'Football clever' Frank can do 'big things' at Spurs
Former Brentford defender Andreas Bjelland believes Tottenham's players must "buy in to the project" to help Thomas Frank deliver "big things".Bjelland, who is now the assistant coach of Danish club Ljungby Boldklub, twice played for Frank, when the new Spurs boss was a coach at Ljungby, and then assistant at Brentford.The 36-year-old won 36 caps for Denmark during his career, and told BBC Sport about Frank's qualities: "The environment he tries to create, the culture he tries to create around him and the dialogue between you and him as a player as individuals but also as a team is massive."Coming from Denmark into Brentford, [he was] trying to adapt a little bit in how he wants to see football - but also knowing that it's not something that can be done in one day so it's taking it step by step."He's a good guy but he's also a really football-clever guy who can see the game in a really fast and clever way."Frank was confirmed as Tottenham's new manager on Thursday, following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou after their worst Premier League season.Spurs lost 22 league matches in the last campaign, but Bjelland feels Frank is the right man to turn things around: "The main thing for the players is to buy in and trust the process because I think he can create some big things there."Embrace the person he is that really cares about you and take that in. You can learn a lot from him on and off the pitch."Frank's former teaching colleague, Trine Ladekarl Nelleman, believes his ability to form relationships has benefited his coaching career."I think you can compare the two things [coaching and teaching] - to make people do their best and motivate them," she said."I don't know if in English you use the expression: carrot and the stick. Pressure and care at the same time and balancing that so you can not just do whatever you like, you have to do your best to succeed."
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'You could be the best trainer but also if you're not really involved in the day-to-day things, [like] if you just shut yourself away in the room…' he said. 'And I would shut myself in the room at times. It was very different for me. I couldn't really relate to the players I was with [in the seniors] because of the age gap. So that's the side of it which I had to manage in my own way. 'At times I'd lock myself away and get on with things. And maybe it was the right or wrong thing, I don't know, but for me at that time of my development, I was only 16, 17, so I was still learning about myself then at that age of being thrust into an environment which I'm not quite used to. 'These guys, I feel, they're going to have to tick a lot of boxes by doing the right things every minute when they're on show. 'That's really important because you can look at the likes of Jordan Henderson in the first team environment, people think, yeah, he's gone [to Saudi Arabia], da-da-da. 'But, his behaviour, everything about his attitude on a day-to-day basis speaks volumes. It's the reason why he's still playing for England. Even Kyle Walker — it's the same principles. 'Having these guys is really important and treating every second when you're on show is to be professional. I think that's the habit you need to be in. You can't just talk on the pitch. 'Everyone knows what the guys are going to do on the pitch and they want to go out and win, of course, but they're going to see the other bits of how they interact with each other, how they make connections and how they bond. 'If there's any sense that there's a group or environment that isn't great, they won't be at the tournament because they don't want any disruption. So I think it's important, you need to be careful, make sure you do the things away from the field properly. I'm sure they will.' Carsley kickstarted this Euros title defence with a 4-2-2-2 striker-less system that operated off instinct and fluidity with a wealth of No 10s interchanging. The absence of Liam Delap, who Walcott sees as the perfect profile to break Chelsea's supposed striker 'curse', was not keenly felt in the win over Czech Republic but the lack of strikers to call on is emblematic of a wider problem in English football for Walcott. 'I don't like it,' Walcott added. 'I always feel that it shows where we are as a country because we can't find a No 9 to play in a system. 'For instance, I'll give you an example from the other day when Morgan Rogers came on [for the seniors], he was non-existent. 'He likes to drive with the ball, so why have players in positions where they are not used to? Yeah you might get the best out of other players because of this player and this role and it can drag players away… the perfect example who has really adapted themselves in that position as a false nine is [Ousmane] Dembele. Obviously he's a lot more experienced, I get it, but we haven't got a Dembele. 'I think the No 9 side of things is a problem going into a tournament. You could get away with it in this one particularly but in the long run I'm not a big believer in not having nines.' The lack of No 9s and an influx of No 10s is making players, not just with England but in the game today, too 'predictable', another bug bear of Walcott's 'Everyone wants to be that really predictable player,' he said. 'When I say predictable I mean likes to come inside. Strikers are selfish, they just want to score goals. But now all of a sudden the wingers are starting to get more selfish because they want to cut in and do their thing. They're not connecting like they did in the first place. 'Then everyone wants to be No 10s because it's the glamour position where you still need to work but can have that maverick feel about yourself. 'The social media side of things, obviously people with what they see on YouTube of these guys in these positions, they're going to feed off that. 'When I was coming through I didn't bother looking at videos or anything like that. I just wanted to go out and play. And I just feel that's the side of it now. We've seen these guys in short clips, in good areas of the field, doing things and all the kids want to play there. Of course they do. You don't see the big No 9s, the Delaps. 'That's why it worries me as an Arsenal fan, Delap going to Chelsea. I know they have been going for that No 9, that Drogba type, it's that curse of the No 9. 'I feel like he can break that curse because he's a really good striker. He's the next one after Harry Kane for me. That's how much I like him as an English person but it disappoints me as an Arsenal fan if you don't go after someone like that. 'You can see it in him as well, you can see his fight. He doesn't care who he plays against. That's a side of it we're missing as well from No 9s. 'I'm not sure why we can't develop anymore and it's a sad, sad way we're going. I'm a big believer in getting it out wide, dribbling one versus one, crossing it and seeing some headed goals. 'When do we see that now? We barely see it. You just know they'll go inside. It's starting to become too predictable.' No Delap and no striker is how Carsley and Co will look to defend their Euros title. For Walcott, he just wants to see an England team put their foot on the gas and be serious against the biggest nations. It's over to the Under-21s to show this next generation are cut from a different cloth to those who came before.
