Thomas Frank shows his minerals in behind the scenes footage of Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal
We saw Tottenham Hotspur enjoy a splendid win over Arsenal in the historic preseason North London derby in Hong Kong the other day, and now the Lilywhites social media handle has given us a rare glimpse behind the curtain by releasing footage of Thomas Frank’s pre-match team talk.
We saw how the goal from Pape Matar Sarr settled the tie with his outrageous goal where he spotted the goalkeeper David Raya off his line and launched a beautiful chip over the Spaniard from just inside the half when the clock was about to strike halftime, but while that moment grabbed a lot of headlines, there was a lot of tactical growth that we spotted in this team, which showed us exactly how Thomas Frank has worked hard behind the scenes.
Tottenham release Arsenal pre-game footage
And Tottenham did release footage that showed how the Dane head coach is making an early impact as he speaks about the tactical emphasis going into the game.
And he deliberately spoke about not getting stuck into the pressure that Arsenal will deliver by keeping sustained possession but then pushed his side to show precision and bravery in possession.
He said on the video via Instagram:
“Yes, everyone in? Anyone missing? No?”
“Big thing – duels and second balls, okay? So when they go long in our high pressure and when we go long, we need to land on the second balls, okay? And make sure we win those 50-50s.
“They will be aggressive, we need to be aggressive. Make sure we’re brave, okay? Play forward, trust yourself, play each other good. And play enough in behind. Enough in behind.”
Frank finished by saying: “Okay boys, let’s go!”.
It was a display of intent from Thomas Frank’s side vs Arsenal
While it wasn’t a perfect performance against the Gunners, we saw how the Lilywhites were quite measured and disciplined through the game, where they were pressing Arteta’s side in a structured mid-block when needed, but then there was also this aggressiveness in duels, especially in the second phase.
And we saw how the forwards were trying to play with vertical intent as they continually looked to get the better of Arsenal’s high line. While Arsenal had their moments, we saw how Tottenham have taken a clear step forward in terms of tactical cohesion under Thomas Frank, given how you can spot things, which shows that the man in charge is someone who is quite obsessed with structure and transition.
This is only preseason, but it matters. It matters because it gives this side a belief that they can do it in big games against big teams. So while many of the Tottenham supporters would remember that Sarr goal, it is the collective discipline that stood out to me.
Now the North Londoners will be lining up in Seoul tomorrow, where Thomas Frank’s side will be rubbing shoulders with Newcastle United, which will be followed by Bayern Munich away on 7 August. Then it will almost be time for the big game against PSG in the UEFA Super Cup clash on 13 August.
And if that is the first of things to come under Frank, Tottenham should be very excited about this project and process.
