Thomas Frank could not have asked for a better start to life as Tottenham boss after masterminding a 1-0 win over Arsenal in Hong Kong, the first ever north London derby to be staged outside the UK.
Played in front of a record-breaking crowd of 49,975 – the biggest football attendance in the country’s history – the clash was anything but a pre-season friendly. And it was decided in spectacular fashion by Pape Matar Sarr, who stunned the packed stands with a rocket from the halfway line just before half-time.
Spurs boss Frank was delighted with the win and how it sets the tone for his reign, saying it was “very pleasing” to secure his first North London Derby win. “This was as positive a result as you can get in terms of reinforcing the messages and team building and the desire to defend was good,” he said. “It is very pleasing to win my first north London derby. And you could not call that a friendly. People could see the desire from both teams and our great desire to keep a clean sheet.”
Tottenham were impressive in the first half and dug deep after the break to hold onto their lead. And Frank will not have to wait too long until he faces Arsenal for real, at the Emirates in November.
A noticeable difference to the Ange Postecoglou era was Tottenham’s excellent attacking and defending of corners, masterminded by new set piece coach Andreas Georgson, formerly of Brentford and Arsenal. “The first half we were good and the second half we defended a bit too much but that was good and our set pieces were good as well in attack and defence,” Thomas Frank added.
The Dane admitted the tour has already opened his eyes to the scale of his new role after leaving Brentford for the Europa League winners. “Definitely. I think I had a good idea but you don’t really know until you step into it and I think seeing how important it is for the fans. The fans have been waiting every day for us, every morning and evening, and the fans that came to open training and were at the game. You understand more and more, first and foremost how big a club Spurs is and the importance of the club.”
Thomas Frank, calm and confident in the dugout and in front of the media, was full of praise for matchwinner Sarr. “The goal was an unbelievable shot. The way he has worked and played he has impressed me in the last four weeks.”
There were encouraging signs too from £55m summer signing Mohammed Kudus, who lit up the game with his flair and work ethic. “I think he was really good from Kudus. His hold-up play, the way he takes hold of the ball in tricky situations. His one-vs-one skills, his creating opportunities for the team was top class. On top of that, I think he’s working extremely hard. That’s how he can help the team so much. He will make a lot of the fans excited with his offensive actions and he will also help the team defensively.”
And West Ham signing Kudus could soon be joined at Spurs by former Fulham man Joao Palhinha. Tottenham have opened talks with Bayern Munich over the potential loan signing of the Portugal midfielder, who missed much of last season through injury.
