Football London

Micky van de Ven has explained how he is trying to help Xavi Simons become a Tottenham success but believes his fellow Dutchman's multilingual ability will help him settle in quickly regardless.

The Netherlands internationals were two of the players to come out with any credit from Spurs' fortunate 2-2 draw against Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night in Norway. Van de Ven captained the side and headed home the goal that began the north London side's comeback and Xavi finally gave the hosts some attacking problems to deal with when he came on for the final half an hour.

Xavi arrived in N17 at the end of the summer transfer window in a £51.8million deal from RB Leipzig and has been gradually settling into life at Spurs, with head coach Thomas Frank mostly using him out wide on the left rather than in a slightly more central number 10 playmaker role that he mostly played in Germany.

Van de Ven has been trying to help the 22-year-old adjust to life at the north London club as quickly as possible.

"I speak a lot with him but what also helps him a lot is he speaks a lot of languages so he can get on with a lot of players as well," said the centre-back. "I try to help him on and off the pitch with every small detail he asks for. I’m there for him to help him as much as possible."

The defender has high hopes for Xavi's impact to come on the Tottenham team with his creativity something the team don't have much of due to the injuries to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

"He’s a really good player. He can create a lot of special things. I think you saw today he came on and did really well," said Van de Ven. "Most of the time he plays you can see the creativity he has on the wing, even if he plays there."

On Tuesday night, Frank chose Van de Ven as his captain with Cristian Romero left at home as a precaution following a contact injury suffered in the draw against Wolves. The Tottenham boss confirmed that the 24-year-old would be part of his new-look leadership group.

"Yes, I have made a decision. I haven't told the players yet, and that will be on Thursday. So I made the decision, but it's probably pretty obvious he will be [in that group]," said the Dane. "He has impressed me a lot as a player, but also as a communicator on the pitch. And a little bit of show of character. I think he was good today."

The Dutch defender was unaware of his inclusion in the group when asked after the game in Bodo.

"I don’t know about that, he hasn’t mentioned that yet, but it was a proud moment for myself to lead the group out in a Champions League game," he said. "It’s a moment you dream of when you’re a kid. I’m happy I could help the team and we got the point.

"To be honest I went into the game the same as I always do. It’s not like there is some extra pressure on you. I just did what I needed to do and tried to help the team as much as possible."

Spurs struggled for long periods at the Aspmyra Stadion on Tuesday night, with Bodo/Glimt controlling the possession and forcing them back into their own half. While the Premier League side dominated physically in the 2-0 win back in May in the Europa League semi-final second leg, this time they found themselves second best for much of the game in the small Norwegian town by the sea.

However, with the hosts 2-0 up, Van de Ven's goal opened the door to a comeback with his header from Mohammed Kudus' cross and after both sides hit the woodwork late on, in the 89th minute an Archie Gray shot was saved by the goalkeeper only to bounce into the net off Bodo defender Jostein Gundersen to spare the team's blushes.

"I think it shows our mentality. From our side, it was a really difficult game. We were 2-0 down and I think it shows our mentality to come back to 2-2 and get a point," explained Van de Ven.

"Today was not our best performance, of course. We struggled a bit today. Bodo was better. We didn’t get the pressure on the game as well. But at the end of the game it shows our mentality. We need to play better than today, overall."

Tottenham also had a goal ruled out after Rodrigo Bentancur had tucked home a Brennan Johnson shot because Van de Ven was caught pulling a Bodo players' shirt in the box by VAR.

"I only saw it on the VAR screen. First of all I didn’t even know it was me!" admitted the defender. "But then I saw it on the screen and I think I pulled his jersey a bit and he fell down straight away. It was the decision of the referee. I didn’t see it back properly so I can’t talk about [whether it was harsh or not]."

Spurs also had to rely on a late Joao Palhinha goal on Saturday to rescue a point at home against bottom side Wolves and Tuesday's skipper for the game was asked whether it was a sustainable way forward to keep having to come from behind.

"We did it twice now and it shows the mentality of the team. It’s not every time we are going behind and we just want to make a comeback. That’s not what happens," he said. "Of course, we need to make sure most of the times we are in front in the last couple of minutes but I think it shows our mentality."

Van de Ven added that the players are still going through the process of switching from a very different tactical style under Ange Postecoglou to Frank's demands and ways.

"I think it’s all clear. Of course when there is a new manager you need to adapt a bit and probably need some time as well," he said. "But we know what to do. So it’s not a thing that’s [about a] change of manager of course. But we know what to do and that’s most important."

Frank made five changes to his team on Tuesday night from the one that drew with Wolves and it needed those rested players to come back in from the bench and help salvage a point. Van de Ven believes that everyone is giving their all even if some need time to find their rhythm.

