Thomas Frank faced the questions at his press conference on Monday afternoon with Tottenham set to welcome Newcastle in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
Spurs' unbeaten four game run came to an end on Saturday at Old Trafford with a 2-0 loss to Manchester United, after playing for more than an hour with only 10 men after captain Cristian Romero's sixth red card since arriving in the Premier League. The Argentine will now miss the next four matches through suspension at a time when Tottenham are just six points above 18th-placed West Ham and have won only two of their past 16 Premier League matches.
Frank also must contend with a lengthy injury list that was added to by Destiny Udogie on Saturday afternoon. The Dane provided the latest update on the left-back as well as Kevin Danso and Dejan Kulusevski. He was also asked for his reaction to former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino stating that the Europa League trophy is not enough for a club like Tottenham, who need to be in his mind competing for the Premier League and Champions League.
Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank ahead of the game against Eddie Howe's side. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.
How's the squad looking after the weekend? Of course, you said that you probably have an update on Destiny.
Yeah, unfortunately, Destiny has a hamstring injury. He's out for the next four to five weeks.
And the rest of the squad?
Yeah, the squad that was available from Saturday is available
Is Cristian Romero a leader or a liability?
I think a couple of things. Of course, answer this question. But then I think we spoke enough about Romero at the last press conference. So, for me, I think he's a leader.
I said it before; he's a young leader. So, he's learning every day. I'll use the example. I remember when I was 30 years old, I thought I was on top of the world. I was nowhere near the level I am today in terms of leadership and understanding things.
And then when you have a player that is playing with so much passion and aggressivity, then sometimes things like that can happen. That's not to say that he shouldn't learn from it. Of course, he needs to learn from it going forward.
Are Spurs in a relegation battle?
There's no doubt we are desperate to win games. Desperate. And I'm focussing on Newcastle tomorrow. That's a great opportunity ahead of us against a good team. That's the main thing. Can we go out there and get three points tomorrow? That would be very good. And then climb from there and look forward. That's what we need to do. And that's the main focus.
Do you think you've still, with your available players, got enough to get away from this?
Yeah. I think we have. Of course, there's no doubt that we have a lot of players out. That, of course, never helps. I think I actually put a very competitive team out against Man Utd. And I think we look very good for the first 30 minutes.
We lose two players for tomorrow (Romero and Udogie), but Djed Spence is back. And I think Dragusin is going to look good when he comes back in. So, I know we'll put a very competitive team out tomorrow as well. And then there should be, hopefully, a little bit more (players) after that coming back for the team.
When you say learning from the red card, is it about learning how to play with that edge, having that aggression in these games, but obviously not getting sent off, not getting those accumulations in the cards as well?
Yeah, it is. And, again, it would be super to focus on the available players for tomorrow and for the next four games. But no matter what we do in life, we need to learn from it.
Are you expecting an intense battle?
I think every Premier League game is a battle. If someone doesn't understand that, then they shouldn't play in the Premier League. It's the most physical, competitive, relentless league in the world. No doubt about that. So, every game is a battle. So that will not change tomorrow.
Newcastle are very physical, very intense in the way they play. And Eddie is a coach I admire a lot. What he's done in Newcastle, he came in there four and a half years ago. I think the first year when I was there with Brentford, so I followed them closely. He, in my opinion, basically has been part of transforming the club. So, he made sure they didn't go down. And the next year, when they had no European, I think they finished fourth, and then you can see how, even though they have a second year of experience in terms of Champions League, you can see it's not easy to play Champions League in Premier League. I think they have about four points more than us.
And they've been with that project, worked with that for three or four years. And he's a very good coach, and there's a very good coaching team up there that admire a lot what they do. So it just shows it's not so straightforward.
There's no, how can you say, recipe for, oh, you just do this, and you do this, and it's a success every year, no matter what you do. No, no, no, it's every day, relentless, how you work with things, how you try to improve it. So I think they've done fantastic up there.
Just one for after the game tomorrow. How do you plan the team? Will there be time off for the players, or is that dependent on the results?
No, I'm a big believer that you need to plan the time for everyone involved. And I also think there will be training. There will also be some days off, especially international guys haven't had a day off since we started the season in August. So that mental freshness is important as well. And then, of course, there'll be a lot of training.
I'm very interested by the word desperate you used, can you elaborate on what that means in terms of, is it desperate for the confidence, is it desperate to get three more points and move away from the relegation zone?
I could have worded it differently, maybe. But I do think there's something, it should be that feeling. It should be that feeling when we haven't won enough. So the way I work, we're all different, is that if you haven't won enough, then you do everything you can, and you actually do a little bit more, you work a little bit harder, you just know that's the way out of a tough moment. So that's what I expect from the players, and I actually think that's what I see from the players.
I think they run very hard, and I think that's why I'm so annoyed that we couldn't get anything out of the United game, because there would have been five games, and I'm convinced 11 against 11, we would have got something out of it.
Of course, you never know, but there were five games with positive, and then we could really try to turn a corner. And of course, when you haven't won enough, you need to be desperate, because if you're not desperate, you don't understand the situation you're in, in terms of you don't win enough, you need to turn it, and win enough football games. That's what we want for the fans, that's what we want for the team, for the club.
I can see your passion, your body language, are you getting enough of that when your team crosses the white line on a Saturday afternoon or Tuesday or Wednesday? Are you getting the real oomph from them?
