Despite winning the Europa League at the conclusion of the previous season, Daniel Levy called for the sack of Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou in a decision that is quite unpopular among the Lilywhites supporters given how he ended the 17-year trophy drought. But it does seem like the underwhelming performance in the domestic campaign stayed along with the chiefs at Hotspur Way, who are looking to build on their Champions League qualification.
With Ange Postecoglou out the door, it doesn’t mean that the project he undertook at Tottenham is also called off. You’d think that Levy and the other decision-makers at the club would bring in someone who has the capacity to continue the project, and this is where the links with a move for Thomas Frank come in, someone who has undertaken possibly one of the best long-term projects in English football of late.
The Danish tactician has been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur for a while, and while we saw a positional play revolution at N17 under Postecoglou, Frank is very different. He plays a complement of adaptive and pragmatic approaches.
But would Thomas Frank fit Tottenham’s project? How would his methods diverge from Ange’s?
Let’s look at what Thomas Frank has been doing at Brentford. He has built a team that has been renowned for a sense of defensive solidity in low and mid-blocks and plays with more direct attacking sequences (mostly through transitions). He also exploits set pieces and crosses rightly and is highly regarded for using data-driven and situational football.
If we go deeper and start exploring a bit of his system, then the Dane’s core beliefs go around a more 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation but with more defensive structure, which changes into a 5-3-2 when his side are out of possession. And we see how the sequences are fast but vertical, given the quick and direct passes into mobile strikers (first Toney and then Mbeumo) who are widely supported by wingbacks. Frank also uses a compact midfield with a double pivot providing defensive cover whilst winning the balls.
How would Thomas Frank fit at Tottenham?
If I am talking about Frank, the first thing that comes to my mind is his compact way of framework, especially when it comes to the defensive side of things. We have seen how the North Londoners have struggled to protect their leads, and the Dane’s arrival would bring that stability at the back.
Then the next factor you think of is how he made Brentford one of the most consistent sides with set pieces, and given how the Lilywhites have been underperforming in that area, his arrival could change those underperformances.
The transition play that he has deployed could suit the likes of Son and Kulusevski and especially Tel (if Spurs are to make his loan move a permanent deal).
Moreover, Frank is more adaptable, and he can mould his systems based on the opponents that Tottenham are facing, be it in the Premier League or Champions League.
Frank is also renowned for his man management and his ability to nurture underdog players, which could work perfectly with the young roster that the North Londoners have.
That being said, he is quite different from everything that Ange Postecoglou embodied at Hotspur Way…
While Postecoglou relied a lot on positional play and pulling his sequences with high pressing and fast play, Frank is more pragmatic when it comes to his approach and is instead more adaptive than the Australian head coach. Moreover, while the former liked to deploy a high-line defensive system with full-backs operating more as aggressors in an inverted role, the latter lines a deeper and more compact framework in a more mid-to-low block.
The former Celtic coach played in vertical sequences as he dominated possession on overloads, while Frank was more willing to concede possession and instead focused on transitions and definitely more direct in the use of the ball.
Ange always wanted to attack, while Frank likes a more controlled state of affairs.
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Author Opinion
Tottenham are getting a manager that will surely iron out the defensive lapses and bring more tactical flexibility to the side, which can be critical, especially in the Champions League games. He also brings that set-piece expertise and man-management skills. And Thomas Frank is an extremely talented coach who has done miracles with what he did at Brentford.