Against Liverpool it’s a good idea to defend! Thomas Frank hits back at critics who say he’s obsessed with opponents
Thomas Frank hit back at critics who claim his Tottenham team are more concerned with stopping opponents than imposing their own style and warned it might be a good idea to defend against the Premier League champions.
And, as resurgent Liverpool descend upon North London, he issued a reminder of the four results in games against Arne Slot’s team last season when Ange Postecoglou was in the Spurs job.
‘If you are not respectful of a team that won the Premier League and what kind of threat they pose, then I think you don’t do well,’ said Frank.
‘In the last four times we played them, we got a good 1-0 win and then I know the three other scores. You can check them. We conceded a few goals in those games.’
Those scores were, in the Premier League, Liverpool won 5-1 and 6-3. And, in the Carabao Cup semi-final, Spurs won the first leg 1-0 before losing the return 4-0 at Anfield.
‘Probably a good idea to also defend a bit,’ added Frank. ‘I think that’s fair.
Thomas Frank has hit back at those who criticise the way his Tottenham team are set up
Spurs welcome Liverpool this weekend but have lost three of the last four against the Reds
‘We work hard on our strengths and principles. We work very hard on our breakthrough phase. We work very hard on our positions and we also worked very hard on our defensive side of the game. It’s very important we do both.’
After the tonic successive victories against Brentford and Slavia Prague, Spurs crashed back to earth with a sobering 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, turning the pressure back on Frank as his side languish in mid-table.
‘This is not a quick fix, this will take time,’ said the 52-year-old Dane. ‘I’m very comfortable and confident that I will fix it but it’s not just me.
‘When this club comes out on top, there will be a lot of good people working together, aligned at the same time through the years.
‘I just know one thing I’m pretty good at, I’m good at analysing things. I know what good looks like, and I know where we should get to.
‘One thing is I’m a thousand per cent sure is that we haven’t seen any club be successful without key people in the right positions for a long time.
‘I’ll back myself to be one of those key people to be in that position.’
