Thomas Frank reveals whether he might change the position of senior Tottenham forward
Thomas Frank has reflected on his selection decisions upfront and whether he is considering making a position change for one of his Tottenham players.
The Tottenham boss is short of attacking options at the moment as the three long-term absentees, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, have now been joined on the treatment table by Mohammed Kudus.
Kudus’ injury is reported to be worse than initially hoped, which is expected to force Spurs to step up their pursuit of an attacking player.
Frank also does not have Brennan Johnson to call on any longer, which means that he hardly has any options to rotate his side for the clash against Bournemouth.
Thomas Frank reveals whether Randal Kolo Muani could lead the line for Tottenham
The one change that the Dane can make is to revert Randal Kolo Muani to the number nine role in place of Richarlison after using the Frenchman exclusively as a winger over the last couple of months.
However, Frank hinted that it may not be likely, pointing out Richarlison’s pressing and goal record and suggesting that the on-loan PSG man offers more on the flanks.
When asked about playing Kolo Muani upfront, the Tottenham boss said (via Football.London): “I think the challenge is, Richy has worked very hard for us during the games, as a pressing player leading the line, competing. He’s our top scorer. So he’s the guy who has that confidence right now.
Kolo has scored zero goals [in the Premier League] unfortunately, and zero assists. There’s also a little bit of that.
“I like that Kolo can easily play as either of the two wingers. He’s done that in the past, and also like a second striker coming in and be closer to Richy. There’s a lot of good about him I like with his abilities. The way he drives the ball, the way he’s got that little extra pace to go past players and running behind.
“Maybe he just lacks that little extra confidence of where the things just come off. He had three runs with the ball [against Sunderland] where it’s like the final touch then you are in. Richy, if he got the ball through, it’s hopefully a tap in 10 minutes into the second half, then suddenly you just have that extra bit.
“So we lacked that a little bit from our players. That little boost. Until you get that, the only thing you can do is keep trying, keep doing the right things.”
Frank likens Mathys Tel to an England striker
Mathys Tel was singled out for praise after his first-half showing against Sunderland, and one would think the 20-year-old showed enough to keep his place in the side against Bournemouth.
Frank suggested that the former Bayern Munich man does not have a clear best position as of now, comparing him to Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, with whom he worked at Brentford.
When asked about Tel, the Tottenham boss responded: “Mathys is a quite versatile player. He can play on the left, he can play 10, he plays striker. Probably his best [role] is something between the three roles, and he’s young, so I think he’s not the first player to have the question ‘where will he actually end up?’
“In the past, I would work with Ollie Watkins. He came as a winger, and I converted him to be a striker, and he’s quite a successful striker. Yoane Wissa came as a winger to us, and in the end, he ended as a striker. Is Mathys maybe the same type, to start as a winger and end as a striker? I don’t know. No matter what, I’m pretty sure he can perform in both positions.”
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