The Tottenham Hotspur boss has been speaking about his future at the north London club after a week of support from those above
Thomas Frank believes Tottenham have made a clear statement of backing him ahead of a big derby against fellow strugglers West Ham.
The Dane has faced a tough time at the north London club with long-term injuries galore, the team sitting 14th in the Premier League and just two wins from their past 13 matches. The Spurs supporters have booed Frank on occasions and sung chants such as 'Boring, boring Tottenham Hotspur' and 'Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go' in reference to the football being played under the 52-year-old.
However, it has been a positive week inside the club for Frank, with Spurs moving quickly to sign Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid in a £34.7million deal. The head coach played his part with a key phone call to the 25-year-old midfielder, explaining his role within his team and the project going forward under him.
Frank also led the drive to bring in John Heitinga as his assistant manager this week, getting the man who helped Arne Slot and Liverpool to the Premier League title last year before an ill-fated spell as Ajax boss.
With those two key additions and the decision to sell last season's top scorer Brennan Johnson, Frank was asked whether it was all evidence of the club supporting his vision.
“Yes, definitely. I think it’s a very good sign of it," he said. "We know January is a tricky window to sign a quality player like Conor, I think it’s a great sign of that.
“Also to sign John Heitinga, who is a very skilful coach, that he believes in the project and the vision from me, from the club, in a moment where, from the outside doesn’t look as smooth but from the inside looks a little bit more positive.
“But of course I’m very aware we need even more consistent performances and better results. Tottenham have so much to offer. Some of the appointments we have made in the leadership, with Rafi [Moersen] coming in as well [as director of football operations], it’s very positive of what kind of direction we want to go in."
Gallagher arrives at Tottenham without a single injury recorded against his name on stats site Transfermarkt in his entire senior career and Frank admitted that was yet another factor in signing the England international.
"I don't think it's rocket science, I think a lot of clubs want to do that, but a couple of things you look at when you want to sign a player, you want of course key abilities that fit in the role you're looking for," he explained. "Let’s say in an eight position, you want a pressing player, a midfielder who arrives in box to box, technical ability, scoring goals, whatever it is… you always like to have a ten out of ten character, and then of course robustness is also a key area. He ticks all three boxes."
So Frank isn't concerned about the Spurs injury curse striking as it has for various players including strikers Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani, who had missed only a handful of matches before joining the club only to then succumb to longer term injuries?
"Touch wood! No, I’m not worried," said the Dane with a nervous laugh.
Spurs need to create more chances in games in order to score goals and win matches and Frank believes that Gallagher will add to that process.
"He's very good at getting on the end of chances and to have a midfielder who can add goals is a huge quality because of course you always say you need a striker that scores 20 plus goals, but in reality you just need enough goals in the team," he said. "These days it can be a winger that is the top scorer so to have a midfielder who I think can add a good amount of goals in a full season is a huge quality and especially his ability to arrive in and around the box, whether we are banking teams in or from high pressure situations. He’s very good at that and I think he's a clever finisher."
Some fans are worried that the opportunities for game time for talented teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall will drop with the new signing expected to come straight into Frank's starting XI, but the Spurs boss believes they will play and learn from a midfielder who has featured heavily at three different Premier League clubs and in La Liga, while going to a World Cup and European Championship with England.
"No doubt about that. I think any club you need enough competition and quality. Right now it is like we swapped Rodri [Bentancur] for Gallagher and before that both Lucas and Archie played a lot of minutes," he said. "They are still in a great development [stage] and I think they are doing a lot of things right.
"There are not many 19-year-olds playing central midfield in the Premier League, so that says a lot about their quality and also a little bit about how rare it is."
Frank also has Solanke back in the fold again, returning to action just as Richarlison was lost for seven weeks to a hamstring injury, and the Tottenham boss is delighted to have a crucial player back while praising what the Brazilian managed in his absence.
"Very unfortunate with Richy. I think he’s done well. Someone told me that two seasons ago it was three 90 minutes [he played] and last season it was five. This season he played 12 games of 90 minutes, so he has done very well," said the head coach. "I saw a stat of strikers in the Premier League and something like Ekitike, Isak and Brentford's Thiago [have scored a lot], but the rest haven’t scored that many goals, others around have scored five, six or seven and he has eight, so Richy’s done very well.
"Of course Solanke what he brings is his personality. It is another voice in the changing room, before the game and on the pitch. I think his link-up and hold-up play is very good. He is good to come short or go in behind. He can press very well and I just think he is a top finisher."
Solanke will be hoping to benefit from Tottenham playing more through balls at a time in which the side have attempted just 11 of them in their 21 Premier League games, the fewest of any side this season. Nine players have attempted more than Spurs' entire squad total and for context, Manchester City have attempted 77 through balls, Arsenal 76, Manchester United 62, Chelsea 52 and Liverpool 50.
Frank was focused on the deep run stats as needing to improve otherwise there is nobody for a through ball to reach.
