LONDON -- Thomas Frank remarked on the glorious sunshine at Hotspur Way on Friday, shortly before addressing whether Tottenham Hotspur were where he wanted them to be on the eve of his first Premier League game in charge at the club.
"That's a good question," he began. "I think that will be an ongoing, how can you say, process throughout the season. Throughout seasons because you constantly want to build on those layers, that's what I am a big believer of. We've had five weeks, something like that, that's been really good."
Those five weeks have taken in friendlies against Reading, Wycombe and Luton before embarking on a preseason tour to Hong Kong and South Korea, where they beat Arsenal and drew with Newcastle United.
Frank's first competitive game in charge came on Wednesday, an agonising UEFA Super Cup defeat to Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. Spurs were 2-0 up with five minutes to play in Udine but a late PSG comeback forced a penalty shootout which Tottenham lost 4-3. Next up, newly-promoted Burnley.
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"I am very pleased and proud with how the team performed on Wednesday against PSG," said Frank. "In that part of the game, that shows we have got far with the defensive side of the game: high pressure, middle pressure, low pressure, set pieces, aggressivity, intensity, mentality.
"Now we have another part of the game. It will be more offensive tomorrow. We have to, and we want to. That's probably -- completely honestly -- an area where we are not fully firing yet for various reasons.
"We will have a plan. We will be very ready tomorrow but all that added together, to do that consistently every game, that will not be fully firing. Hopefully tomorrow it will be very good, the next three games we can build it and go again."
After following the team in Asia and Italy, ESPN examines Frank's preseason, the task he has inherited and his first steps in trying to take Tottenham to the top of the game.
Frank's appointment and first impression
Sources have told ESPN that the Spurs hierarchy were conscious of making a logical decision and not an emotional one in response to the club's Europa League triumph. Few managers are sacked after enjoying an open-top bus parade, but Ange Postecoglou had presided over 22 league defeats and a 17th-place finish: their worst-ever Premier League season. The Australian essentially sacrificed everything else in pursuit of a first trophy in 17 years, believing it was an acceptable price to pay for ending the wait for silverware, which had become akin to an existential crisis for the club.
Unfortunately for Postecoglou, Tottenham's key decision-makers disagreed. Sources have told ESPN that the search for his replacement involved data modeling more than 30 coaches, including some who were definitely not available, to gain a more complete picture of their comparative skills.
There were 10 criteria which, sources say, included a track record in working and developing young players, an ability to communicate with the media and an attractive style of attacking football. A shortlist of four names emerged and Spurs met with all four candidates, asking each for their own personal assessment of the squad and where money should be spent.
Sources say Frank, having got Brentford promoted to the Premier League and then consolidated their top-flight status in his seven years at the club, was the unanimous choice. Shortly after taking charge, Frank gathered together everyone at Spurs' Hotspur Way training ground -- not just the first-team operation, but all staff at all levels -- at which sources say he began discussing the need for togetherness and unity, something that has quickly become a consistent theme of his messaging.
Sources say Frank has taken a more hands-on approach to training compared with Postecoglou, who preferred to take a step back and observe, believing the distance helped provide him with greater clarity over team selection.
A complicated inheritance
Frank was speaking on Friday, a day before their Premier League season began, which is a poignant parallel with Postecoglou two years earlier, who spent the corresponding day addressing the media while Harry Kane pushed through his move to Bayern Munich.
Things are a little calmer right now for Frank, but he has nevertheless inherited a complicated picture. Postecoglou may have divided opinion but he enjoyed support from the majority of the squad, many of whom felt sufficiently moved to post unusually emotional messages on social media after his departure was confirmed.
Sources say Frank has been conscious of that dynamic and made every effort to galvanize the group as quickly as possible, emphasizing the collective and making sure he is always approachable. And just as Postecoglou had to deal with Kane, Frank's version of a high-profile departure came in the form of Son Heung-Min's protracted departure to LAFC.
Frank had to muddle through questions about Son and whether he would remain captain during his news conference at which he was unveiled on July 18, while there was uncertainty behind the scenes. Sources have told ESPN that Spurs felt Son was likely to leave but no formal offer had been made by LAFC until the club were on their preseason tour of Asia.
