Thomas Frank has wasted no time laying down the law at Tottenham, as the new head coach set the tone for what he demands from his players, making one expectation crystal clear.
For the first time as Tottenham head coach, Thomas Frank has finally addressed the media in what has felt like a long wait, following his official appointment back on 12 June.
So far, the former Brentford manager has revealed what he discussed with Daniel Levy, Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham, stating that he has only heard good things about the people working at Tottenham.
Frank also highlighted a few Tottenham players he believes he can get the best out of as head coach, with Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur a few names he threw into the mix.
Thomas Frank sets expectations for Tottenham players
The new Tottenham head coach has now revealed how he expects his new team to play during his tenure. According to Thomas Frank, he is a big believer in taking risks, and that is exactly what he expects of his Tottenham players when they take to the field.
However, he also made it clear that he has one non-negotiable, and that is players not working hard or trying on the pitch, something he believes is essential if Tottenham are to succeed.
He said: “I am a big believer, I always say this one-liner, if you do not take risk, you also take risk. So I think it is important that we take risks.
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“A risk is, for example, if we play man-to-man, in some situations, the risk is you need to play forward. If you do not risk the ball, you cannot create anything.
“So I am a big, big believer of that. We need to be brave. The players need to be brave when we play, and they need to trust themselves. So I will do my very best to install that trust and the players need to be brave. For me, if they lose the ball by trying, it is never a problem for me.”
Thomas Frank added on his expectations from the Tottenham squad: “Of course, I can react, you know, it is natural, but they need to do that. But if they do not work hard, I struggle more with that. If they do everything they can and they lose the ball, or they try, no problem. But it is more if they do not work hard, that is my non-negotiable, but we need to take risk, of course, if we do not take risks, it is impossible to achieve something big.”
Spurs need to evolve from Postecoglou’s tactical rigidity
For sure, this group of players are no stranger to playing on the front foot, as that was one of the hallmarks of Postecoglou’s tenure.
However, Ange-ball did not last long, nor did it yield results in the Premier League, with the Australian picking up just 78 points from his last 66 Premier League games.
Under the former manager, Tottenham were simply easy to beat, losing 22 games, conceding the 16th most goals in the League last campaign, and finishing on a negative goal difference.