Thomas Frank lauds ‘exceptional’ Tottenham fans for responding to his big request
Thomas Frank took a lot of positives from Tottenham’s performance against Borussia Dortmund, not least the atmosphere created by the home fans.
There were fears that things could get really ugly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday, given that Spurs had decided not to make a managerial change ahead of the game.
The Tottenham fans had sung ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ to Frank following the 2-1 defeat to West Ham, and there was a risk that the atmosphere could turn really sour if the Bundesliga side had scored first.
Yet, it was the home side who started on the front foot and scored an early goal, with the home faithful getting behind the team, who made it four wins in four Champions League games at home this season.
Thomas Frank was delighted to see Tottenham fans back the team
The Spurs head coach confessed that he thoroughly enjoyed the performance of his side on Tuesday after what had been a difficult few days.
He conceded that he would have liked his team to have been better in the second half, but he singled out the fans for praise for getting behind the side as he had requested before the game.
When he asked how much he enjoyed Tottenham’s performance against Dortmund, Thomas Frank told Football.London: “Yeah, I really enjoyed the performance and the win, of course. I think especially the first half, I felt we were very good. I think we started exceptionally well. On top of them, pressed them, calm on the ball, produced chances, created opportunities, scored a good goal, and kept going. And then scored the second goal, which of course is also super important.
“So, everything about the first half, I was extremely happy with. I think it’s definitely some of the best we’ve done. Second half, I would have loved us to keep the ball a bit better. I would have loved to have killed it with some of the big chances, just the 3-0. But we know in football it’s never easy, even if you play 11 against 10.
“Also because the momentum is they have to push a bit.And then of course, we all knew it was an important win to get. And especially at home, of course, we haven’t been as confident. So the performance and the win can we build on? And then I asked for the fans to help everyone, especially the team and the players. And they were exceptional, especially the first half. You felt it was that one of these, how can you say, a little bit special European nights. You felt the energy was quite unique. So that was very nice.”
When asked about the fact that Spurs started with the kind of urgency they have not often this season, the 52-year-old said: “I don’t know. It was just extremely nice to experience. And as I say, the way they pushed us forward and that energy between the fans and the players was magic. And that’s what we need to create more of. And luckily, we’ve been good to do it in the Champions League with four wins and four clean sheets at home.”
Frank admits the Spurs players are continuing to give everything
In the lead-up to the game, some pundits had claimed that Frank had lost the Tottenham dressing room.
However, the Dane insisted that the players are continuing to give everything, singling out Dominic Solanke and Destiny Udogie for praise on their return from injury.
When asked if it was pleasing to see the players put in so much effort, Frank said: “I said it from the beginning, the players are giving everything. I think that’s an extremely good sign about the culture. Extremely good sign that they want to do everything. That they are together, that we are together. Very impressive and we were a little bit down to the bare bones with the available players.
“And the way Destiny, he was definitely one of the ones I was talking about yesterday. We were constantly talking about, should we swap him in or not? But he was sometimes bombarding forward. I was thinking ‘Oh no, Dest, please, come on, calm now. Be a little bit clever.’ But very nice. Dom is the one that is normally a physical beast, but he’s been out for so long. It means something. He gave everything, and I think he gave so much to the team.”
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