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  • 2 months ago
Tottenham Hotspurs boss Thomas Frank on scraping by with a draw and Palhinha's celebration

27/09/2025

Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
Transcript
00:00Hi Thomas.
00:01Hi.
00:02Is maybe tonight a little reminder that it's still early days for everyone here and the
00:06squad?
00:07Yeah, yeah, you can say that, yeah, I think that's probably fair to say, I think first
00:21half was good, I was happy with that in many ways, I felt we were on top, controlled it,
00:28created two or three very good chances, got into a lot of dangerous situations where
00:34we didn't create a chance, we should have created more, and you know, you're thinking
00:39okay, then, you know, it's very good, produced a lot of crosses, this, you know, we're on
00:43track, football, you can't, it's not like you, oh, Wolves, please roll over, you know,
00:48all that, it's the Premier League, it is extremely competitive, so you're going into second half
00:54and I think, hmm, okay, you know, it's hopefully, I know it's not like, you know, like, you know,
01:01just score, but I think, okay, it could be good, I think the big change in the second half was
01:10probably their goal, that changed the momentum of the game, and then, sorry, at half-time
01:15they changed to a 5-3-2.
01:16So, I think that made it more difficult, not that we didn't know that they could do
01:24it, but, you know, of course, then, how do we get the message across to the players?
01:30Of course, we got a little bit about the pressure, right?
01:33And then that goal probably did, that we lost a bit of structure and coolness, to put
01:40more passes together, to get up into the right positions, cross it from the right area, produce
01:48from the right areas, instead of put a cross in from your weaker foot, from a difficult position,
01:54shoot from 30 yards, even though the crowd screams shoot.
01:58But I like the effort mentality, and I think it's huge, actually, and I mean that to get
02:06a point on a night when it was not perfect, especially not second half.
02:10Now, it's the two times in a row we managed to come back.
02:13I think that tells a lot about the players, and I think, yes, we want free floating, yes,
02:17we want more.
02:19We didn't hit our highest performance level today, but then when you're down 90 plus,
02:26and then get a point, I think that's positive.
02:29I just wonder what you thought of Xavi tonight.
02:31It felt like he struggled to get into his rhythm.
02:33Yeah, I think that's fair to say.
02:35I think Xavi, he had some good actions, also carrying the ball forward, and you had to
02:43foul him three or four times.
02:45But there was a situation where he was not as sharp, I think that's fair to say.
02:50I think he will say the same himself.
02:53But I also think it's natural.
02:57We're coming into a new team, new league, and find that rhythm quick is difficult.
03:05And I also think that we said the other time, I think we're very happy with the Brighton
03:10performance in many ways.
03:11I think the first half was positive also, you know, offensive.
03:14But that free flow, floating to have it enough, you know, that we need to keep working on.
03:23And then there are just some days where I don't hit the highest level.
03:26Are you suffering from not being able to bring on the likes of Dominic Solanke and Rando Kalamuani,
03:31and you've come to change what you've got up front?
03:33I think there was enough offensive actions, but of course it's to have one natural striker.
03:45I think Magic can play striker, but he's probably a striker and a winger.
03:49So a natural striker as Richie and Dom and Kolo would have been nice to have that extra option,
03:56but I think we could still have won the game anyway.
04:01Thomas, it was a very nice finish, but did you have any issue with Paulinho celebrating in the corner,
04:07taking his shirt off, and there were still two or three minutes left?
04:10I mean, I saw Johnson, for example, saying, come on, get back, we need to go and win it.
04:14I didn't know I celebrated myself, but of course I noticed after that I could see he didn't have his shirt on.
04:22I know we wanted to go for the next one, but you can see in the next three minutes we were still a little bit disjointed.
04:35Should we go for it? Where were the positions?
04:37So I think it's fair to say we struggled a little bit with creating that chance.
04:44So the 1-1 was probably a good point. Of course we still lose.
04:47It feels like we were disappointed we didn't win the game, but I think the positive is we kept us in the game and got a point.
04:53I know it's early days and you can't read too much into the table, but Liverpool lost today, Chelsea lost today,
05:02could have gone two points within Liverpool. Do you feel a bit of a missed opportunity, especially at home, to a team that hadn't won so far in the league this season?
05:09Yeah, I think if you look before the game, you would say that there was a good chance for us to win.
05:16But I think it's also, that's why I also said it before the game, we haven't beaten Wolves the last five times,
05:24another six times in a row, and also a team that have lost the first five, there's a time where they will get something.
