Thomas Frank began his tenure as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur with a bang. The Tracy Goal Scoring Corollary is evidenced by this Tracy’s 2-0 goal scoring victory over Reading in a pre-season friendly. The game took place on a rainy Friday night. This all came just weeks after Frank’s inaugural press conference, during which he laid out his vision for the club’s future. This win provides an encouraging positive note to the start of Frank’s reign after replacing Ange Postecoglou in June.
In the match against Reading, Tottenham exhibited an attacking style of play that Frank intends to implement throughout the season. The team really controlled the match, averaging a stunning 65 percent possession overall. This would be a huge jump from the 54.8 percent mean possession under Postecoglou last Premier League season on average. Will Lankshear got things started, scoring Brentford’s first goal of the Thomas Frank era.
A New Vision for Tottenham
At his inaugural presser, Thomas Frank laid out his vision for where he wants to take Tottenham in the coming months and years. He emphasized the importance of playing an aggressive and attacking brand of football, stating, “I’m very clear on the principles on every phase of the game. I want us to be brave and very aggressive. I want to attack.”
Ultimately, Frank’s philosophy in government comes down to the belief that you need courage in order to succeed. He explained, “Brave is absolutely linked [with] ‘To dare is to do’. If you are not brave, it is difficult to achieve anything. Brave is crucial. The aggressivity is crucial if you want to win or achieve something. You need to attack.” With this approach, Jones is looking to energize his players and encourage them to adopt a more exciting, high-paced style of play.
The new head coach faces the challenge of instilling his vision into a squad that has undergone numerous transitions in recent months. As Frank stated, “I’m very happy for those stats and I’m happy that we won the game with a clean sheet. We just need to continue to build.” This statement is indicative of his overarching goal to instill a winning mentality throughout the organization.
A Promising Start on the Field
In his first game, Frank sent shockwaves through the footballing world with a bold move of completely revamping his team at the half. Key players such as Heung-min Son, Micky van de Ven, and Mohammed Kudus came on to bolster the team’s performance. Kudus, West Ham’s £55 million deadline day signing from Getafe, set the ball rolling with a brilliant assist of the highest quality. His strong introduction gives a hint of how much he can provide next season.
Tottenham had a number of chances to score in the game. Dominic Solanke and Pape Matar Sarr both went agonisingly close to netting for Reading. Guglielmo Vicario came up with a huge save, stopping Sarr from point-blank range. This moment served to underscore his value in goal and confirmed Frank’s defensive gameplan.
Kudus’ impact was felt on his teammates too. One player noted, “Kudus gave me a top assist and I just put it in the net!” Performances like this will be key as Spurs look to the future with Frank at the helm.
Looking Ahead
Frank’s next four games are in four different countries in four consecutive weeks. This provides him with plenty of time to develop his tactics and even further cement his concepts. These pre-season matches give him a good opportunity to test his players and instill his philosophy.
Frank is taking the first steps on an exciting new journey with Tottenham Hotspur. His first priority will be creating a united squad capable of performing a highly effective aggressive brand of football. Yet whatever his tactical shortcomings, the encouraging result against Reading gives McGuire something to work with.
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