Thomas Frank: Tottenham manager admits he has not enjoyed his reign so far, but hard work will pay off in the long run | Soccer News

Thomas Frank admits he has not enjoyed his time as Tottenham manager so far, but is looking forward to looking back on a difficult start.

Frank has come under increasing pressure from supporters following a string of poor performances, with away fans chanting “boring, boring Tottenham Hotspur” during a 0-0 draw with Brentford on New Year’s Day.

The former Bees manager said he understood their frustration and admitted he was not happy with the club’s current situation, but insisted the short-term suffering would be worth it in the long-term.

When asked if he was enjoying his time in office so far, Frank said, “The short answer is no.”

“When you come out of this situation and look down, you think what an honor it is to be at the helm of this great club, which is going through a huge transition. I think someone told me that eight leaders at the top of the club have been replaced.”

“Nothing has changed so much in the last 140 years. A lot has changed, but the possibilities are huge.

“That’s part of it. I’m looking forward to looking back on it and thinking what a learning experience it was. Now I’m enjoying it.”

Frank added, “When you have to make big, big changes and it’s not smooth and it’s difficult, it’s probably hard to enjoy it.

“Let me give you an example: If I run hard, I don’t enjoy it in the moment. But I know that in order to get through it, to improve my fitness, or to win the race, I need to put my head down and run hard.

“We’re in a situation where we have to run hard and stay in the situation and get through it. And on the other hand, when I look back on this spell, I think, ‘What a learning experience it was.’ It’s turned out to be very good for the future.”

“This is definitely a marathon. It certainly seems like one of the heavier miles I’m running right now. But keep your head down and keep going.”

Frank admits Tottenham are ‘boring’ as they search for the right balance

Fans have been critical of Frank’s system as Tottenham struggle to achieve the attacking style their supporters want.

That was further highlighted by the fact that it took Spurs until the 93rd minute to have a shot on target against Brentford, and Frank admitted his team had a lot to improve on in attack.

“It’s not perfect. We want to be a free-flowing team. I think there are some things we want to strengthen positively, and that’s our last two away performances,” he said.

“The foundations we have are very strong against Crystal Palace and Brentford. Defensively I thought we were very good. I think we figured out how to shut down their transitions.”

“We work hard, so I understand the frustration and I share that.

“There are some things that we need to do our best to improve on, one of which is for example against Brentford we lost the ball 25 times with unforced errors.

“Today we showed the players 25 clips of them. Everything that can be adjusted. Of course, soccer is a game of mistakes. You can lose the ball, but it can happen through wrong decisions, wrong touches, concentration.”

“So, that’s one level that we have to do. And the next part is pattern and structure and getting into the right positions. We didn’t do that last night. We showed the players that again today. That’s my responsibility with the coaches.”

“And number three. I think it’s fair to mention that we still lack some very important offensive players, who have been out for a while. I don’t want to talk about that anymore.”

“Unfortunately, it’s very boring. But that’s the fact. We need to do everything we can to put in an attacking, strong front-foot performance against Sunderland in two days’ time.”

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we get that done. And if we can do that and get three points, three for seven, that’s very good.”