I think I do, because there's always small ups and downs in games where there's different momentum. But I really mean what I've said, and I've said that quite a few times.
Not everything has been perfect, but the ability to run and fight from the team in the last 11 games has been very, very good. And especially in some tough moments, I keep referring to some second halves against Bournemouth, Villa and West Ham, and now lately Man City, and actually Man United. It's so easy to crumble when it's tough, and it's not going well, and there's scrutiny, and there's everything else.
You just see a team that was fighting and running hard, away to Man United, and we get going down 1-0, and they kept going. So I think I see a lot, and sometimes for whatever reason, it just sometimes takes a little bit longer, and then you just need to do a little bit more to make sure that everything you do is more to make sure you can get the three points.
We all know supporters are vital, we've asked you before about Spurs fans booing and making their frustrations known, but how much do they need to have patience?
I can say we desperately need them because when you are in a situation where it's not going straightforward, you need the fans even more, so we need the fans tomorrow massively to back the team. When they do that on the highest level and of course we need to perform, we need to prove it, but if they see a team that's running and fighting and giving everything, they will do everything to help. And when they do everything to help, it just creates those magic moments. And I refer that to the City game, but also the Dortmund game. That was fantastic to be there and that we need tomorrow because of course, when you're a little bit down to the bare bone, not that many players, it's not that straightforward, it's maybe not as confident, the team and all that, then we need to push together.
How are Kevin Danso and Dejan Kulusevski after he was left out of Champions League squad?
Kevin, he met the consultant and it's Going forward. It's still weeks before he's available. Deki has got another appointment at the end of this week where we'll know more, but of course out of the Champions League squad, it's a sign of that it's not tomorrow.
Do you think he'll play again this season?
I don’t know.
Do you have the players that can get you away from relegation because a number of your players have been relegated before, are they up for the fight?
As I say, I focus on the game against Newcastle tomorrow, that's the most important thing and can we get a good performance out there and get three points. Then we will start to climb and that's what it's all about. We need to climb and every year, every day, we need to climb the table until you are where you want to be and there's only one place where you want to be in the future. So, that's the main focus right now.
You are very straightforward during these press conferences and very honest. I go back to your first one and you said 'we will lose matches'. It’s become a bit of a theme with the fans. I wonder do you regret setting the tone of this season that 'we will lose matches'?
No, I know you refer to my press conference as for the rest, I obviously don't know, but I think there's two things, it needs to be the nice combo between reality and selling hope. That's a fine balance. I knew it would be a tough season, I didn't expect it to be as tough as it's been, so I think that's down to injuries, down to margins, down to a lot of things. You can say two red cards after 30 minutes and that's not what you plan for. A lot of seasons you go through a season with zero red cards, so it hasn’t been straightforward. I know where we want to go and I see a lot of good things going on as well, and that just how can I say, it's not as positive when you don't win the games.
I think it’s just the contrast of other managers who have came in and said they want to win trophies and you have a former manager this week saying the club should aim for bigger trophies than Europa League...
Yeah, yeah I think there’s no doubt I want to win trophies, I want to do that but I am also very aware of where we are. I think it's not that we haven't done everything we could to do what we could achieve this season.
Why is it so easy for opponents to score against Spurs?
I definitely think the defensive side is something we would like to be even better at. Especially recently, I think we started the season very well. So it’s very simple if you keep the ball out of the net then you have a better chance of winning. It’s something we are highlighting and something we are working on. It’s something we are talking about.
Eddie Howe spoke about how he has 'got to do more' to help Newcastle. Are you having the same conversations with your staff. Do you feel you are performing at your best?
I try to find the margins every single day. I try to put the hours in every single day together with the staff, coaches, everyone to do everything we can to, how can I say, get a bit of momentum because it’s a little bit stop start. That is what we are working very hard on. There is only one way and that is head down, do what you believe in and keep going. Stay calm.
Is sporting director Johan Lange under scrutiny internally for the state of the squad?
I think it’s, like with me, it’s never only one person. I understand it is the head coach who gets the most blame when it is not going well and maybe get a little bit of praise if it is going well. That’s part of the job so I knew that.
In my opinion the way I have already seen, I can’t speak about what happened before, of course I inherited a squad and some players. But the way I see it and the way we do it now, we do things together. So in the September (summer) transfer window it was Fabio as a consultant, Johan, Vinai (Venkatesham), Daniel (Levy) and I. Now this window it has been the Lewis family, Vinai, Johan, Fabio and I. That’s been the way the whole time so it is us who do that.
What are Radu Dragusin's qualities and is he physically ready to play multiple games in a short space of time?
I think he has done great to come back, he has looked good the two games he has played and he looks strong and I like that. I think as a defender he is very good. He is alert. His movement, the way he anticipates the different situations, the way he tries to do the principles I really like that and he is really competitive in every aspect. He is fine, he is strong and he is ready to go again tomorrow.
Destiny Udogie has struggled with injuries over the last couple of seasons, how do you manage his fitness long-term so he can be consistently available?
Of course it’s an ongoing process to keep building him more and more robust everyday. So it’s a long-term process.
What does that process look like?
It’s a combination of different things, gym work, recovery, training, managing, game load and all of that.
What did you make of Souza's debut and how has adapted to the club?
He did very well, I’m very happy for him. Coming from Brazil, 19-years-old, to Tottenham, to the Premier League, getting his debut in one of the most iconic stadiums in the world. That’s a big thing so I hope him and his family are proud.
