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Thomas Frank is experiencing his first period of sustained instability as Tottenham Hotspur head coach, and lingering questions about his suitability are turning into doubts within sections of the fanbase.
After improved performances in early December, Tottenham were handed a reality check by Nottingham Forest last weekend, losing 3-0 at The City Ground. Frank’s side registered just one shot on target as they were bettered in every department by a side who started the weekend in 17th place. In his post-match press conference, the 52-year-old said it will “take some time” to change performances and turn their fortunes around, with no “quick fix” to many of the club’s issues on and off the pitch.
Spurs’ inconsistent league form has resulted in mounting pressure on their head coach’s position. As he and the players applauded the travelling fans in Nottingham on Sunday, they were met by boos from sections of their support. Inside the club, Frank is supported by the hierarchy, who recognise that his efforts to change the culture will take time.
Part of Frank’s mission is connecting with his players. At previous club Brentford, he developed and recruited most of his squad. On joining Spurs in the summer, he’s inherited a group of established internationals and Premier League regulars who present different challenges.
Here, The Athletic reports on the early impressions Frank has made on the players and staff as Tottenham head coach.
Ask any staff member at Spurs’ training ground about Frank, and they will tell you that he was a breath of fresh air upon his arrival.
In the early days of his tenure, the club called an introductory meeting between the Dane and the various department heads, allowing the recently appointed head coach to meet the people he would be working alongside.
Frank, who developed a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most insightful and magnetic coaches at Brentford, asked to amend the plan to extend the invitation to the entire staff, where he would introduce himself to the full complement. It was a gesture gratefully received by his less-senior colleagues, who rarely interacted with predecessor Ange Postecoglou.
More recently, Frank crossed from the senior squad’s part of the training ground to the academy area, where he watched from the sidelines as Tottenham’s youth sides played at Hotspur Way. True to form, he introduced himself to the parents and made a point of remembering their names. Frank is the club’s de facto public face and the most influential figure at the training ground, and he’s made an effort to carry over Brentford’s family feel to north London.
As part of this, he makes a point of inviting members of staff with him on his morning jogs when he arrives at the training ground.
In his previous role, Frank benefited from being part of one of the best-run clubs in the country. He presided over the most successful period in Brentford’s post-war history, taking them from the Championship as play-off final winners in 2021 to establishing them as a Premier League outfit — a remarkable rise given the west London side were in League Two, England’s fourth tier, as recently as the 2008-09 season.
Aside from full-back Rico Henry, every player in Frank’s final 18-man squad at Brentford was signed by the now 52-year-old, often picked up from England’s lower divisions or from smaller clubs in less-heralded leagues abroad.
With that dynamic came a natural authority. Frank was the figure who delivered the club’s best years, and his status reflected that. Players arriving from lower down the footballing food chain bought into the promising project at Brentford, knowing that countless predecessors had previously passed through the doors there and gone on to become Premier League and international stars.
In that comparatively quiet and less pressurised environment, Frank was given the time to improve players, such as converting Ollie Watkins from a winger into a striker.
Unlike Spurs, Brentford are not sold as a destination club. Players such as Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, now at Newcastle and Manchester United respectively, have used the club as a springboard for better sporting and financial opportunities elsewhere.
Tottenham’s predicament presents another dynamic.
This summer, Frank took over a club in unusual circumstances. While they had suffered the ignominy of finishing 17th in the 2024-25 Premier League — the club’s worst final league position since they were relegated to the old Second Division in 1976-77 — they also became the Europa League champions, ending their 17-year wait for a trophy. Inheriting a group that had simultaneously fluctuated between both sides of history brings challenges. It’s something Frank is adjusting to.
Frank is respected in the game as an excellent man-manager. He had a close bond with most of the players he worked with at Brentford, including former Spurs playmaker Christian Eriksen, who spent the second half of the 2021-22 season with them after recovering from a cardiac arrest suffered mid-game at Euro 2020. He had worked with Frank in Denmark’s youth teams years before signing for him.
