Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media ahead of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle on Wednesday night – here is every word the Dane had to say ahead of the fourth-round clash in the North East
Thomas Frank has got Tottenham firing again as his side bounced back from the Champions League draw at Monaco by wiping the floor with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The balance act now for Frank is that he now needs to select a side that will compete with Newcastle at St James’ Park and Eddie Howe’s men are unlikely to be taking the Carabao Cup lightly given they are the defending champions.
Frank also issued an update on the fitness of defensive duo Cuti Romero and Destiny Udogie, who both missed Sunday’s trip to Merseyside with adductor and knee issues, respectively.
Spurs’ man-of-the-moment Micky van de Ven has also played a huge amount of football this season and one of the biggest talking points ahead of the trip to Tyneside is whether the Dutchman will be rested.
Here is every word Frank said ahead of the fourth-round tie in the North East.
Any new injuries after Everton and how are Romero, Udogie and Solanke?
“No, all good from the guys that played yesterday. Dom stepped forward, step by step. Cuti on the pitch today, not a timeframe. Destiny on the pitch as well today. Three steps forward.
Away form has been good but home form still an issue?
“Sometimes it’s a relatively small sample. Hopefully at the end of the year it’s fantastic away and home. It’s a team that’s still finding each other, the way we’re building we have 14 games with one bad performance against Bournemouth, second half against Wolves and second half against Monaco. In general we’re building.”
READ MORE: Every word Thomas Frank said on Everton win, Van de Ven and whether Tottenham are title contendersREAD MORE: Tottenham duo argue in heated post-match disagreement and truth behind Micky van de Ven limp
Trophy a key target this season?
“We’re in this game because we love it. At Spurs, we do everything we can to win. We’re trying to win every tournament we’re playing in. Playing against a strong team, the holders, a difficult place to play but we’ll do everything to compete, win and progress.”
Set-pieces have brought huge early success, big theme of season in general too with long-throws now in fashion?
“Andreas is doing a top job. The players are really committed to it. We need to be good in every aspects of the game but set pieces have created a third of all goals. So not to spend time on it, be super-focused on details, then defending and attacking those is a major strength.
“I haven’t seen every game in every league. My feeling is that there are more long throws in general – that’s a clear example – every manager wants to compete and it’s about finding the small margins. The top clubs are raising the bar so that’s probably the reason.
“You need to be good in all phases. In the first half yesterday we were very good playing out from the back and you need to be good in the middle of the pitch. A big part of it is being good at set pieces.”
How good has Kevin Danso been in recent weeks?
“He deserves praise. Every coach will love him, great character and personality. He was good and calm on the ball. Some strong battles with Beto, from crosses and set pieces he had a magnet head. He did well.”
Kudus played more centrally against Everton?
“Sometimes I tweak it a little bit. Having Kudus in the middle to link with Xavi, there were elements of good things.”
Two goals for Van de Ven, how important is he for Spurs?
“Very happy with Micky. He’s been brilliant for the Club since he signed. He’s taken his game up a level, he’s still very good on the ball and he added headed goals. He’s a threat from set pieces. Character and leadership. We have a good contract for him but definitely a player with a big future here.”
Chance to rotate at Newcastle, how important is it to find right balance?
“That’s the challenge. It’s one game so there’s more at stake. I changed four from Monaco to Everton and three before that. Of course there’ll be rotation, playing every third or fourth day. If you want to compete over 60 games, you can’t play the same XI. So there’s a fine balance. That’s one of the beauties of being Head Coach, that’s all part of the good fun.”