"Every player that comes into the team has some quality. You have some players who don’t really have the rhythm but it doesn’t really change something for myself or for the team," he said. "Every player that comes in needs to play his best and I think everyone tries to do that every time he comes into the team."

Thomas Frank has plenty of questions to answer at his press conference after Tottenham's fortunate 2-2 draw at Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday evening in the Champions League.

A Jens Petter Hauge double was exactly what the Norwegian hosts deserved as they overwhelmed an error-strewn Spurs side for much of the encounter only for Tottenham captain for the day Micky van de Ven to head a goal back. Then in the 89th minute an Archie Gray shot was saved by the goalkeeper only to bounce into the net off Bodo defender Jostein Gundersen to spare Thomas Frank's team's blushes.

It was another late comeback after Saturday's draw against Wolves and it was nowhere near the physical levels shown by the north London side when they first came to the small Norwegian town by the sea in their 2-0 victory at the Aspmyra Stadion in the Europa League semi-final second leg back in May.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank after this latest game on Tuesday night. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at the Aspmyra Stadion.

How do you analyse that one? Obviously the character to battle back, but maybe fortunate to still be in that position to do so?

I think definitely big character to fight back. I think that's hugely important in any team that they have that and keep running, keep fighting, keep doing the right thing.

And I also think we, even that I think after the 2-0 I think we were in a strange way better. Maybe because Bodo dropped back maybe we took more initiative, you know sometimes that's the momentum of the game. But I felt that we kept doing the right thing, we kept moving the ball, kept reducing the situation from the side.

And showed great character to come back into the game, which I'm very, very pleased with. But big praise to Bodo. I think until the 2-0 they were the best team today.

I think after that the game changed a bit and I think we got more on top. And of course scored the 2-1 and then changed the equaliser. So they just showed exactly what I expected from them today.

Of course I hope we could have done a little bit more first half. Got a little bit more into the high pressure in situations. And I would say especially on the ball I felt we could and should have kept the ball better in situations.

Both a little bit of structure, a little bit brave. A little bit on the day where you just need better touches, better decisions, better passes.

I think that's the third time in the last four games you've conceded first and then come back and stage these dramatic equalisers. Why do you think you're struggling to control games in the beginning at the moment?

That can be various reasons. I think against Wolves we had no problem controlling in the beginning. I think we were by far the best team against Wolves in the first half.

I think Brighton was a different game. I think also we were by far the best team in the first half. Just conceded one fairly well played goal and as we talk about a game, a goal that should have been conceded. Today I felt we struggled in the first half. So I think that's the only time we struggled in the three games against a very good Bodo team. Up here, a lot of teams will struggle when they play against them here. So it's just fair play to Bodo.

Was it the plan in the first half to sit back and try to get them on the counter or was that kind of imposed upon you by the way that they played?

I think that was what we wanted. Hopefully also you saw that we went high pressure sometimes. It was not that we never went high pressure.

So the plan was both to go into the high pressure, which we did on several occasions, and also succeed with those situations, and then there were times when we were a little bit more banked in.

You know, exactly that we were four months ago, because they're very, very good at what they're doing. And then I think the counters should have been a little bit better. But I think the main bit was that when we were on the ball, we threw the ball away too quick.

There's been a lot of discussions about VAR in Norwegian football in the last couple of years, what's your reflection on today's situation and the use of VAR overall?

That's a good question. I'm of this opinion that VAR, it's here, and definitely I know there was a vote in Norway that you tried to vote against it and get rid of it.

I don't think that's possible in Premier League and Champions League. So when it's not possible to get rid of it, I'm a little bit 'OK, I deal with it'. It is what it is, and I think in some occasions it's good. Because you get hopefully the correct decisions when you don't get it normally.

But of course there's others where it's too... you can actually discuss that one goal got disallowed. And actually the other one, they also looked into the equaliser. Both of them without VAR had just been goals. So we would have scored two goals, so that would have been favouring us. Because they were so 50-50 even. But I think the one where you oversee a clear penalty or a clear red card, that's where I think VAR is very good.

Bodo were quite dominant, especially in the first half, maybe until the second goal. Were there any parts of the game that surprised you?

I think they did exactly what I expected them to do in terms of how they wanted to play out, what they wanted to do, how they wanted to put our pressure.

I think the only little tweak was they were a little bit more flexible in the midfield rotation and a little bit more with the wingers coming inside. So that was a little bit more flexible compared to, let's say, last game. So that was a tweak that maybe created a few problems in the first half, I think a little less in the second half.

Even that they scored the goals, there were various reasons. Because actually the way we wanted to press, we just decided not to do at the 1-0 goal, even if it's a fantastic finish from Hogh.

