing a lot higher than on place above the relegation zone.