Thomas Frank listens to Tottenham Hotspur fans after a controversial moment

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Thomas Frank reacted against Sunderland after being criticised by Tottenham fans for what he did against Brentford.

Tottenham’s home form across 2025 was shocking, and the club did not have the start they would have hoped for to 2026, being held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland in North London.

However, Frank did make some tactical modifications to the side, which suggests that he is taking on board some of the criticism.

The Dane played Wilson Odobert in the number ten role, which was a welcome change to the conservative three-man midfield he played at the Gtech Community Stadium, and he made another big call in the matchday squad.

Thomas Frank named Tottenham starlet on the bench against Sunderland

Some Spurs fans questioned why Luca Williams-Barnett was not included in the squad against Brentford, suggesting that Frank is as scared to play kids as some of his predecessors were.

The 52-year-old rectified that mistake on Sunday, naming Williams-Barnett among his matchday squad.

The 17-year-old has 15 goals and seven assists to his name in 16 outings for the U18s and U21s this term, but the Tottenham boss opted not to bring him on, despite his lack of attacking options on the bench.

Frank explains why he did not bring on Luca Williams-Barnett

The Dane explained that he would have introduced the teenager if Tottenham had been on top and looked like scoring a second goal.

However, given how the contest was going, he felt that bringing on Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall would benefit the side more by shoring them up at the back.

When asked why Williams-Barnett was not introduced, Frank told Football.London: “I think it was not a game where we were just, boom, on top of it, and we just need that goal, and we were just controlling the game. So if that was the case, then it could have been a different decision.

“I think when we put Joao and Lucas on, there’s been a lot of running, and it was a little bit back and forth. So Lucas played 10 many times, and been a very good creative player for us, so that was more or less like-for-like for Wilson.

“And then with Joao for Archie, it was a game where we, I think it’s fair to say, maybe lacked the exact cutting edge. Maybe it would be good just to make sure we could win 1-0, which we unfortunately couldn’t.”