Thomas Frank defends his ability to lead Spurs after Arsenal humiliation

Thomas Frank has given a robust defence of his credentials at Tottenham, saying he was entirely convinced of his ability to rebuild the club and lead it to success. The manager is under mounting pressure after Spurs’ 4-1 derby humiliation at Arsenal on Sunday, a result that extended a troubling run. Tottenham have won three of 11 matches in all competitions since the end of September and it has been as much about the lack of spark and identity in many of the performances. It was especially so against Arsenal when Frank set up in a 5-4-1 formation and watched his team fail to lay a glove on their rivals. Related: Frank can afford to lose at PSG but sense of foreboding now clings to Spurs Frank made it clear that he would not run from the debacle after he arrived in France with his players for their daunting Champions League assignment at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. He has gone through the footage of it in forensic detail, seeking uncomfortable truths and answers. But now, he insisted, was not a time for self-doubt. As Spurs enter a defining spell, it was all about the response. After PSG, they face Fulham (home) and Newcastle (away) before taking on Frank’s previous club, Brentford, at home. “Part of taking this job was to have the challenges,” he said. “Part of that is to manage those setbacks and learn and move on. One thing I’m 1000% sure of … I know how to build a team, I know how to build a club and we will do that. The big thing is how we learn from the bad spells. That’s when we also can see when we go 1-0 down – how do we react as a team? The best teams just continually move on. They still run hard, they still do the same thing. There’s no doubt in that.” Frank has talked, grudgingly, about how Arsenal are years ahead of Spurs because of the continuity they have enjoyed under Mikel Arteta, and he applied the point to PSG and Luis Enrique, who endured some tough moments during his first season at the club in 2023-24. Luis Enrique’s team even made an unconvincing start in the Champions League last time out before hitting their stride and winning the competition. “This is his third season,” Frank said. “His first season … he had to take a lot of battles and he also turned everything around from playing with the biggest players in Europe to less stars; very determined players that play for the team. He created one of the best teams in the world by making those changes. Even last year, they were close to getting knocked out of the Champions League. It’s marginal sometimes.” Frank said “the biggest thing to focus on” when he took over at Spurs in the summer was the defence. “Because no team wins anything if they can’t defend.” The most strident criticism of Frank has been about the lack of chance creation, which he accepted was valid. But as he stressed that his teams had always scored goals, he maintained the shortcomings against Arsenal were not because of the formation, rather the lack of aggression in the duels. “The most disappointing thing was that we were not able to compete,” Frank said. “We had 53 situations where it was like a duel, [a] second-ball situation, where either Arsenal went long or we went long. We came out on top on 17 of those and lost 36. If you don’t do that … it is basic, then it’s very difficult to win a football match. “We were not aggressive enough when we pushed forward. We were not securing the ball well enough which is also part of that. We were not landing in the right areas for where the second ball landed. If you play 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 7-9-13 … it doesn’t matter if you’re not doing that.” Frank reported no fresh injury concerns after Arsenal. Brennan Johnson is suspended after his red card against Copenhagen.