‘We need to take risks': Thomas Frank promises to attack in bid to make Spurs ‘serial winners'
Thomas Frank intends to build on Ange Postecoglou's Europa League triumph and turn Tottenham into 'serial winners'. The new manager described Postecoglou as a 'legend' as he considered how the Australian had ended the club's 17-year trophy drought with victory against Manchester United in Bilbao on 21 May. It was not enough to save him from the sack after a dismal Premier League season.
Frank, who has joined from Brentford on a three-year contract, acknowledged the barriers that his predecessor had broken down. But as he promised in his first interview at Spurs to take risks and play on the front foot, he made it clear that the goal was to create more memories by winning silverware.
Frank's comments, given to the club's website, came after the chair, Daniel Levy, said on Tuesday that he wanted to win the league and Champions League. Spurs' Europa League success has got them back into the Champions League.
'Huge congratulations to the club, to the team … huge congratulations to Ange,' Frank said. 'He will for ever be a legend at Tottenham. It's very important to understand that we all stand on the shoulders of others so I am going in on the foundations that Ange has built. I'm very humble about that and I'll do my very best to continue the great work he put in.
'But the feeling and excitement, the joy and happiness you could see in the fans' faces [after the Europa League win], the pictures you saw were … wow! Hopefully we can create more of those moments. That would be the ultimate dream to do that and build on that. Hey, no one can say they are not winners; the team and the players are winners. Now we need to do [our] best … to see whether we can be serial winners in the future.'
Frank talked about wanting to create 'magic' for the fans, undertaking a journey with them, making the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a fortress. He also hit the right notes when he discussed how his team would play. 'The intention is to play aggressive, front-footed football,' he said.
'I know the ethos and the history of the club is massive on attacking football and there is so much attacking talent in the squad. I'm very, very big on principles … what we do in the final third in terms of creating chances, crosses, bring balls in the box, play [in] behind.
'I always say this one-liner: if you don't take risks, you also take risks. So it's important we take risks. Risk is you need to play forward. If you don't risk the ball, you can't create things. We need to be brave.
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'For me, if they lose the ball by trying, it's never a problem. But if they don't work hard? I struggle more with that. That's my non-negotiable. We need to take risks. If we don't take risks, it's impossible to achieve something big.'
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