With no Romero today, you picked Micky van de Ven as your captain. Can you talk us through your reasoning behind that, how you felt he performed, and also is he now part of the leadership group? Have you made a decision on that?

Thank you for that. Yes, I have made a decision. I haven't told the players yet, and that will be on Thursday. So I made the decision, but it's probably pretty obvious he will be. He has impressed me a lot as a player, but also as a communicator on the pitch. And a little bit of show of character. I think he was good today.

Last time Tottenham came here and they dominated in a physical way. Today we didn't see that same physical domination. What do you think went wrong in that sense of the game?

It's a good question, but I agree. We didn't see it in the same way. Bodo were a little bit more aggressive in the duels than we were. Were we less? I don't know. That I probably need to revisit the game to see. But what I would say is that visually, looking with my eyes, it looked more even, tending to Bodo being more strong in certain duels.

You've got so many games coming up thick and fast, and you're having to juggle a lot of different players and missing players, are you maybe struggling to find the right blend and balance between certain starting XIs?

I think that's too early to judge, in my opinion. You can say we didn't play our best first half today, but I think I made it very clear from the beginning I have a big respect for Bodo, and everyone should have for what they do and what Kjetil Knutsen is doing.

I think it's also fair to say that we didn't touch the ball in the first half last year either, and it was still 0-0 at that half. I think they were slightly better today in the first half, Bodo, so I think that's more respect to them.

I think it's also fair to say that it went quite well against Wolves in the first half, so I know that's a bigger perspective. I think it's overall, you can say with a lot of games, that go-to starting XI you like to find at a certain stage, that's something I'm looking into, which is normal. New coach, new players, and we still need to do a little bit of rotation.

I think that was what we wanted. Hopefully also you saw that we went high pressure sometimes. It was not that we never went high pressure.

So the plan was both to go into the high pressure, which we did on several occasions, and also succeed with those situations, and then there were times when we were a little bit more banked in.

You know, exactly that we were four months ago, because they're very, very good at what they're doing. And then I think the counters should have been a little bit better. But I think the main bit was that when we were on the ball, we threw the ball away too quick.

I think definitely big character to fight back. I think that's hugely important in any team that they have that and keep running, keep fighting, keep doing the right thing.

And I also think we, even that I think after the 2-0 I think we were in a strange way better. Maybe because Bodo dropped back maybe we took more initiative, you know sometimes that's the momentum of the game. But I felt that we kept doing the right thing, we kept moving the ball, kept reducing the situation from the side.

And showed great character to come back into the game, which I'm very, very pleased with. But big praise to Bodo. I think until the 2-0 they were the best team today.

I think after that the game changed a bit and I think we got more on top. And of course scored the 2-1 and then changed the equaliser. So they just showed exactly what I expected from them today.

Of course I hope we could have done a little bit more first half. Got a little bit more into the high pressure in situations. And I would say especially on the ball I felt we could and should have kept the ball better in situations.

Both a little bit of structure, a little bit brave. A little bit on the day where you just need better touches, better decisions, better passes.

Tottenham returned to Bodo and left with a share of the spoils as they somehow salvaged a 2-2 draw in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

A Jens Petter Hauge double was exactly what the hosts deserved as they overwhelmed their error-strewn guests only for captain for the day Micky van de Ven to head a goal back and then in the 89th minute an Archie Gray shot was saved by the goalkeeper only to bounce into the net off Bodo defender Jostein Gundersen to spare Thomas Frank's side's blushes.

Spurs were back in the small Norwegian town by the sea just four months on from their 2-0 victory at the Aspmyra Stadion in the Europa League semi-final second leg back in May. This time it was for Bodo/Glimt's first home game in the Champions League proper and the town was awash with yellow ahead of the game, with flags hanging from almost every home.

Frank made five changes to his Tottenham starting line-up from the team that snatched a draw from Wolves on Saturday evening. Captain Cristian Romero missed the trip to the town above the Arctic Circle as a precaution and the visitors missed his assertiveness in the tackle and on the ball.

All of the first half pressure came from the home side with a noisy crowd behind them and on 32 minutes, Bodo/Glimt were awarded a penalty which was just reward for their efforts. Rodrigo Bentancur's late lunge brought down Frederik Andre Bjorkan wide on the left of the Spurs box. The Uruguayan's blushes were spared though when Kasper Hogh blazed his penalty into the net, but it was the netting hung high over the crossbar to prevent the ball from flying out of the stadium and into the road behind.

Another let off came just before the break when Sondre Brunstad Fet found himself free eight yards out only to fire well over and ensure Tottenham somehow escaped into the dressing room for the interval with the game goalless.

