Thomas Frank's Tottenham pre-season plans are starting to take shape following the confirmation of another summer friendly. Already set to take on Luton Town, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich prior to their UEFA Super Cup final showdown against Paris Saint-Germain, Spurs will now play League One side Reading in their first summer game.
The fixture will take place at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday, July 19, with a 3pm kick-off in Berkshire. It will indeed be Frank's first game in charge of Tottenham after replacing Ange Postecoglou in the hotseat earlier this month.
Some of the Spurs squad will get to work under the Dane very soon as the start of pre-season training is edging ever closer. football.london understands the first group of Tottenham players will return to the training ground towards the back end of the first week of July to start going through their various tests, blood work and then begin training with Frank and his new-look coaching staff.
Tottenham once again face a very busy pre-season as they head to Hong Kong and South Korea for their summer tour. It will certainly be different to what Frank is used to, with Brentford having a training camp in Portugal 12 months ago before playing a couple of games in the country prior to returning home.
But what exactly can Tottenham players expect from a Frank pre-season? Speaking in a club interview last July, the ex-Brondby boss opened up on Brentford's preparations and outlined the importance of having more time to either have longer sessions, double sessions or more team meetings.
“This pre-season has been up there among the best - last year [in America] was amazing because of all the culture and all the other stuff around it, because I think that's a big part of it as well. But the main thing and the most important thing is that we train well," he said.
“Here, the lads have a top training pitch, gym facilities, recovery and all of that; in that sense, this is the best. These are fantastic training facilities here, we are using the Portuguese Football Federation’s training ground and it’s just top in every area.
“It’s closely connected with the day rooms inside when we're out here for a whole day, with the restaurant for lunch as well, so this has been super in many ways, I would say. It's fantastic, I love [being out on the grass]. We have a similar time at home, but it's just a different location and you just have a bit more time - you can have longer sessions or even double sessions - that's good.
“Another big part of getting out here is that you have the whole day for maybe more meetings or exploring things or team building, all of that. All in all, it’s very good.”
He added: “There's a couple of things: in the UK, the weather can be a little bit unstable, let's put it that way! So there can be days in July where it's still pretty cold but, here, we have more time, it’s no problem, we can stand, we can train hard, break, talk about things - all that I think is very good.
“And, also, the heat has not been too bad because the humidity is quite good, so you then also have that change of scenery, we’re close to the sea - personally, I like that and I go every morning for a swim!”
Swimming wasn't the only thing Frank did in the sea as he also participated in a spot of surfing. As important as the work the players put in on the training pitch in pre-season is, team bonding is just as vital when it comes to forming a togetherness ahead of a Premier League campaign.
Frank's Brentford players all had the chance to do different activities and then they were also split into small groups alongside a couple of staff members to try different food than what they are used to.
"It's good. You know, like with everything, you need to keep building, keep making sure it's there," he admitted. "Like in any relationship, you can't just stop talking or stop doing things together because then you'll drop a little bit over time.
"So the culture and the togetherness the players have and then I would say the staff, and the staff and the players, are very good and we try and to keep it at a very high level.
"I think it's it's a good thing when you are together for, it's not a long period, but it's still like 24/7 so it's good to do things on your own. In the past I used to either do something where everyone does something together, which also is a lot of value in that, but I also like that we are individuals, so people could do what they wanted to do.
"Some did golf, some did go-karting, some did surfing, some did a tour in Lisbon and some did some a little bit different. That's important.
"And then we went out in groups. The players were divided into four or five groups with two staff members in each and that just kept them talking in a different way and try a little bit more different food that they normally are used to, so try to educate them a bit. Some of them. Some of them are very good at them."