Thomas Frank at Tottenham – Can He End Years of Big Six Frustration?

Tottenham Hotspur are set to embark on yet another new era when the 2025/26 Premier League season gets underway this weekend.

Since the relatively stable period under Mauricio Pochettino, the club has become a graveyard for managers over the past few years.

Ange Postecoglou was the latest one to fall by the wayside, despite ending Tottenham’s trophy drought by guiding them to the Europa League title last season.

A tally of 22 league defeats combined with a 17th-place finish was enough to persuade chairman Daniel Levy that Postecoglou was not the right man for the job.

Levy subsequently decided that Thomas Frank was ready to tackle the task of managing a big club after a relatively successful spell at Brentford.

With that in mind, read on as we assess whether Frank can help Tottenham finally live up to their status as one of the so-called ‘Big Six’ in the Premier League.

Frank faces a tough task at Tottenham

After an underwhelming spell with Brondy in his homeland, Frank joined the coaching staff at Championship club Brentford.

He replaced Dean Smith as manager in October 2018 and subsequently guided the Bees into the Premier League via the play-offs at the end of the 2020/21 season.

Frank kept Brentford afloat in the top flight, securing two top-ten finishes in the past four seasons. He was aided by the club’s shrewd recruitment strategy.

Although his overall record is steady rather than spectacular, it would be churlish to suggest he does not deserve the opportunity he has been handed by Tottenham.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	PPG
Brondby	Danish Superliga	33	13	13	7	47	38	52	1.58
Brondby	Danish Superliga	33	16	7	10	43	29	55	1.67
Brondby	Danish Superliga	20	9	5	6	29	23	32	1.60
Brentford	Championship	34	13	7	14	53	45	46	1.35
Brentford	Championship	46	24	9	13	80	38	81	1.76
Brentford	Championship	46	24	15	7	79	42	87	1.89
Brentford	Premier League	38	13	7	18	48	56	46	1.21
Brentford	Premier League	38	15	14	9	58	46	59	1.55
Brentford	Premier League	38	10	9	19	56	65	39	1.03
Brentford	Premier League	38	16	8	14	66	57	56	1.47

Unlike his predecessor, Frank is renowned for being tactically flexible. He primarily operated with a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 system at Brentford, both of which will suit Tottenham well.

Frank’s teams have generally sought to outwork their opponents, and this ethos could benefit the core of young players he has at his disposal at Tottenham.

However, anyone who thinks that Frank will be able to steer Tottenham into contention for a top four finish this season may need to rein in their expectations.

While the 51-year-old has earned the chance to manage a big club, the expectations will be much different than the less pressurised environment at Brentford.

The other five members of the ‘Big Six’ – Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool – have all strengthened their respective squads this summer.

Aston Villa and Newcastle United are among a plethora of other clubs who will expect to be in contention for European qualification this season.

With Tottenham also participating in the Champions League, they may not find it easy to balance their domestic and European commitments.

Recruitment will be one of the key factors in determining whether Frank is successful at Tottenham, both in the short term and further down the line.

Transfers and the Levy conundrum

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is the most powerful person at the club. He is also the regular target of angst from the club’s vociferous fanbase.

The criticism centres around the perception that Levy is more interested in how much money Tottenham make than on-field success.

The club has a world-class stadium and superb training facilities, yet the development of the infrastructure has not been reflected on the pitch.

However, given that Tottenham’s net spend over the past five seasons is one of the highest in the Premier League, Levy may feel the criticism is unwarranted.

Levy’s recent interview with The Overlap did little to dampen the fury among the fans who think that he should pass control of the club to someone else.

His penchant for hiring and firing managers has been compounded by a questionable recruitment policy that has resulted in large sums of money being frittered away.

However, whether by design or good luck, the club’s recruitment over the past few years has actually provided Frank with a squad he can go to war with.