Thomas Frank made no changes at the break and the hosts kept on coming and finally grabbed the goal they deserved on 53 minutes. Hauge cut inside from the left, turned Porro inside out and curled a shot into the far corner of the net.

Spurs thought they had grabbed an equaliser just two minutes later when Bentancur turned in Brennan Johnson's shot after Porro's free-kick hit the post. However, the referee Ivan Kruzliak was advised by VAR to head to his pitch-side screen after a shirt pull from Van de Ven on Odin Bjortuft and the effort was ruled out.

On 65 minutes, Hauge again left Porro in his wake before smashing a low shot into the bottom right corner. Van de Ven headed home a deep Porro cross to grab a goal back three minutes later though and Spurs went close to a leveller on 83 minutes when Wilson Odobert sent a header against the left-hand post from substitute Mohammed Kudus' cross.

The hosts hit the woodwork late on themselves through substitute Andreas Helmersen only for Tottenham to grab that late second goal when substitute Archie Gray's shot was saved but bounced back off Bodo defender Gundersen and into the net to hand the London side a barely-deserved point.

Here are our Tottenham player ratings:

Guglielmo Vicario

Had to make an early save from Berg and then a comfortable one from Bjortuft. Couldn't do much about the finishes from Hauge. 5

Pedro Porro

Turned inside out for both of Hauge's goals. Did hit the post with one free-kick in the second half before delivering a great cross for Van de Ven's goal to balance out his score. 5

Kevin Danso

Back in the team and mixed some aimless passing with some vital early blocks. Looked all at sea at times alongside the backline. 4

Micky van de Ven

Captain for the day and he was penalised for a shirt pull that ruled out Bentancur's goal but then headed home himself after Bodo's second. Did try to lead Spurs on and push them up the pitch in the second half. Lost his head with a late sliding tackle somewhat. 6

Djed Spence

Going through a sticky run at the moment with some poor passing and worse deliveries. 4

Pape Matar Sarr

Started the game with some sloppy moments in possession. Didn't get much better from then on. 4

Rodrigo Bentancur

Gave away the penalty in the first half with a misjudged lunge. Thought he'd got a leveller only for Van de Ven's shirt pull. 5

Lucas Bergvall

Made a great early break that should have ended with a better Richarlison effort. Was overwhelmed with the midfield from then on. 5

Brennan Johnson

Another game where he struggled to contribute much and their missed penalty came from him ducking out of an aerial battle. A poor night. 3

Richarlison

Scuffed a ball from Bergvall that should have been put away. Was pretty poor for most of the game but did help force the leveller. 4

Wilson Odobert

Had a couple of bright moments on the ball amid Spurs' dreadful first half. Was quiet in the second half until sending a header against the post. 5

Subs

Xavi Simons

Spurs needed him on the pitch and he at least got them going forward. 6

Mohammed Kudus

Offered much more than Johnson and grabbed an assist with his cross to Van de Ven. 7

Joao Palhinha

Increased the midfield control slightly. 6

Archie Gray

Made a late impact with his shot saved and bouncing in off the defender. 7

Destiny Udogie

Thomas Frank has made five changes to his Tottenham starting line-up to face Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

Just four months on from their 2-0 victory at the Aspmyra Stadion in the Europa League semi-final second leg back in May, Spurs are back in the small Norwegian coastal town above the Arctic Circle for their return to away trips in Europe's top competition.

Frank remains without strikers Dominic Solanke, who is set to have a minor procedure on his ankle, and Randal Kolo Muani, although the Frenchman's dead leg is improving. Captain Cristian Romero has been left at home as a precaution after his part in the last-gasp draw against Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Ben Davies is back on the bench following his recovery from a twisted knee.

Pedro Porro is back in the team after being rested from the starting line-up at the weekend. In midfield Pape Matar Sarr returns in the centre of the pitch and Frank has decided that Joao Palhinha gets a rest as does Mohammed Kudus.

Brennan Johnson comes into the team with his experience against Bodo/Glimt as does Wilson Odobert with Xavi Simons stepping out of the starting XI after a disappointing showing against Wolves ready to come on and impact the game as it wears on.

Frank has had to also take into account that Tottenham are back in action in the Premier League in Saturday's lunchtime game at Leeds United. Micky van de Ven has been named as captain for the game.

Here's the Tottenham team Frank has selected:

Almost every other home in Bodo has one of the Norwegian club's big yellow flags flapping in the breeze on a pole attached to their wall, even some of the boats do in the harbour.

Everything circles around the football club. Well to be honest, everything in the town by the sea has to circle around it because it's a rather self-contained place due to its size. You can walk across the main area of Bodo, which sits above the Arctic Circle, in about 15 minutes.

