Here's every single word the Tottenham Hotspur head coach said on Monday ahead of the Champions League match with FC Copenhagen
Thomas Frank had plenty to speak about at his press conference on Monday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's Champions League match against FC Copenhagen.
Spurs are fifth in the Premier League but in Saturday's woeful derby defeat to Chelsea, Frank's side created barely anything at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the 1-0 defeat could have been worse but for a string of saves from Guglielmo Vicario.
After the final whistle, there was an awkward moment when Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence, who both made mistakes for Joao Pedro's winning goal, ignored Frank's instruction to applaud the home fans and instead walked past him and down the tunnel while he watched them go.
Frank delivered an update on his meeting with the duo and also on 19-year-old midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who within just a couple of minutes of the contest took a powerful hit to the side of his head from the ball which left him wobbly on his feet. He was taken off through the concussion protocol and now misses up to 12 days as a precautionary measure.
Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.
Have you spoken to Van de Ven and Spence. Was it purely frustration?
Yeah. Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday, unprompted. And just said: 'Want to say sorry for the situation.' They didn’t want it to look bad or disrespectful or all of the kind of perceptions you can get in this beautiful media world. That was not the intention at all towards me or the team or the club. They were just frustrated with the performance, the loss and the booing during the game.
What's the latest team news? We saw Kudus, Spence and Bergvall weren't training.
Lucas got concussion, which was probably pretty obvious from the footage. Big praise to the medical team because it’s a tricky situation to be in when it’s two minutes into a game and everything is on it so well done to them because the players’ health is the most important thing. Djed and Mo got a knock. They could and should be available for tomorrow.
The bad home form pre-dates you - why is it so hard to play in that stadium?
Of course, it’s a relatively small sample for me to look into. First and foremost, we need to work very hard on keep adding to performances, keep adding layers, keep improving. Work very hard on the training pitch, in meeting rooms, in one-to-one actions and I see a goo improvement in the team in general. Of course, we’re coming on the back of a bad performance. That’s the big flashing light right now, so everyone has a little bit a struggle to look past that and look to the very good performances we’ve had this year as well.
I also think it’s fair to say we are coming off the back of in many ways a fantastic season, but also a tough season and if anyone would have said that we would have now 17 points after 10 games, unbeaten in the Champions League and fifth, it doesn’t matter where we are now, it’s where we are at the end of the season…Everything’s definitely not perfect, but there’s decent foundation and it’s up to us to add layers. I think everyone would have taken where we are now, in terms of 22 defeats last season and finishing 17th. The Europa League is fantastic, wow, but the Champions League is different.
Then I just want to get the point across that I think the fans were fantastic the first 30 minutes of the game Saturday night. I think the noise was incredible and that carried us forwards. It seems there was a little bit of a turning point when we conceded the goal. Where we all get a little bit frustrated, which is natural. I think it’s more than fair, because we are in the performance business, and if we can’t deal with the pressure or deal with the negativity or the criticism, we shouldn’t sit here. Probably Vic and I, we are in the football world because we love the game and we love to be part of something.
It’s nice, the big occasions and the big crowds. I think the fans were fantastic the first 30 and after the game if we perform badly and on top of that we lost the game, more than fair enough they boo us. But during the game, we need a little bit of help. And especially when it’s not going the right way. They can be the turning point. We are down 1-0 last 15, imagine they carry us over the line. We got a little of an unfair 1-1, what a feeling. That point can be the difference in a long season.
Could you train at the stadium?
Maybe, I haven’t thought about it. I’m always listening to good suggestions.
What's the Bergvall protocol, how long is he out for?
He’s out for the next two games.
Is there an expectation to play a certain way at home?
That’s different types of games, sometimes also everything accumulating, the number you gave is not a fantastic number. We haven’t won at home in the last whatever games in the Premier League, not too many, but completely different games. Some teams are very different teams to play against, others a little bit easier. Everything is difficult, but for example Villa I think very good comparative performance. Unfortunately we lost, we just got it wrong, but we easily could have won that 1-0. And I think Saturday night is an accumulation of a lot of things. A big London derby. We always hope we can beat them. We haven’t beaten them for a long time and we didn’t so that’s just added a bit.
With Djed and Micky is it case closed?
From me? 100 per cent. I’m always very clear on what I said before.
