Tottenham Hotspur have faded after a fast start under new manager Thomas Frank and the Londoners sit 12th in the Premier League table at the halfway point in the season
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has admitted he isn’t enjoying life at the North London club. The Danish boss joined from Brentford over the summer but has seen results taper off after a fast start.
Spurs drew 0-0 with Frank’s former side in their last match and some fans booed off the team. They have won just two of their last 10 league matches to sit 12th at the halfway point in the season and their manager didn’t mince his words in the lead-up to Sunday’s game at home to Sunderland.
“So the short answer is no,” Frank said when asked if he was enjoying his time in charge at Spurs. However, he anticipated being able to look back at this period with pride further down the line.
“When you need to put in a big, big shift and it’s not smooth and it’s tough, it’s probably difficult to enjoy it,” he added. “I’ll give you an example. If I run hard, I don’t enjoy that moment. But I know I need to keep my head down and run hard to get through it, to get my fitness up or to win a race, whatever it is.
“We’re in a situation where you need to run hard, to stay in it, to get through it. And then on the other side, when you look back on this spell we think ‘what a learning experience’, that made it so much better for the future. It’s definitely a marathon. It definitely seems like it’s one of the little bit more heavy miles I’m on now. But head down and keep going.”
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Spurs are still without several players for the weekend’s match against Sunderland. Xavi Simons is suspended after a recent red card, while Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Lucas Bergvall remains an injury doubt while James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are long-term absentees, but striker Dominic Solanke is getting closer to a return after not featuring since August. However, Frank would not give a concrete date on the striker’s comeback.
“The thing I need to know about, of course, is when he’s out there on the pitch with pictures then that’s positive,” he said. “To say mid-Jan, end of Jan or 25 Jan, I will not do that. I will very much look forward to naming the dates when he’s involved in the squad.”
Upcoming opponents Sunderland are severely depleted due to AFCON. Habib Diarra, Chemsdine Talbi, Arthur Masuaku, Noah Sadiki, Bertrand Traore and Reinildo are all away with their national teams, but defender Dan Ballard could be fit to return after missing the draw with Manchester City through injury.
“The standards within our team are high,” Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris after the City draw extended their unbeaten home run to 10 matches. “We want to get better and it is important to always have that mindset, because if you want to stay at the same level, you will be punished. We must be ambitious and hopefully that will be the case in our next game.”
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