Come out of the airport, walk across the small car park and the adjoining road and you're in the town. Five minutes more and you're looking over the Norwegian sea. Somewhere in between and you'll pass the Aspmyra Stadion, where Tottenham came, saw and conquered in May on its artificial surface and will be hoping to do so again on Tuesday night.

The proximity of it all means you'll see aeroplanes taking off behind one of the stands at the stadium that holds a little over 8,000 people. Bodo could have sold tickets for this game three or four times over such is the clamour to watch their Champions League debut in the league phase.

Some even turned out on Tuesday morning for the UEFA Youth League match between the two clubs' U19s which ended in a 6-0 win for the north London outfit, with captain Callum Olusesi in particular impressing and bagging two of the goals. Luca Williams-Barnett and Jun'ai Byfield came off the bench for Wayne Burnett's side and were later seen making their way through Bodo's town centre on a couple of stand-on scooters.

It wasn't just the fans of both clubs watching the Spurs and Bodo/Glimt players of the future on Tuesday morning as some of Tottenham's new-look hierarchy were in attendance.

Vivienne Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher, two of the powerful figures behind the Lewis family's public backing of the new regime at the club, were sat up in the stands at the Aspmyra Stadion watching the youngsters in their black away kits win comfortably.

They were joined by Matthew Collecott, Spurs' director of finance and operations as well as the group operations and finance director of ENIC, the company that the Lewis family run which ultimately has the controlling stake in Spurs. Collecott is the last remaining member of the three-strong, long-serving old regime on the board that included former executive chairman Daniel Levy and executive director Donna Maria Cullen.

The Lewis family's presence at the youth game was notable for two reasons. Firstly, because Levy was never spotted at such matches, and secondly because their presence comes amid the third expression of interest in a takeover this month, this time from an American consortium headed up by DJ turned tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick.

Sources close to the Lewis family maintain they have zero interest in selling the club to anyone and Spurs have public declared that same message along with "unequivocally rejecting" all three expressions of interest, the first from an Asian consortium and the second from former Newcastle director Amanda Staveley and PCP International Finance, who later announced their intention not to pursue a bid.

While you might say that anyone looking to drive up the price would maintain they have no intention to sell, for Lewis and Beucher to turn up on Tuesday morning to watch the youngsters play ahead the main first team match which kicks off at 9pm Norwegian time does not reek of people desperate to let go of what they have in their hands.

Rejecting such approaches of course does place the spotlight firmly on how heavy the Lewis family will back the Lilywhites financially in the coming transfer window and whether things do truly kick on from the Levy-led ENIC era.

Spurs technical director Johan Lange was also present as were first team coaches Stuart Lewis, Dean Brill and Andreas Georgson.

Lange, Lewis and Beucher all went for a walk alongside the sea later in the afternoon with Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham, the bearded Beucher leading much of the conversation with his American accent, having been to Bodo before.

Another presence in Norway but not on that walk is Fabio Paratici, fresh from receiving his 18-month suspended jail sentence for those well-documented problems at Juventus. The Italian flew over to Bodo on Monday amid expectation that the club's former managing director of football will eventually return from his consultancy role into a more official position again despite the latest goings-on around him.

In Norway, the streets of Bodo are busier than normal ahead of the game, although for the English media there has been less focus, perhaps because Tottenham were here just four months ago in what was a bigger game, certainly in terms of the desperate need to triumph.

That meant just five journalists from the UK made the trip for Thomas Frank's pre-match press conference on Monday night at the stadium, although they were still enough in numbers to slightly annoy the Spurs head coach, particularly when it came to the latest injury news, while the local media attempted to rile him in a different way.

Frank will have found out by now that nobody does injuries quite like Tottenham Hotspur and that's why he will constantly get questions about them, especially the ones that drag on and on like Dominic Solanke's ankle has this season and Randal Muani with the deadest of dead legs.

The Spurs head coach is not too keen on giving out injury news unless asked specifics are asked and even then you are not guaranteed an exact answer. To be fair to Frank, other Tottenham managers have had to go down the same route as injuries have taken longer to heal than initially expected. Honesty, or at least the full picture, has not always proved to be the best policy at Hotspur Way.

With Solanke, his ankle problem has rumbled on since the summer, meaning he has yet to start a competitive match this season after suffering the injury while miskicking a ball in training. He appeared to be on the way back after returning to sessions with his Spurs team-mates this month.

That came after an injection into the England international's ankle in the September international break that initially appeared to settle it down. Solanke continued to feel discomfort in his foot though and had to stop training.

In recent press conferences, Spurs journalists have worked in a pincer movement to get as much information out of Frank as possible on Solanke, with the fanbase frustrated, and on Monday the 51-year-old confirmed to football.london that the striker is set to have a minor procedure on his ankle that should only keep him out for a few weeks more, with the coming international break also taking up part of that.