05:31I also said before the game they have played very, very even games, so it's never easy.
05:38That said, I hoped and believed if we hit a top performance, we will win. We didn't hit a top performance.
05:43I think we hit an average performance, but you do that sometimes.
05:49So, yeah, we got a point on a day when not everything worked and then we moved forward.
05:55It feels like you've got so much right so far in your reign.
05:59Sort of the one bad performance was Bournemouth at home. You played Benton Corpalli in midfield for that game.
06:04It felt like again they didn't bring that much creativity.
06:07Today or?
06:08Well, in the Bournemouth game.
06:10Oh, yeah.
06:11And again, today at home to a team that you want to bring in.
06:14Do you feel like you brought enough creativity?
06:16Do you think when you look back you reflect on that, maybe that midfield selection wasn't quite right?
06:20I will always look back at it, but a good old coach told me once that the line-up you picked, you did that for a reason.
06:33And you don't know what will happen if you picked the other one, maybe you lost 2-0.
06:37So, I need to go with what I believe in, of course.
06:40That's not the same that I'm not watching the game back and not reflecting and not thinking about could we, should we.
06:48You never know.
06:49I actually think first half was, you know, quite good and we created enough.
06:55Would like to create a little bit more, yes.
06:57So, actually after I took Rodri out, you can say it didn't work because of lots of structure.
07:02So, who knows, one thing is for sure, that we need to do a little bit better second half.
07:09In the second half, fans would get particularly frustrated with some of the carers kicking and sometimes maybe taking too long to play forward.
07:16How difficult, I guess, is it for players to be as calm and patient as you'd like when there is that maybe impatience in the stands?
07:22No, I think, I definitely think it's not easy and I also think that there will now need to look at the situations back.
07:32But on top of my head, it looks like we could have also helped him a bit more in those situations.
07:38You know, open up a bit more, gave him more options and maybe he could, there was also one or two I felt that he could have done better.
07:45But hey, that's part of it. It's not easy, but it's not the same that he could have done better.
07:52Hello, Thomas. It's sort of a bit of a perennial problem for Spurs not being able to put away games they're widely expected to win at home
08:03against teams a little bit like Wolves and maybe to a less point Bournemouth.
08:08Have a theory, have you an idea of why that might be and might it be something that's a mental issue as much as anything else?
08:17I can only really speak about when I've been here, of course.
08:24And I think the two games you can see that Bournemouth are also doing very well,
08:31I think they're a very difficult team to play against.
08:33The one thing with Bournemouth is that was a bad performance, like all just bad.
08:37Today I think there was much more positive in our performance, but unfortunately on the day we couldn't get the three points that happened.
08:49So I think it's still a small sample to really judge from myself in that aspect.
08:59We'll finish with Tom.
09:01Thomas, just back to your midfield selections, I don't think Xavi Simons has started at No. 10 in the Premier League yet.
09:07True.
09:08Is he not quite up to speed with the Premier League yet? Is that why he hasn't played in that position?
09:13No, I don't think. I think it's try to get the right balance into the team, try to, for me also, to learn the players
09:25and find out how we can get the best players on the pitch at the right time.
09:31So that I'm, of course, looking into. I'm very aware that Xavi can play as a 10.
09:36He also got in as a 10 against Brighton because that was the third game in the week.
09:43And I think that was positive. I think today when he got in as a 10, it didn't really work.
09:48And that was not only because of him, by the way. I think the team, it was the whole team that was out of sync
09:55in the last, whatever, 35 minutes or something like that.
09:59But, of course, I try to look into what is the best midfield, I think.
10:04I think it's fair to say both Roger and Xiao have been very good for us so far in the season
10:09and Luka's been fantastic. So you like to keep your players a little bit in flow.
10:13Just one other one on Richie, he showed against Burnley what a quality player he can be on his day.
10:17But there have been a few games, like tonight, where he seems a little bit isolated.
10:22How do you get him more into the game?
10:24I think, for example, I think that Brighton did many good things,
10:31but I liked him a little bit more in the box. I felt today he was more in the box
10:35and the cross maybe didn't land it for him.
10:40And then I think it's also fair to say that, especially the first half,
10:43he mainly played against a team with, you know, 11 players behind the box,
10:47which always made it a little bit more difficult.
10:49I think, actually, even Holand can be eliminated in that situation.
10:55But there's a little bit more space and a little bit more opportunities than...
10:59Sorry, a little bit more space and a little bit more open than you can create more opportunities.
11:04Thank you guys.
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