Thomas Frank reveals how he plans to build on Ange Postecoglou's legacy at Tottenham - and hints at Son Heung-min's role amid MLS interest
Frank made an upbeat appearance on the Men in Blazers YouTube channel and gave supporters an early taster of what he hopes to achieve after taking the job.
The 51-year-old, who spent seven years in charge of Brentford, quickly emerged as Spurs' No 1 candidate to replace Postecoglou after he was sacked despite leading his side to Europa League glory last season - a first major trophy in 17 years.
Keen to hit the ground running, Frank splashed out £55million to sign Mohammed Kudus from West Ham. He then presided over a 2-0 victory over Reading in pre-season, before bore draws with League One outfits Wycombe and Luton.
The Dane has also already identified exactly how he will use Postecoglou's eye-catching work over his two campaigns in North London as a foundation.
'First and foremost, I think it's important to say that, Ange and his staff achieved massively by winning the Europa League title,' Frank told Men in Blazers. 'Fantastic.
Frank praised his predecessor's legacy but is keen to strike a greater tactical balance
'First time in 41 years, a European title. I love that. I thought it was a lot of good things that I can use and I can, you know, stand on that foundation and then build from there.
'What I like to add is probably a bit more balance in my view.
'Attacking, defending. and then, of course, I think if you want to achieve something big, we need to be be good in all phases of the game.'
One player set to prove influential under Frank is captain Son, despite him attracting interest from MLS. Mail Sport reported last week that the 33-year-old is wanted by Los Angeles FC, and Spurs would not stand in his way should he choose to leave.
There has been no formal bid tabled but contact has been made.
LAFC are reported to be preparing a deal in the region of £15-20million, which could be enough to tempt Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy into talks.
Son is also in the final year of his contract in Spurs and after scoring 173 goals in his 454 games to date, his status as an undisputed Spurs great is guaranteed.
But Frank showed no indications that Son is on his way out, and revealed he is 'excited' about the role the forward would have next season.
'I think first and foremost, Son's legacy here is remarkable,' Frank added. 'He's been a fantastic player for Tottenham, he is a fantastic player for Tottenham.
'I see a player that that can play a very good role here next season. He's come in, very good mindset, trained very hard, pushed the players. So I'm excited about it.'
Son has been a commercial phenomenon, too, and there is no prospect of him leaving before the pre-season tour to Asia, which features games against Arsenal in Hong Kong on Thursday and Newcastle in Seoul three days later.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick left unimpressed with India's tactics
England engaged in another day of angry on-field exchanges in their decisive fifth Test against India, with the tourists openly targeting Joe Root and assistant coach Marcus Trescothick taking a dim view of the opposition's antics. There have been several fractious moments between the teams since a time-wasting row at Lord's lit the blue touch paper and there were another three to add to the list on a box office second day at the Kia Oval. There were 342 runs and 15 wickets in total, with India ending up with a 52-run lead at 75 for two in their second innings. But the post-match debates lingered on the latest batch of flashpoints. Root was visibly riled by something that was said to him by Prasidh Krishna, shouting indignantly at the seamer before the umpires moved to warn India about their behaviour. Ben Duckett was at the centre of two incidents, the second of which appeared to involve him enraging Sai Sudharsan following his late dismissal. Earlier, having been picked up on stump microphones telling Akash Deep 'you can't get me out', he went on to be dismissed by the pace bowler and received an unusual send-off. Deep put his arm over the opener's shoulders as he walked towards the pavilion and grinned as he offered some unsolicited farewell words. 'There is no need to walk him off in that fashion. Your job is done at that point,' said Trescothick, England's assistant coach. 'I don't think I've ever seen a bowler do that after getting someone out. It was strange really.' Television cameras had picked up Trescothick making some animated gestures in the dressing room and he explained: 'We were chatting on the balcony. Many in my time would have just dropped the elbow on him or something quite different. I was just laughing and joking about it.' As for Root's uncharacteristic tirade, Trescothick added: 'I think they made a comment didn't they? He (Krishna) tried to get after him and spark him up a little bit. Joe's normally the kind of guy who laughs and giggles and allows things to happen, but today he chose a different route. Today Joe bit back.' Krishna admitted it was part of a deliberate ploy to unsettle England's best batter, but insisted nothing untoward had been said. 'That was the plan, but I didn't really expect the couple of words that I said to get such a big reaction from him,' he said. 'It was a very small thing. I think it was just a competitive edge amongst us that was coming out. But I love the guy that he is, he's a legend of the game.' Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook told BBC's Test Match the tactic may have been a smart one and predicted more of the same as the game moves towards its conclusion. 'Why wouldn't you try to upset Joe Root? His record against India is superb,' he said. 'You can say that it did work because Joe only got 29 when he normally averages 60 against them, so it's a success. Fair play to Krishna. I hope it didn't cross that line and was good old honest sledging. It definitely got Joe Root out of his bubble. 'We're in for some more fireworks. It's not going away for the next three days.'