Such is the pessimism among Tottenham supporters and reporters after last season's horrendous injury lists, there was always an expectation that Solanke would require surgery and it was just a matter of time.

When football.london followed up and asked if it had felt like a wasted month or so for the England international, Frank started to show the first slight hints of irritation.

"I think you can look from two ways. That's the easy answer, but it's not that easy. If we knew we could have done the surgery a month ago, we probably would have done it. So for me, I'm always like I imagine, ‘oh, it is what it is, we deal from now’," he said. "No doubt that the way we dealt with this was because we thought that was the right way because I think in general, no one wants a surgery, no matter how small it is."

Frank also admitted that captain Cristian Romero had not travelled to Bodo as a precaution. This was how the exchange went with one reporter attempting to get a little more detail on the skipper.

"Just following up on Romero. What was the issue?", asked the journalist. "Just precaution," replied the Spurs boss. "Is it a muscle," came the follow-up. "No, just precaution," replied the Dane with a smile that suggested anything but happiness.

Those were the final two questions of the press conference and perhaps it was the local Norwegian media who had tipped him towards being more irritated than normal.

In May, Bodo/Glimt player Frederik Sjovold had said that Tottenham's pressing was.... let's say bad in the first leg and that was put to Ange Postecoglou by the Norwegian media back then to which he simply said: "That's okay. There is a game tomorrow. All those things will be answered."

This time, it was put to Frank that Bodo goalkeeper Nikita Haikin had said earlier in the day that it was unusual to see a team like Spurs with their attacking style of football going for long throws and set-pieces everywhere on the pitch and what did the Dane think of that?

"Who said that, sorry?," he said and when told he retorted. "OK. Erm, I personally think that set-pieces are an extremely important part of football. Isn't there a stat that 33 per cent or something like that that all goals are scored from set-pieces?

"So I think it's clever to utilise a third of your opportunities to try to score a goal. I'm happy, that's a fine comment. If you think that's a strength of ours, I'm happy with that."

To be fair to Haikin, his actual quotes were more positive sounding about Spurs being dangerous from set pieces than being a criticism as the question had come across in the press conference to Frank.

Either way, Frank was still able to maintain his composure despite the slightest hints of irritation. He will be cheered by the fact that his key midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is close to agreeing a new contract with Spurs with his current deal heading towards its close this summer.

As it was back in May for his predecessor, Frank will be hoping this Tottenham team and Bentancur again do their talking on the pitch at the Aspmyra Stadion and it will be with some powerful figures behind them looking on.

Rodrigo Bentancur is close to agreeing a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur, football.london understands.

The 28-year-old Uruguayan midfielder has been a mainstay of the Spurs team since arriving from Juventus in January 2021 and has clocked up 121 appearances for the club, scoring nine times and laying on eight assists. That is despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him for nine months in 2023.

The three-time Serie A winner was a key figure under Antonio Conte after joining the club and continued to be a central player under Ange Postecoglou after returning to fitness from that ACL injury and subsequent ankle ligament injury that almost immediately kept him out for a further month.

Bentancur was an integral part of Spurs' Europa League-winning run last season, playing in 13 of the 15 matches including the final against Manchester United as he and the team lifted the trophy in Bilbao.

The experienced midfielder has now become a driving force of Thomas Frank's side so far this season and has featured in all but one match for the Dane, having been rested for the win at West Ham during Spurs' hectic schedule.

The Uruguay international's contract is due to expire next summer alongside fellow midfielder Yves Bissouma's. While Tottenham were looking to sell the Mali international this year only for a knee injury to scupper those plans, Bentancur's new deal has been a priority for the club after tying down his skipper and close friend Cristian Romero to a bumper new long-term contract.

Now football.london understands Bentancur and Tottenham are close to agreeing a new deal which will keep him at the club for the foreseeable future.

"I think first and foremost, I am very happy with Rodri. He has been a very good player for us, a top professional in every aspect," Frank said recently. "I am happy with him, he is happy with being here. I know that for a fact. Let us see what is going to happen in the future."

The Tottenham head coach had told football.london out on the summer tour to Asia of Bentancur: "I was pretty sure he would be a key player [before I started working with him], so that's not been a surprise. That's a player, of course I think is important for the future."

Now Bentancur, who is out in Norway preparing for Tottenham's Champions League match at Bodo/Glimt, looks set to ensure he is part of that future at Tottenham under the Dane as he closes in on that new contract.

Thomas Frank has plenty of key decisions to make across the pitch as Tottenham face Bodo/Glimt in Norway on Tuesday evening in the Champions League.

