Thomas Frank is a big fan of Fabian Hurzeler, the Brighton manager. Before the start of the season, the newly-appointed Tottenham Hotspur head coach was going ga-ga over Brighton’s style of play, saying that he wanted to take a leaf out of Hurzeler’s book in his club at north London. Frank added, tongue firmly in cheek, that he would need “another £100 million” on new signings to do that.
The very thought that Frank is a manager who can bring on a certain, entertaining, style of play only when he is backed with sufficient money, a la Pep Guardiola, is way off the mark. He built Brentford from scratch, following the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2020-21, working on a shoestring budget. For his first two seasons in English football’s top tier, Brentford had the lowest wage bill. Frank improved players and made Brentford greater than the sum of their parts, a reason why Daniel Levy, Tottenham chairman, appointed him. On Saturday, Frank's team turned up at Manchester City and hammered the hosts 2-0.
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What Spurs fans observed was a clear shift from Ange Postecoglou’s gung-ho style to a more strategic approach. Frank never allowed City to settle into a rhythm. At times, their football was disruptive. Guardiola didn't have an answer.
Credit to Frank that he didn't allow any negative vibes after Tottenham missed out on Eberechi Eze. The midfielder reportedly has been gazumped by their bitter rivals, Arsenal, at the last moment for a fee that could rise up to £67.5 million. Frank was asked about it at the pre-match press conference on Friday. His response was positive.
“There's been a lot of rumours, and a lot of times where there's nothing in it. There must be someone out there who thinks it's good fun to put the rumours out there,” Frank told reporters.
He added: “There's been a lot of links and will continue to be. To be very general, I don't want any players who don't want to come to the club. If they don't want to come here and wear this fantastic badge, we don't want them here. That's very clear, and I imagine the fans feel exactly the same.”
Piers Morgan's thinly-veiled dig came on its heels. The British broadcaster, a celebrity Arsenal fan, reminded the Spurs manager via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle that Eze was choosing a better club. It's a different story that Arsenal haven't reached a final in the last five years, while Spurs are the reigning Europa League champions. Cut to the present and the new season, Frank already has his team well-drilled.
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