Thomas Frank: Tottenham boss refuses to listen to ‘criticism and noise’, urges team to fight in clash Borussia Dortmund

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was in philosophical mood ahead of his side's UEFA Champions League encounter with Borussia Dortmund, accepting that he won't be universally loved, but his sole focus is on securing victories that will ease the tension surrounding his future. Frank is aware of the "noise" at present but vowed: "If you have your back against the wall, you have to fight - and we will."

"As a football coach, you want to win matches - and we're not at the moment," Thomas Frank says with a transparency that cuts straight to the point.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager is not masking what is a very precarious situation, made all the more fraught by last weekend's damaging 2-1 Premier League defeat at home to West Ham.

"Fun is not the right word, but it's not as nice or as easy going as you'd like," Frank said.

"You use more thinking time, about every single little decision, and think about how we can turn things around, how we can improve.

"Sometimes, I have to look at things from a bigger perspective and think of how the performance was - outside of all the noise.

"The only thing I can do is keep focused, calm, and keep going."

This is all a new experience for Frank. At Brentford, he was not used to such scrutiny, such a sustained period of adversity - but it is the territory he accepted when he took on the role of Spurs head coach, were results to make life challenging.

Gone is the sense of plucky underdog, and of being the figurehead of a club punching above their weight. Frank's amiable aura punctuated his time at the GTECH Community Stadium where win, lose or draw, he would always lead a lap of appreciation towards the supporters.

Such a trope of his tenure in west London hasn't scanned north of the capital, where translating promising results on the road back on home soil has proven to be every bit as difficult as under his predecessor.

Remarkably, Spurs have won just four Premier League home games in their last 25 outings - that is in stark contrast to the unblemished UEFA Champions League record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that they will put on the line when Borussia Dortmund are the visitors on Tuesday night - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

"The reality is that we're building a club that wants to compete at the top end of the Premier League whilst also playing in the Champions League," Frank continued in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports.

"Last year, we played in the Europa League and didn't finish where we wanted to in the league, so we know that is the reality in terms of where we need to get to - and we're working really hard to make those changes.

"There are signs that we are moving in the right direction with a lot of new appointments, and I see signs on the pitch. But we just need a few more wins. [In the Champions League], we've definitely been consistent with our performances and have got good results.

"We face a good Dortmund side, but we now have another fantastic opportunity. We need to go for it."

Bournemouth had been without a league win for 11 games before that run was ended earlier this month. West Ham had waited 70 days - a barren 10-match winless run stretching back to early November - before "Dr Tottenham" came and remedied their ailing campaign.

This is clearly a trend that developed at the club before Frank's tenure, but it's one he has failed to address.

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The Dane knows he must come out fighting this week as the storm clouds continue to gather, but he certainly won't hide. It's simply not in his character.

"It's always nicer to be in the good times than in these challenging times," Frank said.

"But I am a guy who is... if not thriving, definitely functioning very well in times like these. I have a mentality where I don't care about all the criticism and all the noise.

"I need to focus on myself, and you need to have resilience. You need to have resilience in life. It's important to have good values, and I'm pretty sure that I've got them.

"I need to know the reality, and the reality is that one in five people won't like you, one in five always love you - probably a bit biased - then three of the five can you turn them by behaving well, showing integrity, and doing your best. That's the reality.

"The last bit is about always having perspective, and I have plenty of that in life."

Spurs will only have 11 senior outfield players available on Tuesday night, Frank confirmed at his press conference, making the objective of turning those "three out of five" reserving judgment into believers even harder.

But the Tottenham head coach will look for solutions in the only way he knows how.

"If you have your back against the wall, you have to fight - and we will," Frank added.

"Of course, I wouldn't be transparent if I said I wasn't aware that there can be some negativity in the stadium if things aren't going the right way.

"It would be optimal if it were not like that, as it means we would be a little bit more free-flowing, but there are a lot of fans who are doing all they can to support the team throughout the 90 minutes.

"I understand the frustration, but the more support and energy we can give the team, the better."

Simons: We must all stick together

A player who is still finding his feet in England following a big-money switch from RB Leipzig last summer is Xavi Simons.

His modest return of one Premier League goal from 11 starts since his £52 million move from the Bundesliga is only one of the many tasks facing Frank as he looks to win over the doubters - and Simons accepts he must offer more.

"I can understand the fans," Simons told TNT Sports. "With Thomas [Frank], the communication is really good between us. As a group, we are all together even when in a situation like this, it is hard.

"We know there is going to be a lot of media and a lot of attention, but the most important thing is to stick together.

"He's our manager, and it's our duty to win games and back the manager in situations like this. It's the price everyone is willing to pay."

The ongoing absence of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison has placed a greater burden of creative responsibility on the Netherlands international to make an immediate impression, and the 22-year-old scored on his last Champions League outing - the 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague last month.

Encouragingly for Tottenham, Simons has a fine personal record against Dortmund, having scored once and provided three assists in his three Bundesliga appearances against them for Leipzig.

Reflecting on his time so far at the club, Simons added: "Obviously, at the start it was challenging. Whenever I've changed clubs previously, I had the direct impact I wanted to have.

"But I'm feeling very happy to be with the group. Whenever you come into something new, the feeling is a little bit different.

"Every culture and every club is different, so you have to adapt as fast as possible. I've felt the support of the guys around me."

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