Spurs have travelled back to the Norwegian town above the Arctic Circle just four months after winning there 2-0 in the Europa League semi-final second leg back in May. Frank must name his own side to perform on the artificial turf of the Aspmyra Stadion on Tuesday night for the north London side's first away game in the league phase encounter after their opening win against Villarreal.

Frank remains without strikers Dominic Solanke, who is set to have a minor procedure on his ankle, and Randal Kolo Muani, while captain Cristian Romero has been left at home as a precaution after his part in the last-gasp draw against Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Spurs boss must decide on his two full-backs with Pedro Porro likely to return after being rested from the starting line-up at the weekend.

In midfield Pape Matar Sarr could return to the centre of the pitch and Frank must decide which of the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall gets a rest.

The Dane could choose to bring Brennan Johnson into the team with his experience against Bodo/Glimt and that might mean Xavi Simons steps out of the starting XI after a disappointing showing against Wolves ready to come on and impact the game as it wears on.

Frank must also take into account that Tottenham are back in action in the Premier League in Saturday's lunchtime game at Leeds United.

Here's the Tottenham team we think Frank might select:

Lucas Bergvall has explained that Thomas Frank has changed him into more of a number 10 at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The 19-year-old exploded on to the scene last season under Ange Postecoglou after arriving from Djurgarden and following an ankle injury towards the end of the campaign, the Swedish midfielder has returned this time around keen to make amends. That has brought a stream of impressive performances for Spurs with three assists in nine games and a delightful headed goal against West Ham this month.

That means Bergvall is only one assist away from matching his goal involvements for all of last season after less than a quarter of this season has passed.

Frank recently spoke about the work he has been doing with Bergvall in adding elements to his game and calming his play down in other moments. football.london asked the teenager what he felt he had added to his armoury under the Dane.

"It's a great question. I feel like I'm getting better every day. I played a bit of an eight in the beginning, now more of a 10 in the end," he said. "And it feels like I'm adding more and more to my game every day.

"So yeah, I try to help the team with contributions, with goals and assists as well. So just getting better every day and improving, yeah."

Bergvall missed the Europa League semi-final victory in Bodo in May with that ankle injury and now he is looking forward to making up for lost time in the Champions League in the Norwegian town with a Tottenham side that now knows how to win a European trophy.

"Yes, it's a big difference," said the Swede. "It's the best thing for me, as a player, to achieve to win the Champions League. It’s next level, but it's going to be a good game. A tough game. Bodo/Glimt is a good team, so we need to go out there and perform well."

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank had plenty of injury updates at his press conference in Norway ahead of the Champions League game at Bodo/Glimt.

Spurs are back in the Norwegian town by the sea following the Europa League semi-final second leg back in May and will again play on the artificial turf of the Aspmyra Stadion on Tuesday night for the league phase encounter. Frank had mixed updates on the injuries to strikers Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani as well as news on skipper Cristian Romero after the last-gasp draw against Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank in Bodo. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at the Aspmyra Stadion.

Can I check on the team news please? How is Dominic Solanke, Randal Kolo Muani and also Cristian Romero didn't seem to be training today?

Dom, you know, got that ankle issue that's been bothering him for a little while. So now we decided to make a minor surgery. It's a small procedure. So that will mean he's not ready for today, of course. And of course, Leeds he's out as well. We will have more news about time frame after the international break. But I don't expect it to be long.

Kolo Muani, I think now we're finally on top of his dead leg. So there's also progress there. So that's good. And Cuti [not travelling] was just precaution.

I can't imagine you generally look back at matches from previous seasons, but it wasn't really that long ago that Tottenham won here in a big match, have you looked at it and what can you take from it?

Yeah, I've looked at that game, of course. But I've also looked at a lot of other games of Bodo. I think they're a fantastic team. I think their club is fantastic. I think their story is unique in many ways. I'm pretty sure that the whole of Europe knows about Bodo, because I think it's a little bit of a fairytale. I like, of course, that Scandinavian link between Denmark and Norway.

So of course I follow them a little bit, maybe a tiny bit closer, and the background I'm coming from, to see how they have built that club through years of some core group of people, aligning strategy, structure, hard work over years.

And then just build a smaller club suddenly to be the absolute force in Norway and now competing in the Europe over many seasons. That's extremely impressive, I think. Kjetil Knutsen and his staff is remarkable, what they have done. Their style of play is quite unique in many ways. Extremely well-coached team. Big praise, I admire them a lot.

What can you take from that particular performance?

That's one performance. That's the game. How many months is that? Four months ago. With all due respect, I was not the coach. Some group of players, they have some group of players. This is a new game. This is a new situation. We go into it with huge respect. For Bodo, it's going to be very difficult [for us]. Their home record here in European games, all that's unique, with I think 31 wins out of 39, something like that. They apparently have scored in more or less every home game in 46 games in a row. We know what we are facing. Of course, we also have to trust in ourselves.

