Thomas Frank explained why his Tottenham players deserve a lot of credit, given the circumstances of their wins over Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Spurs delivered a professional performance to overcome Frankfurt 2-0 at Deutsche Bank Park and seal direct passage to the round of 16 stage of the Champions League.
The result relieves some of the pressure on Thomas Frank, which had been intensifying amidst Tottenham’s continued struggles in the Premier League.
Finishing in 4th place in Europe’s premier club competition is undoubtedly a feather in the Dane’s cap, and he has highlighted one particular aspect which makes the results even more pleasing.
Thomas Frank hails Tottenham’s character amid having just 12 senior players
The 52-year-old pointed out that the Lilywhites only had 12 senior players available in the final two league phase fixtures against German opposition, which they won without conceding a goal.
Frank pointed out that the other results around the Champions League over the last two matchweeks show that there are no easy games in this competition.
When asked what the most pleasing aspect of Tottenham’s win over Frankfurt was, the 52-year-old told Football.London: “I think, first of all, very happy for the performance. I think the players showed great character, their mentality. We basically had 12 available players for Dortmund and in this game and in both games, the players stepped up.
“And I think this game we were more or less in control from the beginning to the end of the game. I think that’s a big thing. I need to say, we’ve seen some of the results in the Champions League tonight. We’ve seen some of the results throughout the league phase. There are no easy games. So we’re sitting here with 17 points, ending, finishing fourth in the group stage, sixth clean sheet.
“I think it’s very impressive, but throughout the game today I think we were good in the high pressure. I think we looked strong when we defended low. I’m very happy how we progressed with the ball and how we got quick up the pitch. And then, of course, still working on creating, but I think we created quite a lot today, which I’m very pleased with. So, yeah, very, very happy with that.”
It was pointed out to Frank that he had finished in 4h place in his first time managing in the Champions League, while teams like Real Madrid, Inter Milan and PSG had failed to secure a top-eight finish.
When asked if he took personal pride in the achievement, the Spurs boss responded: “Yeah, of course I’m happy, but it’s not about me. I think I’m very happy that the staff, the players, everyone, how we prepared the team for these games in general, I think, is very positive.
“And I think, of course, we need to look forward to the round of 16, which is hugely important that you are qualified for everything, but also gives us some time between games to train. And I also think, let’s say, the 3-4-3 also looked good in the last three games.”
Frank admits ‘tough decision’ on squad replacement paid off
Frank controversially decided to bring Dominic Solanke back into Tottenham’s squad in place of Mathys Tel, and that was not a popular decision, given the form the Frenchman had been in.
However, it proved to be the right call, with the England international finding the back of the net against both Dortmund and Frankfurt.
When asked how pleasing it was to see Solanke score again after his decision, Frank responded: “Yeah, I’m so happy not only to have him in the Champions League squad, but also it was a tough decision. It was a big game tonight, and I wanted to start Dom, but we need to make clever decisions like we’ve done throughout, because we have been pushing him to the limit.
“So we know every sign, every experience says that it was the right thing not to start him. So I’m happy that it turned out to be a very good decision.”