Thomas Frank has been without some big names for much of the season, and he's under pressure to transform Tottenham Hotspur's fortunes
Tottenham Hotspur have been given a major boost ahead of their clash against Manchester City. James Maddison has stepped up efforts to rebuild his match fitness ahead of the highly anticipated clash in north London on Sunday afternoon.
The 29-year-old midfielder missed the end of last season with a knee injury, which he suffered during a win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League semi-final first leg. Shortly after Spurs booked a place in the final against Manchester United, Maddison confirmed the bad news.
Then, in August, he was stretchered off during a pre-season friendly draw to Newcastle in South Korea. The England international ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, putting him back on the sidelines.
At the start of December, Maddison was spotted on the grass at Hotspur Way for the first time since the setback. Maddison, who was joined by a member of the sports science staff, enjoyed a couple of touches of the ball.
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"It is very early stages, still a long-term injury," said Thomas Frank at the time. "Good to see him out there, but very early stages, and there is no specific time frame. It will be a long time, unfortunately, before he is available.
football.london understands that the Tottenham playmaker hopes to get back on the pitch before the end of the season, but he and the club don't want to risk aggravating the problem. Nevertheless, Maddison has recently begun to step up preparations for his return.
This will come as a huge boost for Thomas Frank, who's under pressure to turn things around. The Englishman, who has been documenting his recovery on his social media channels, uploaded another Instagram post with the caption: " Progress in motion."
Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie, and Archie Gray were among the thousands of fans, friends, family, and colleagues to like the post. A few days prior, ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt, Maddison uploaded pictures of himself in the club's alternative training gear.
"Another day closer," he wrote. Morgan Rogers, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, and Jordan Henderson flooded the comment section to wish Maddison well, posting heart and arm-flexed emojis.
While Frank will be pleased to see Maddison making good progress, he's been working hard to carry Spurs' form on the European stage over to the domestic stage. On Friday afternoon, the Dane said: "We definitely need to build on some good performances.
"As I said, not everything has been perfect, but now, as I calculate, the last 10, it's more consistent, it's more, we compete better, we are constantly improving but especially the last three games, it's much more over 90 minutes.
"I think the three performances there, that's the thing we need to bring into Sunday and going forward," added Frank. On Spurs' form, he said: "Sometimes, for whatever reason, you don't get the momentum.
"Very aware that this season is a season where we are, as always, and we should be for Tottenham, very ambitious, but it is a transitional season, a transitional season where we need to be very ambitious, do as good as we can in every single competition.
"I definitely expected and hoped and believed that we would be higher. I also think, it's fair to say, some of the margins that we could easily, easily like this, have had six points more, then it’s completely different talk.
"Unfortunately, we haven't. It is what it is, and we need to keep going."
And, on Pep Guardiola, the Dane said: "Pep is the best coach in the world. He proved that many times. I think what he's done over the years is he's extremely innovative.
"He's always changing and, how can I say, playing around with positions, offensive positions, different types and different positions. From going maybe wide wingers to a little bit more inside, depending on how he plays it, with the [Rayan] Cherki or [Phil] Foden or [Antoine] Semenyo or [Erling] Haaland or [Tijjani] Reijnders.
"He's playing around with different offensive positions. I think the City team now, when they're in full flow, I think there's a threat from so many angles that we need to be aware of, but I also see some areas that we hopefully can explore."