You chose not to train here tonight, you talk about their home advantage so why do you choose not to train here?

Because we have one training session. If we have training here and we want to do a little bit of tactical, with all due respect I think it would be a little bit more obvious what we would do. That's the thing we like to keep for ourselves. Then, yes, you can say if we train here for how long we are allowed, 45 minutes, Is that going to make a difference? I know the surface is different. If you really want to get used to it, I think you need to train here day in, day out as Bodo do. We are ready for that challenge. But for me, mainly, mainly, mainly, it was the tactical reason.

Stale Solbakken told us you're the nicest man in the world but you also had a few run-ins, what was your relationship like with hi?

Stale, when we are in Copenhagen, you can have a few infights in that area. But Stale is a man and a football coach I admire a lot. What he built in Copenhagen was also incredible over many, many, many years. Now he is here representing his country. They have started very well, so I am very happy on his behalf in many ways. A good colleague and good friend in the football environment.

Bodo have a lot of Norwegian players, what do you make of it?

A little bit on that, as you say more or less Norwegian players, and a few Danish players as well, of course. Just to add a spark, no, jokes aside. That makes it even more impressive, I think, that you do it with more or less Norwegian players built from this country. It is remarkable.

What is the best team in Scandinavia? Is it Copenhagen or Bodo?

You put me on the spot there. I think, let me put it this way, I would like to see a match between the two teams. There was a lot of talk about Malmö and Copenhagen when they played each other in the quarter, not the play-off, the one before. I think that would be very interesting between the two styles. I think they are very close to each other, I must admit. What was the first question? I forgot it because you put me on the spot.

What is Bodo's biggest weakness and how do you plan to exploit it?

I think I would rather like to say about their biggest strength is their structure in the way they play. They are so well coached, so their patterns are so clear, which I think is a huge strength. So, I'm very aware that we are... Yes, we come from the Premier League and so on but we also see last year that we had to defend very well. No doubt about that. They are so good and clear in how they want to do things. And also they play very, very quick on this pitch.

We've seen a lot of improvements already in the defence of this team since you arrived. I just wonder what you think of the creativity in the last few weeks and how you see where improvements can be made in that department?

I think in terms of the creativity or maybe creating more chances, dominating a bit more, I think the Brighton game was a very good game. I think the first half against Wolves was good, we didn't score, but I think all the right signs were there, so I think it's a step forward.

As I said before, I think it's natural. Last year, most of the game, it was Kulusevski, Maddison, Sonny and Dom who played more or less the front four.

Now we have more or less a new front four and they are doing very well. One of them sitting next to me is doing very well, having a very good start to the season. I think they're gelling more and more together and we try to give them the best patterns and principles.

Do you feel like it's been a bit of a wasted month almost with Dom because of trying to get him back into training?

I think you can look from two ways. That's the easy answer, but it's not that easy. If we knew we could have done the surgery a month ago, we probably would have done it. So for me, I'm always like I imagine, ‘oh, it is what it is, we deal from now’.

No doubt that the way we dealt with this was because we thought that was the right way because I think in general, no one wants a surgery, no matter how small it is.

The goalkeeper, Nikita Haikin, said earlier today that it was unusual to see a team like Spurs going for long throws and set-pieces everywhere on the pitch? What do you make of that?

Who said that, sorry?

The goalkeeper, Nikita.

OK. Erm, I personally think that set-pieces are an extremely important part of football. Isn't there a stat that 33 per cent or something like that that all goals are scored from set-pieces?

So I think it's clever to utilise a third of your opportunities to try to score a goal. I'm happy, that's a fine comment. If you think that's a strength of ours, I'm happy with that.

How big a difference does the pitch make? I know everybody always talks about it, but would you have to change tactical approach according to the pitch?

No, not really a tactical approach. Of course we are aware. It's the same in Denmark, when I was coach for Brøndby, we were facing Nordsjaelland at that time.

It was also a different surface. It's the same today. It's fine. They're good here, they're very good at home. For me, I think there's a lot of talk about the pitch. I rather want to praise the team, the Bodo team, and their coach, what they do.

Because they do it quite consistently, home and away, the way they play. So I'm pretty sure they get the answer or the question sometimes, can they play on grass when they go away from home? Of course they can. So it's a feature pitch. Players like Lucas have played on them their whole life. Lots of our players have played there.

I know we need to speak about it, but I think, I'm pretty sure all the journalists, Kjetil, myself, all the players just want to talk about football.

Just following up on Romero. What was the issue?

Just precaution.

Is it muscle?

No, just precaution.