"We of course analyse every single game, looking with my own eyes and with the whole team behind it in what we’d like to achieve, and then sometimes you need the stats as well because you get some stats … for example, the deep run stats," he said. "We were bottom of that in the league and that’s a key thing.
"You need to run in behind if you want to score goals. That was a little bit down to [player] types. That’s a little down to training to enforce the message. And since that, the last seven or eight games, something like that, we gradually improved it more and more. So we have much more deep runs, from being very low we are gradually moving up [that table].
"So that’s a key theme for us, that we keep doing that. Because if you run in behind and you play behind, you will score goals and that’s not necessarily a 60-yard pass, that can be a 10 yard pass. So that’s the big, big thing. That’s a way to use the stats."
He added: "Then of course it's to keep working with our young players in Mathys Tel and Wilson [Odobert], to make them be more consistent, taking more of the right decisions. Kolo Muani, I thought he scored a great goal, unfortunately he was half a yard offside [against Villa].
"Hopefully that gives him a little bit of confidence. Worked very hard on that. Xavi, I think looks better and better. The way he took the game in the second-half [against Villa], I liked that. So those are the four you can say right now we are relying on. And I think Mathys, there are great signs. I think now Wilson scored, hopefully Kolo [next] so that hopefully helps in that sense and then Dom is coming back."
It is somewhat fitting that Frank will come up against Nuno Espirito Santo in the opposite dugout on Saturday. The Portuguese spent a brief spell in charge of Tottenham but never connected with the supporters and struggled to produce the kind of football to get them onside.
The current incumbent of the Spurs hotseat is very aware that he needs to connect with the fans in the stands as well as he does with the supporters he meets in person.
"Of course it’s important. It’s very important. Connecting is key. I think I’m quite good at connecting with people, actually. So that’s one thing, but I also know in football there is one way of connecting, and that is winning," he said.
"So when we start winning enough and we also start creating even more chances than we have done, which I’m not in doubt of, there is sign in the right direction of that, then I am quite convinced we will connect better and better. I’m not in doubt of that.
"I have no problem connecting with the fans. Every fan I meet, every fan that has approached me is lovely, open-minded, positive. I know it’s not as easy to connect after a game where you lose and don’t play that well.
"All the interaction I’ve had with Spurs fans has been top, I cannot praise them enough. I know they are super, super important for us. The thing we like to create together is an unbelievable fortress at home, and when the fans are believing, backing us, doing everything they can, plus we need to perform of course, then it’s a fantastic feeling."
The changes at the top at Tottenham continued this week with the appointment of Moersen, who will join from the City Football Group ahead of the summer transfer window, and the confirmation that sporting director Fabio Paratici will depart next month to join Fiorentina, just three months after returning to the Premier League club.
"Everything was negotiated between Fabio and Vinai. I spoke with Fabio yesterday and he's working very hard to make sure all his tasks are finished well and with top quality for Tottenham before he leaves," explained Frank.
With 12 new heads of department in the past nine months at the north London outfit, including the head coach, the Dane pointed to CEO Vinai Venkatesham as the man preventing instability and turmoil inside the building.
"I think Vinai has been exceptionally good at making everything tick, together with Johan [Lange] and Fabio, because with some of the new appointments, I still have a touchpoint with them, but I'm probably not the first 'go-to' all the time," he said. "They just make sure all their roles are aligned and all the great work they do is for the benefit of the club and improving it in the long-term."
When asked what the most important qualities are for a football hierarchy, he added: "With the leadership at the top: a couple of things: clear strategy, make sure we're all aligned, be calm, take sensible decisions."
There is a protest planned this weekend from disgruntled fans ahead of the West Ham match regarding Tottenham's transfer strategy, the lack of communication from the hierarchy with regards to the overall plan for the club and clarity over Paratici's future, which has since come.
"I think in terms of the transfer strategy, we can only prove that by good signings and doing things the right way, and if someone is negative and there's a bad history or whatever it is, the only way we can prove it is by changing it," said Frank.
"Of course, I can sit up here and talk a lot, but we need to show it by actions. So that's what we're doing, and I'll just say behind the scenes, the strategy, the structure, the process in place looks good and looks like the real thing, but we need to just show it consistently. I think the Conor Gallagher signing was a good step in the right direction."
So after a tough first few months at Tottenham, what would Thomas Frank go back and tell himself if he could travel back in time to those early weeks at the club in July last year. The Dane, whose two daughters and one son all live back in his homeland while he works in London, paused for a little while in deep thought.
"That's a good question. I think I have been very clear that it would not be straightforward. The first year, in many ways - not to talk too much about last season - it’s fair to say we’re in a bit of a transitional season, but where we still need to perform," he said.
"I still think we have performed a bit better to where we are - but the offensive play is something I look back at and I would say 'Please don’t get Dom, Maddison and Kulusevksi injured!'. But that’s not possible!"
