As the new Premier League season looms, all eyes are on Thomas Frank and the pivotal choices he faces as he takes charge at Tottenham Hotspur. Stepping into a high-pressure role, Frank must quickly determine how best to shape the squad and implement his tactical vision at a club eager to return to the top tier of English football. We spoke to James Trembath of LondonWorld to get his take on Frank’s task ahead.
00:00Now all eyes are on Thomas Frank and the pivotal choices he faces as he takes charge at Tottenham Hotspur.
00:09Stepping into a high-pressure role, Frank must quickly determine how best to shape the squad and implement his tactical vision.
00:19It's a club eager to return to the top end of English football.
00:23Frank's reputation for disciplined, organised football and developing youth talent will be put to the test at Spurs,
00:30where expectations are sky-high with a mix of established stars and promising newcomers.
00:36The biggest challenge is identifying which players can thrive in his system and lead the team forward.
00:43One significant question Frank faces is how to balance Spurs' attacking firepower with defensive solidity.
00:49A delicate tightrope in a league where margins are slim.
00:54Furthermore, integrating recent signings while maximising the potential of key existing players will be crucial to delivering results early on in the season.
01:04We spoke to James Trembath of London World to get his take on Frank's task ahead.
01:08He believes that while the summer has seen some squad adjustments, the success of the campaign will largely depend on Frank's ability to manage the dressing room and refine the team's style.
01:21And let's just look at Thomas Frank in terms of the changes he might make.
01:28What are you sort of expecting to go to that first game and see tactically what Frank's going to change?
01:34Obviously, Brentford, he played some really nice sort of expansive football and very free-flowing at times as well.
01:42But then also showed the side, as you mentioned before, is that adaptability that's so important that maybe Ange lacked.
01:49And we didn't quite see that Ange sort of had that with his team, that he could go in different situations,
01:55you know, whether it's away from home or somewhere you need to sort of lock up a bit more.
01:59Thomas Frank seems like he's became a bit of a master at doing that.
02:03And then at home, you know, Brentford's home record was incredible with Thomas Frank.
02:09So hopefully that's something he can transfer to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as well.
02:14Absolutely. And we absolutely have to get, you know, the new White Hart Lane into fortress mode.
02:19I mean, you know, you look at the last season at White Hart Lane, I think it was 17 wins, two draws.
02:25Absolutely fantastic. And, you know, the crowd, obviously, it was the last season,
02:28but it really translated onto the pitch that year.
02:32And that's something we haven't taken with us to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yet.
02:35There's been some terrific nights, you know, Man City in the Champions League,
02:40the first game against Crystal Palace and the semi-final first leg against Bodo would be all brilliant atmospheres.
02:46But it's been relatively flat and we just haven't got that groove, I think, yet.
02:50There's probably a little bit too much of an area of expectancy when Spurs turn up, you know,
02:54to think, well, we're going to beat these, so, you know, we don't need to sing, etc.
02:57So, he's already said Thomas Franke wants to make the home into a fortress and I think that's certainly point number one.
03:03But I think in terms of the tactical side of the game, the biggest difference is just going to be adaptability depending on the opposition.
03:11You know, he likes to play with that front three and I think, you know, it'll be very, very fluid.
03:16It'll be, you know, high press, you know, lots of attacking football again.
03:20I do think we'll have a much more solid base and that's what we're needed.
03:24So, you know, maybe that double pivot comes in as we were speaking about the number six role, absolutely essential.
03:29And, you know, depending on the opposition, he'll move to a back three, which may well suit Spurs.
03:35You know, you've got the likes of Adoghi and Porro who were wing-backs before.
03:40They morphed into that back four.
03:42They were bought as wing-backs initially.
03:43And it suits Spurs, you know, with those two bombing on.
03:48And then, you know, you look at the likes of Dragasin coming back from injury.
03:52You know, the jury is still out on Radu Dragasin, but he'd be much better in a back three.
03:57You know, he's a solid enough defender, just not with a high line when he's going to run back 40 yards.
04:00So, Talon, I think he's got an aura about Mkinski.
04:03You know, he's going to not lay down in that challenge for the number one spot.
04:07So, we saw at the back end of last season when he was playing, when Vicaria was rested, some of the long passing and ball distribution was exceptional.
04:15He's a good shot stopper.
04:17So, if he can brush up on that handling, which is pretty solid, then I, you know, have a sneaky feeling that, you know, maybe not at the start of the season,
04:25but certainly during the season, we might see Mkinski coming in as the number one goalkeeper.
04:29And again, you know, that will dictate in terms of the tactics that Frank wants to play.
04:32So, interesting, lots of things up for grabs, and it'll be interesting in the next couple of days when we get underway with the pre-season friendlies
04:39to see the approach Frank starts to take as things take shape.
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