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Thomas Frank has revealed that he tries to be honest in his conversations with Tottenham’s transfer targets and has explained the kind of characters he wants to add to the Spurs squad.
Following the addition of Xavi Simons, Tottenham’s summer business now looks more than decent, with the club managing to acquire three players who have strengthened their starting eleven.
Defeat to Bournemouth earlier on Saturday will however have many fans hoping that Simons is not their last piece of business before the window closes.
Spurs have their head coach to thank for being able to get these deals over the line, with Simons revealing that his conversation with Frank convinced him about a move to Tottenham.
That was the same thing said last week by Joao Palhinha, who admitted that Frank was the number one factor behind his Spurs switch.
Thomas Frank admits he is honest with Tottenham’s transfer targets
The Dane has now explained that while his role is to sell the Tottenham Hotspur project, he prefers being direct and honest in his conversations with transfer targets rather than painting too rosy a picture.
When asked what he tells players before they sign, Thomas Frank said (via Football.London): “When I speak to them, I’m pretty direct and honest in how I see the player. Of course I want to sell the Tottenham project, but I’m always direct in terms of how I see their role and what we hopefully can make them to become.
“Also, that it will be a fantastic journey, but also there can be ups and downs in that journey, and there are bits they need to work on.”
Frank admits that he wants humble characters who would work hard for the team, but he pointed out that it does not mean that they come without an ego.
When asked if top-class players come with a big ego, the Spurs head coach responded: “100%. They need to. We all have the ego, we can’t live without the ego. None of us would have been in this room, being in the position you guys are in, I am, without the ego pushing us a bit. I think that’s hugely important, but I think it’s important it is not controlling you in many ways.
“I always use that attitude as confident but humble. You need to be confident about your own abilities but humble about the team, humble about your role, humble that every single day you need to put the hard work in. But when you step on the pitch, when I step in here, you need to look confident. But when I am not humble [enough] to do all the hard work, forget it.”
Frank admits Tottenham do their homework on players’ personalities
During his time at Brentford, the 51-year-old became known for his ‘no-d**kheads’ policy (Guardian), but he confessed that he tries to understand players’ personalities before writing them off as bad apples.
The Tottenham boss also revealed that the club uses a lot of references to make thorough background checks on their transfer targets.
When asked how difficult or easy it is to spot a player with a bad attitude, Frank responded: “I’ve met a few over the years. I think it is important to try and understand the player. I think it is so easy to say ‘Oh he doesn’t have enough’ or ‘He has too much’. It’s the easiest way.
“It’s my job, together with the other coaches to maximise their potential. To maximise their potential I need to get to know them and try to get into them.
“We take massive references. Massive. We’re big on it. On any player done in the past and we’ll do it the same. Of course, there are some players who are like ten out of ten, perfect.
“Others are not ten out of ten but they can’t be too low, of course. But then you think with our culture, it will work anyway.”
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