As it was, Son publicly announced his intention to leave in Seoul, and the South Korea captain was able to make his final appearance for the club in front of his adoring home crowd, an exit which was about as smooth as possible in the circumstances.
That left Frank with a new captain to select. Cristian Romero's appointment is a shrewd move given sources have told ESPN that Atlético Madrid were hopeful at one stage of convincing the Argentina center back to join them this summer. However, Romero agreed to captain the club and appeared to revel in the role during Wednesday's defeat to PSG. Romero has two years remaining on his contract, and getting him to sign a new deal will likely be high on Spurs' agenda over the coming campaign.
Injuries have also made things tougher: Dejan Kulusevski has been sidelined since May after undergoing surgery on his patella, while losing James Maddison for the majority of the season with a knee injury has exacerbated a lack of creativity the club are still looking to address in the transfer market.
Transfer window tribulations
Mohammed Kudus became the first player to move from West Ham United to Tottenham since 2011 when he made a £55 million transfer this summer. His preseason form has been promising, and, playing in a center forward role, Kudus repeatedly caused PSG problems on Wednesday in Udine. João Palhinha is a shrewd loan signing, not least because Bayern Munich paid Fulham £47m just a year earlier, but also because he brings added bite and depth to Spurs' midfield.
Yet there has been a notable level of frustration among Spurs supporters who believe Frank should be backed further in the market, even if the club have spent more than would first appear, having made Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso's loan moves permanent from Bayern and Lens respectively. The failure to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest is a particular source of irritation.
Forest threatened Spurs with legal action over what they claimed was an unlawful approach and also accused Gibbs-White's agent of a breach of confidentiality laid out in the player's contract relating to the disclosure of his release clause. Sources have told ESPN that Tottenham feel they did everything within their power to complete the deal and were left shocked by the sudden U-turn as Gibbs-White later signed a new contract with Forest.
Sources say Spurs made two offers, one of £60m before Forest threatened legal action and then a second for an amount higher than the player's release clause. Gibbs-White is believed to have been keen on the move, but Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis' powers of persuasion were strong and the attacking midfielder opted to stay at the City Ground.
Sources say Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze and Manchester City's Savinho are on Spurs' shortlist as possible transfers. Neither will be cheap and, with the season now underway and the transfer deadline two weeks away, completing any further deals could be complicated.
Changes behind the scenes
Injuries badly hampered Postecoglou's tenure, but the Australian often refused to accept that his aggressive style of play was a contributing factor. He did, however, hint publicly toward the end of his time at the club that he would have orchestrated preseason differently, and sources say that is also a view held internally at Tottenham. Consequently, Spurs have sought to manage the players' load differently, while Frank's more balanced style of play -- which, while demanding pressing and intensity -- is not expected to place the same physical strains on players as under Postecoglou.
The club are also planning to make further alterations to their medical department, while there have been significant changes at a senior level: Vinai Venkatesham has joined as CEO and long-time board member Donna-Marie Cullen stepping down, while Fabio Paratici has been working as a consultant alongside technical director Johan Lange.
Sources say Frank's positivity has been a welcome change at the training ground where, as an early riser, he often arrives before anyone else. That is not to say Postecoglou was dour or unpopular, more that he was an introvert and many of his coaching staff often had a similar disposition.
Set pieces and tactical versatility
Although the Super Cup result was a huge disappointment given Tottenham's urgent desire for silverware -- don't forget, they were 2-0 up with five minutes to go, and then 2-0 up in the shootout -- there were clear signs of Frank's training ground work in Wednesday's defeat to PSG.
With set-piece specialists an increasing presence among clubs' backroom team, Postecoglou's skepticism toward adding one to his staff became a frequent point of criticism. Andreas Georgson, formerly of Brentford, Arsenal and Manchester United, among others, joined Spurs this summer and is clearly making his presence felt.
Postecoglou's brand of football was thrilling at its best but always uncompromising. Frank is proving far more pragmatic, encouraging Spurs to mix up their style to suit their opponents. Frank employed a wing back system against PSG with two strikers and a new role for Kudus. He has used a back four during preseason and in both systems, there has been a notable improvement in defensive organization and the intensity of their pressing.
