New Tottenham assistant coach Justin Cochrane can see one key similarity between Thomas Frank and former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Frank was appointed on Thursday on a three-year deal to replace Ange Postecoglou after the Europa League-winning Australian was sacked six days beforehand. One of Frank’s coaching staff who is joining him at Spurs is the highly-rated Cochrane, who was being eyed up as the 51-year-old’s potential successor at Brentford.
Cochrane, 43, will be a familiar presence to those around Tottenham because he started his coaching journey within the club’s academy, spending just short of a decade at Hotspur Way with the team’s youth sides before leaving to work for England’s youth set-up and then Manchester United before arriving at Brentford to work with Frank.
In an interview with the Training Ground Guru podcast two-and-a-half years ago, Cochrane gave an insight into working with the Dane and his own views on the game.
“Understanding talent and difference – Marcus Edwards, Noni Madueke, Alejandro Garnacho – I had to connect with them the same way I am having to now with Bryan Mbeumo and Mikkel Damsgaard and Keane Lewis-Potter. It’s the same process. It’s about soft skills, emotional intelligence, understanding yourself, listening skills and findings ways to connect with people. And it takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.
“It’s just being genuinely interested in them as human beings. Thomas Frank is probably the best I’ve seen – and Mauricio Pochettino and Gareth Southgate – of content and connection. They know their stuff, their tactics, their gameplay – and they know how to get the best out of people.
“Thomas Frank is outstanding with his details. He understands how to set up a team, a training session, and he’s brilliant at getting the best out of the players. You can see that – the players are at their max each week in the Premier League.
“Mauricio knew when players needed an arm round the shoulder, a kick up the backside, he was brilliant with them. Understanding emotional intelligence, understanding self.”
Cochrane also spoke about his previous role at Tottenham which he would later leave to become head coach of England under-15s.
“I was doing my B License, along with Kieran McKenna (now Ipswich Town manager), Jim Hicks (now Head of Coaching at the PFA) and Paul Davis (now England U17s assistant). I knew Kieran was a professional at Spurs, but he had had an injury and was looking to move into coaching,” he said.
“I think Jim and Kieran said to John McDermott (then Head of Academy Coaching and Player Development at Tottenham), ‘There’s a keen young coach who lives close to where we train and he’s interested.’
“I had an interview with John and got the job and then I worked closely with (Head of Player Development) Chris Ramsey and it changed the way I thought about football. Up until then, I thought, ‘We want to develop these players to win games and beat whoever we’re playing.’
“Chris really stripped me back and was like, ‘We want to play the right style and have the best players on the pitch – that will be a good predictor of future success.’ My coaching reflected that. I worked with the U11s, U12s, U14s, U16s and then the U23s at Tottenham.”
Now Cochrane is back at Tottenham and will be hoping to make an impact in the Premier League and Champions League with Frank.
Thomas Frank is Spurs’ new head coach! But what job does he have on his hands? Click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham discussing Frank’s task ahead! Or click here to watch on YouTube!
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