The Independent
21 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tom Lockyer close to football return after suffering cardiac arrest on the pitch
Former Luton captain Tom Lockyer has revealed he is 'four weeks away' from being allowed to play football again. Lockyer has not played since suffering a cardiac arrest during Luton's Premier League game against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in December 2023. The 30-year-old Wales defender had previously collapsed on the field just seven months earlier during the Hatters' Sky Bet Championship play-off final win at Wembley against Coventry. Lockyer, speaking ahead of Luton's opening Sky Bet League One fixture against AFC Wimbledon at Kenilworth Road, told Sky Sports: 'I haven't had a break, I've been working all the way through, just trying to get this ankle right and trying to get fit. 'But I've had a really good few weeks and hopefully now I'm four weeks away from getting signed off and told I'm allowed to play football again.' Luton, relegated in May for the second successive season, told Lockyer his contract would not be renewed when it expired this summer. But they have allowed him to use their facilities and work with their physios and medical staff during his rehabilitation. The former Bristol Rovers centre-back, who led Luton to Premier League promotion in 2023, added: 'They've been fantastic and have allowed me to come in and use the facilities and the knowledge of all the physios, so I can't thank them enough for that. 'It allows me to stay among the team spirit – there's a good one here. There's been a few changes, but they're trying to hold on to that ethos that no-one is bigger than the team and I absolutely love that. 'It's allowed me to go in every day, still be around it, still feel involved and I'm just itching to get back now.' Lockyer, who has had a defibrillator fitted similar to former Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen, snapped an ankle ligament during his return to full fitness, which required two operations.
Daily Record
22 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Rangers see Viktoria Plzen threat to Champions League status reduced as deal 'struck' to sell star man
It's unlikely Russell Martin will have to plan for Plzen's Pavel Sulc with a deal for him to join Lyon 'agreed' There will be one less Viktoria Plzen threat for Rangers to worry about with the Czech side reportedly agreeing to sell their star man to Lyon. Pavel Sulc scored 20 goals for Miroslav Koubek's side last season while laying on another 15 for his teammates. However, Fabrizio Romano claims a deal worth up to €10m has been struck that will see Sulc sold to the Ligue 1 outfit. It's expected that the 24-year-old Czech midfielder will depart before Russell Martin 's side face Plzen in their Champions League third qualifying round showdown. Gers booked their spot with a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos thanks to Wednesday night's 1-1 draw in Athens. They welcome the Czech's to Ibrox next Tuesday before heading to Plzen for the return leg a week later. And their skipper, former Derby County and Watford star Matej Vydra, reckons the pressure is all on the Scottish club, especially with a Europa League safety net for him and his teammates. "We'll go there to Rangers and give it a go against them for sure. "It's really great that we're already assured of the Europa League now and we don't have to think about what will happen if we get knocked out. Game On - Rangers' Champions League chances | Celtic's transfer activity | Premiership surprises "We know that the certainty of the group stages is in our hands and we can be a little more relaxed because the pressure is off. "That could help us. "I'm incredibly proud of this team. "We were down twice against Servette – after losing the first leg and then going 1-0 down in Switzerland, so to recover from that shows what we can do. "The joy in the dressing room after the match was unbelievable, I've probably never experienced anything like it here." You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers page and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