“(Frank) comes into rooms and gives people energy,” the former Brentford defender Pontus Jansson, who they bought under Frank from Leeds United in 2019, told The Athletic last year. “I came to Brentford as a guy who wanted to show off and shine. I became a leader, and people remember me as a good captain and a good person. The way he changed me, I will never forget. He is a friend for life, the best coach I ever worked with.”
Appreciation for his style of man-management has translated to Spurs. According to multiple sources close to Tottenham players — who, like all those referred to in this piece, are kept anonymous to protect relationships — Frank has made a positive impression on many of the squad.
In contrast to Postecoglou, who did not interact as frequently with the players, Frank speaks to them individually on and off the training pitch. His attempts to build a positive culture will take time, but those efforts are respected by the club’s hierarchy, with recognition that the environment and recent poor results won’t change overnight.
One source close to Frank indicated his repeated references to Arsenal, Spurs’ neighbours and biggest rivals, in press conferences may be related to his desire to follow a similar path to their manager Mikel Arteta, who took several transfer windows to craft the squad in his image. While results occasionally suffered, Arteta was given time to build a squad ready to compete for the biggest prizes — and just as importantly, create the right culture.
However, in the meantime, sources have indicated that Frank’s friendly style may encounter challenges in an environment with established international players. One source close to the Spurs coach suggested he could struggle managing higher-profile players with bigger egos, noting that he sometimes found it difficult at Brentford to exclude even lesser-known, inexperienced players from matchday squads.
There have been moments this season when his authority has been questioned, particularly after the 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea in early November, as vice-captain Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence disregarded his instructions to applaud the Spurs fans at full time. Frank described it as “not a big problem” in his post-match press conference, and later said both players visited him at the training ground the following day to apologise.
In the aftermath of the defeat to Forest on Sunday, Spence’s conduct was again highlighted, with the full-back appearing to throw his jacket in frustration after being replaced with Ben Davies in the second half — a not entirely uncommon reaction for substituted players. In his post-match press conference, Frank said he didn’t see the incident, before adding: “I think there can be three reasons. He can be disappointed with his own performance, the team’s performance, he can be disappointed with being subbed off. I’ll ask him about that.”
At Brentford, Frank was assisted until 2022 by Brian Riemer, who is now the Denmark national team’s head coach. To counteract Frank’s more personable style, Riemer had a reputation for being highly demanding with players on and off the pitch. As the staff’s defensive lead, Riemer would maintain frequent contact with Brentford’s defenders away from the training ground via text, intruding on their home lives by asking whether they were watching Champions League games and learning from those elite performers at their positions.
With first-team assistant coach Matt Wells now set to leave Tottenham and become head coach of MLS side Colorado Rapids, one source close to the dressing room suggested Frank may benefit from replacing him with somebody who has a similar persona to Riemer.
Some issues, however, go beyond Frank and his coaching staff and what they can address on the training pitch. This includes squad construction, which has left some players frustrated at getting a lack of game time this season.
Tottenham have a wealth of options at left wing, including Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel, plus makeshift option Randal Kolo Muani, who started in that role last weekend. Frank has frequently rotated the cast, with no player standing out at the position, potentially slowing the development of Johnson, Odobert and Tel, who are all 24 or under.
A similar situation applies in midfield, where youngsters Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr have come in and out of the team alongside the more experienced pair of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur. Continuing to develop young players is high on Frank’s priorities, but addressing these imbalances — not helped by Yves Bissouma, who has been unavailable for most of the season due to injuries and persistent conduct issues — is the responsibility of the recruitment staff, beginning in January.
Despite the poor performance at the City Ground — one of four league games this term in which Spurs have failed to exceed 0.4 expected goals — the club’s hierarchy is behind Frank heading into this crucial winter window.
It will take more than a couple of signings to turn things around, but they may prove essential in the short term as Frank builds towards long-term success.
Additional reporting: Jay Harris