The Tottenham Hotspur head coach believes experiences that took place down the road at the north London club's rivals have helped him this season
Thomas Frank believes Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham's experiences with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal have benefited him in gaining patience from a club that has rarely shown much.
Premier League managers are dropping like flies right now, with Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca leaving Manchester United and Chelsea within days of each other, and some sections of the Spurs fanbase have called for their 13th-placed club to follow suit after an uninspiring start to life under Frank with two wins from their past 11 league games.
However, having been a club that has mostly gone through managers like hot dinners in the past under former chairman Daniel Levy, there is a new man at the top in Venkatesham. He was among the powerful figures at Arsenal who showed patience in Arteta through some slow early years and trusted the Spaniard needed the time to build something.
Six years on and the Gunners are six points clear at the top of the table and Frank believes he is benefiting from Venkatesham's experience over those construction seasons down the road with the Gunners.
"Definitely [that has informed the way he acts]. No doubt about that. Plus he also knows what good looks like and how unfortunately it can take time to get up to where good should look like," said the 52-year-old. "That’s definitely beneficial because he understands the journey we’re on."
Frank was full of praise for the man tasked with helming Tottenham's post-Levy era and pointed to the CEO's gift of the gab as being a crucial part of his role.
"Vinai is one of the best communicators I ever met, as a CEO, leader whatever, he is absolutely excellent in that," said the Dane. "I think I’m ok but he is way superior which I think is crucial internally and externally. He’s calm and takes sensible decisions, two rare abilities in football, but also two absolutely crucial abilities if you want to have success long term.
"Vinai is crucial for Tottenham to have success in many ways. We have known each other for six months so we are getting closer and closer and know each other better and better. I would say I’m calm but a tiny bit more emotional at times so we learn about each other as well.
"Besides being smart and taking sensible decisions, Vinai also has that huge experience of ten years at Arsenal with how they built."
Frank was asked about the culture in the Premier League where the manager alone must always face the media rather than sporting directors, which is not how it works on the continent.
"I thought the other day that it’s definitely a thing here in England, it’s more the manager or the head coach who face the media all the time," he said. "It must be tricky if you don’t feel the alignment and the trust behind you but I feel that, so no problem."
Frank only experienced the final months of Levy's 24 years at the helm so the transition has not been as strange for him as it has for some within Spurs.
"My experience is very limited. As I understood, he was the one that was signing off and negotiating the final bit [with transfers]. He will not do that now, that will be more down to Johan [Lange] and Fabio [Paratici] doing that job," said the head coach.
"We have a good recruitment side with the numbers behind it, looking at the players and then taking the right decision. Then it’s down to Johan and Fabio to do the job with the agents and get the deals done. That's the biggest difference."
Despite their troubles this season, Frank believes Spurs remain an attractive destination for transfer targets in the January transfer window. The north London outfit are believed to be on the lookout for a new left winger, left-back and potentially another central midfielder and centre-back depending on departures.
"We are very attractive in many ways. Spurs is a fantastic club with a huge potential," he said. "I think some of the boxes you need to tick are the stadium, the training ground and the potential.
“Of course if we compete against the three teams that are clearly ahead of us - City, Arsenal and Liverpool, unfortunately - then those three clubs are probably more attractive right now. That’s not to say we can’t attract some of the players that also want to go to those clubs. It depends a little bit if there is a spot available for the player to play in those clubs and here."
One current Spurs player Frank is waiting to call upon for the first time is Dejan Kulusevski. The Swede has been a key player for Tottenham over the year but after requiring patella surgery towards the end of last season, the attacker is yet to return to action despite his head coach saying he hoped the 25-year-old would be back for the end of 2025.
"He is a key player and I would love to have him back soon. Unfortunately, it was a tricky injury he got so it just takes time," said Frank. "They are working very hard and he is working very hard to come back on the pitch."
The Spurs boss has other attackers to work with right now and some fans have called for Randal Kolo Muani, on loan from PSG, to start up front in place of Richarlison while Frank awaits the return of Dominic Solanke from his ankle injury. However, Frank admitted that with Richarlison having bagged eight goals and three assists this season and Kolo Muani just the two goals in the Champions League match against his French employers, it's a tough sell.
"I think the challenge is, Richy has worked very hard for us during the games, as a pressing player leading the line, competing. He's our top scorer. So he's the guy who has that confidence right now," said Frank. "Kolo has scored zero goals [in the Premier League] unfortunately, and zero assists. There's also a little bit of that.
"I like that Kolo can easily play as either of the two wingers. He's done that in the past, and also like a second striker coming in and be closer to Richy. There's a lot of good about him I like with his abilities. The way he drives the ball, the way he's got that little extra pace to go past players and running behind.
"Maybe he just lacks that little extra confidence of where the things just come off. He had three runs with the ball [against Sunderland] where it's like the final touch then you are in. Richy, if he got the ball through, it's hopefully a tap in 10 minutes into the second half, then suddenly you just have that extra bit.
"So we lacked that a little bit from our players. That little boost. Until you get that, the only thing you can do is keep trying, keep doing the right things."
Frank also drew comparisons between another Spurs attacker Mathys Tel and previous forwards he has converted into new roles at Brentford.
"Mathys is a quite versatile player. He can play on the left, he can play 10, he plays striker. Probably his best [role] is something between the three roles, and he's young, so I think he's not the first player to have the question 'where will he actually end up?'," said the Dane.
"In the past, I would work with Ollie Watkins. He came as a winger, and I converted him to be a striker, and he's quite a successful striker. Yoane Wissa came as a winger to us, and in the end, he ended as a striker. Is Mathys maybe the same type, to start as a winger and end as a striker? I don't know. No matter what, I'm pretty sure he can perform in both positions."