There's a narrative, that you're a defensive coach, a pragmatist who can tweak things but maybe not such a front foot kind of coach. Are you surprised by that, given your record with Brentford in your career?
I think it depends on whose narrative that is. The journalists? A few fans? I guess we have quite a few fans out there so I guess the ones who write on social media. I’m not on social media. I’m very aware we haven’t been free flowing, in some games, I think there’s definitely been some moments where we’ve been quite good. It’s something we work very hard on every single day. It’s fair to say every team I’ve managed, we’ve been able to score a lot of goals. Also a Brentford team with let’s say on paper lesser players, creating a lot of top goal scorers. I’m convinced we will do the same here. I think it’s fair to say we are also working very hard on it. The players are doing everything they can and it’s my job with the coaches to make sure they hit good relations, good structure and can be confident.
Is it fair that the Africa Cup of Nations is taking place mid-season?
I think it is what it is. Like the Club World Cup in the summer, the Africa Cup of Nations most of the time has been in December, January. We need to deal with it and we will. That's my take on it.
How are you finding the spotlight at Tottenham and the extreme reactions?
Of course I sense there is a tiny bit more attention to everything. But that was the one thing I was 1000% sure of that would happen that would be different. Everything else has been the same, 20 fantastic players and people that want to work in the same direction. Little bit tactical, technical coaching, all that. This is the biggest difference. Very, very happy I'm not on social media. The only reason I can sense something, fans, creativity or whatever, is a lot of questions from the press conferences. And my good friend over here [press officer] gives me a little bit of input sometimes. So it is what it is. It's part of it, no problem.
Do you have to protect your players from getting their heads buried in their phones and social media?
Sometimes I like to speak more about how much they do it. I think some of the players are very good at it, some of them could probably be a little bit better. Little bit down to the individual. I think also I'd like to say I'm young but it's another generation. They deal with it in another way than us. If I should start dealing with it, I would deal with it less good than them.
How important was it for you that Micky and Djed came to see you and can you give us any more detail about it?
If they didn't come in, of course I had to ask them about the situation they were walking in, what they were feeling, why they were doing it, because we all have a perception. And we are very, very good to have that strong [opinion]. 'That's because they... whatever, because their mom wasn't well, or they didn't like the head coach, or they were irritated with the performance, or it's because they lost, or whatever'. We're very, very good at that. None of us knows.
So that would be my first question to them. How were they and why? Of course I'm happy, because I knew the question would come today, that they were coming in. And that means they care. I think that's very good. They care about the team, the club. In this case, me.
I'm happy with that. So that was very good. Then we just had a good talk about a lot of things. And like with everything, we keep it internally. Like I said to the players when I said that before, it will be very, very, very unusual if I ever throw a player under the bus. We're all humans, but I'll always protect them.
How much do you get to follow the games from the Superliga, and how much have you seen FC Copenhagen this year, and how can you take advantage of the down period they are in at the moment?
Of course I follow the results and the league, so I know how the results are every week. I still have good colleagues, friends, working in different clubs, knowing obviously also a lot of people in Copenhagen. So I know of course Copenhagen is not in their best place, but it's a very good team. They have very good European experience, and I expect it to be a difficult game.
Always, that's my little bit of a go-to, no matter if a team is in form or they are out of form, the next game is the one that everything can change in. So we prepare like normal, very aware of the strength of Copenhagen, and of course some areas we like to exploit. So that's how I take it.
I know Jacob Neestrup very well, he's a very good coach. He knows what he's doing with his coaching staff, so I expect a tough challenge and a tough tactical challenge.
What's your relationship like with Copenhagen fans as an ex-Brondby manager?
I think they’ll be pleased to meet me again! No, of course, there’s a relationship because I was the head coach of Brondby. They’re obviously not the biggest fan of me but that’s fair. That’s part of it.
You have some Brondby genes in you - do you feel an extra rivalry with Copenhagen?
Of course, I’ve been almost three years at Brondby and if you are that, the fans get under the skin and the club does as well. So of course it was Brondby that got my support.
Tomorrow in some ways it’s a little bit special, of course, against a Danish team where I know quite a few that works in the backroom staff and in the club. Of course I know some of the Danish players whether it be the national team or whatever, how I came across them, so that’s why it’s a little more special.
Tomorrow I just want to win. We’re playing Champions League, we’re playing at home. Vic said it perfectly, the best way to get back on track is a good performance and win at home. So that’s the main bit.
