Thomas Frank hoping to take Tottenham to ‘new heights'

South Wales Guardian

18-07-2025

Frank faced the media for the first time on Friday since he replaced Ange Postecoglou on June 12 and started with a message of condolence to Liverpool following the death of Diogo Jota.
It was quickly over to business for former Brentford boss Frank with a string of questions about Son and vice-captain Cristian Romero, who have both been linked with a move away this summer.
Brave. Aggressive. Attack.
Thomas lays down his principles 👊 pic.twitter.com/TtzwpvohTk
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 18, 2025
Frank revealed the experienced duo would feature in Saturday's friendly at Reading, but has not made a decision over the captaincy, despite Son leading Spurs to a first trophy in 17 years with Europa League glory in May.
'Two top players, Sonny, been here 10 years, finally got his his well-deserved trophy in the summer, so important for the team and the club. Cristian Romero, World Cup winner, Europa League winner, Copa America winner, very, very important for us as well,' Frank explained.
'Both have trained well, setting the standards out there on the training pitch and both will play tomorrow so I'm very happy.
'My expectation is all the players are here and they are training well. That is what I am focusing on and again very impressed by them.
'As I said, they are playing tomorrow, that's a good indicator that they are here.
'I haven't decided anything on that (captaincy). I have a long list of bullet points I need to get through and I take them in the right order.
'He (Son) was the captain last year and when we play two 45s tomorrow, Son and Romero will be the two captains, but I haven't made a final decision.'
Frank was equally reluctant to be drawn into transfer targets, but Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Gibbs-White was briefly discussed.
Gibbs-White was set for a medical at Hotspur Way last Friday after Tottenham were understood to have triggered his £60million release clause.
However, Forest have accused Spurs of contacting Gibbs-White directly before going to the club and the protracted saga has failed to move on this week.
'I will not speak about players who are not mine. I think I have two exceptions and they are getting older – (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi. The rest I will just speak about the players who are inside Tottenham,' Frank said.
There were light-hearted moments with Frank joking he only came to Spurs to be sacked and a guarantee they will lose matches, which was followed by an unfortunate mention of Arsenal's unbeaten 2003-04 campaign.
It all starts here.
Watch our pre-season friendly against Reading live on SPURSPLAY 📺
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 16, 2025
Frank added: 'One thing is 100 per cent sure, we will lose football matches. I haven't seen a team that is not losing any football matches. There is Arsenal, that we can't mention, in the Premier League. So I made my first rookie mistake there!'
The 51-year-old was respectful of Postecoglou's achievements and repeatedly stated his desire to make sure the club compete in four competitions – after they recorded a Premier League worst finish of 17th in the 2024-25 campaign.
'I have the privilege of I have never been sacked before. That is one of the reasons why I took the job. I get a little bit more risk in my daily life,' Frank added.
'First and foremost, I have said that before, Ange will forever be a legend here at Tottenham. He is one of three who has won a European trophy and the first in 41 years. Unbelievable, fantastic achievement.
'I see happy players, positive, smiling, energy, training well. Good vibe around the place and there should be — they have just won the Europa League.
'Going into a new season and in football, it's about dreaming and hoping. That's what we do.
'I'll do everything every day to work towards hopefully taking this club to new heights – that's the ambition.'