	Position	From	Fee	Year	Outcome
Dominic Solanke	Forward	Bournemouth	€64.30m	2024	Hit
Mohammed Kudus	Forward	West Ham United	€63.80m	2025	Jury out
Richarlison	Forward	Everton	€55.00m	2022	Miss
Brennan Johnson	Forward	Nottingham Forest	€55.00m	2023	Hit
Cristian Romero	Defender	Atalanta	€52.00m	2022	Hit
James Maddison	Midfield	Leicester City	€46.30m	2023	Hit
Archie Gray	Midfield	Leeds United	€41.25m	2024	Jury out
Pedro Porro	Defender	Sporting CP	€40.00m	2023	Hit
Micky van de Ven	Defender	Wolfsburg	€40.00m	2023	Hit
Mathys Tel	Forward	Bayern Munich	€35.00m	2025	Jury out
Wilson Odobert	Forward	Burnley	€29.30m	2024	Jury out
Yves Bissouma	Midfield	Brighton & Hove Albion	€29.20m	2022	Miss
Kevin Danso	Defender	Lens	€25.00m	2025	Jury out
Radu Dragusin	Defender	Genoa	€25.00m	2024	Miss
Bryan Gil	Forward	Sevilla	€25.00m	2021	Miss
Emerson Royal	Defender	Barcelona	€25.00m	2021	Miss
Lucas Bergvall	Midfield	Djurgardens IF	€20.00m	2024	Jury out
Rodrigo Bentancur	Midfield	Juventus	€19.00m	2022	Miss
Guglielmo Vicario	Goalkeeper	Empoli	€18.50m	2023	Jury out
Destiny Udogie	Defender	Udinese	€18.00m	2022	Hit
Pape Mate Sarr	Midfield	FC Metz	€16.90m	2021	Miss
Antonin Kinsky	Goalkeeper	Slavia Prague	€16.50m	2025	Jury out
Alejo Veliz	Forward	Rosario Central	€15.00m	2023	Miss
Djed Spence	Defender	Middlesbrough	€14.70m	2022	Jury out
Luka Vuskovic	Defender	Hajduk Split	€11.00m	2025	Jury out
Kota Takai	Defender	Kawasaki Frontale	€5.80m	2025	Jury out
Min-hyeok Yang	Forward	Gangwon FC	€4.00m	2025	Jury out
Ashley Phillips	Defender	Blackburn Rovers	€2.30m	2023	Jury out
Joao Palhinha	Midfield	Bayern Munich	Loan	2025	Jury out
Mathys Tel	Forward	Bayern Munich	Loan	2025	Miss
Kevin Danso	Defender	Lens	Loan	2025	Jury out
Timo Werner	Forward	RB Leipzig	Loan	2024	Miss
Pedro Porro	Defender	Sporting CP	Loan	2023	Hit
Arnaut Danjuma	Forward	Villarreal	Loan	2023	Miss
Clement Lenglet	Defender	Barcelona	Loan	2022	Miss
Dejan Kulusevski	Midfield	Juventus	Loan	2022	Hit
Cristian Romero	Defender	Atalanta	Loan	2021	Hit
Pierluigi Gollini	Goalkeeper	Atalanta	Loan	2021	Miss
Manor Solomon	Forward	Shakhtar Donetsk	Free	2023	Miss
Ivan Perisic	Midfield	Inter Milan	Free	2022	Hit
Fraser Forster	Goalkeeper	Southampton	Free	2022	Miss

While acknowledging that the judgments made in the ‘outcome’ column are subjective and could change over time, they paint an intriguing picture.

Just over one-quarter of Tottenham’s signings since the 2021 summer transfer window fall into the ‘hit’ category, which is on par with most of their Premier League rivals.

However, the 15 players categorised as ‘jury out’ is where Frank can potentially have the biggest impact on the club’s fortunes over the next few years.

Archie Gray, Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and Lucas Bergvall are among the players who could develop into top-class talents under Frank.

Having brought several members of his coaching and analysis team with him from Brentford, Frank’s new club could benefit massively from their insights.

Shrewd recruitment helped Brentford punch above their weight in the Premier League and Tottenham fans will hope they can replicate their successes in north London.

Patience will be a virtue at Tottenham

Regardless of what many people think of Levy, he has put Tottenham in a good place financially. The onus is now on Frank to build on those foundations.

Making a positive start to the 2025/26 campaign won’t necessarily determine whether he will be successful, but it would give him some much-needed breathing space.

Intriguingly, the fixture list has been kind to Tottenham. Aside from the trip to Manchester City on August 23, their opening run of games looks favourable.

• Saturday, August 16 – Burnley (H)
• Saturday, August 23 – Manchester City (A)
• Saturday, August 30 – Bournemouth (H)
• Saturday, September 13 – West Ham United (A)
• Saturday, September 20 – Brighton & Hove Albion (A)
• Saturday, September 27 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)
• Saturday, October 4 – Leeds United (A)
• Saturday, October 18 – Aston Villa (H)
• Saturday, October 25 – Everton (A)
• Saturday, November 1 – Chelsea (H)
• Saturday, November 8 – Manchester United (H)
• Saturday, November 22 – Arsenal (A)
• Saturday, November 29 – Fulham (H)
• Wednesday, December 3 – Newcastle United (A)
• Saturday, December 6 – Brentford (H)
• Saturday, December 13 – Nottingham Forest (A)
• Saturday, December 20 – Liverpool (H)
• Saturday, December 27 – Crystal Palace (A)
• Tuesday – December 30 – Brentford (A)
• Saturday, January 3 – Sunderland (H)
• Wednesday, January 7 – Bournemouth (A)
• Saturday, January 17 – West Ham United (H)
• Saturday, January 24 – Burnley (A)
• Saturday, January 31 – Manchester City (H)
• Saturday, February 7 – Manchester United (A)
• Wednesday, February 11 – Newcastle United (H)
• Saturday, February 21 – Arsenal (H)
• Saturday, February 28 – Fulham (A)
• Wednesday, March 4 – Crystal Palace (H)
• Saturday, March 14 – Liverpool (A)
• Saturday, March 21 – Nottingham Forest (H)
• Saturday, April 11 – Sunderland (A)
• Saturday, April 18 – Brighton & Hove Albion (H)
• Saturday, April 25 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (A)
• Saturday, May 2 – Aston Villa (A)
• Saturday, May 9 – Leeds United (H)
• Sunday, May 17 – Chelsea (A)
• Sunday, May 24 – Everton (H)

Confidence is a big thing in football and Frank will recognise that his team have been handed a glorious opportunity to make a strong start to the season.

Everything seems to be in place for Tottenham to kick on under Frank and the fans will be desperate for him to guide the club to where they believe they deserve to be.

Finishing in the top six, winning a domestic cup and reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League would be a palatable outcome for his first season in charge.