Thomas Frank admits he was delighted with the performance that his players produced at the Etihad Stadium, and insists that Spurs learned from the mistakes they made against Paris Saint-Germain.
Tottenham fans are used to ending up on the winning side against Manchester City, but the 2-0 win was different to many of the wins that the Lilywhites have had against Pep Guardiola’s side over the last few years.
Even when they have beaten City, previous Tottenham sides have always had phases where they had their goal peppered by the Manchester club, but that was not the case this time.
The Lilywhites exhibited a level of defensive control that one almost never sees from sides who visit the Etihad Stadium, with the home side never looking like scoring after Tottenham went 2-0 up against Man City.
Thomas Frank is over the moon with Tottenham’s clean sheet
While we are just two Premier League games into the new season, one can already see a world of difference between the way Spurs defended last season and the way they are defending now with Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero marshalling the backline.
The North Londoners have kept two back-to-back cleansheets, which is not something they did too often under Ange Postecoglou, and the new Spurs boss admitted that the mentality of battling for a cleansheet is something he has discussed extensively with his players.
When asked what he thought of Tottenham’s performance against Man City, Thomas Frank said (via Football.London): “Very delighted. Extremely proud of the players’ performance. I think it was an exceptionally good performance. I think the first 35 minutes, we know a couple of things, we know it’s always difficult to play against City. Here at the Etihad it’s even more difficult.
“The first 35 minutes I thought was fairly even, but with City on top, I think they were more on top than us. There was a big mentality shift in terms of staying in the game and keep doing what we wanted to do, scoring a great goal. Maybe that changed a little bit of momentum, but we definitely stayed on top and went 2-0.
“Second half, I think we were very good. The big spell where we could think that they would put pressure on us, I think we were very aggressive in the high pressure, that we were very front-footed, with the mindset to constantly go for the 3-0 goal.
“And then, then I must say that the clean sheet makes me very happy. It’s a big thing we’ve been working on, not on clean sheets as that’s easier said than done, but on the defensive side of the game, high pressure, middle block, low block, defend the box mentality, blocking shots, everything. Because if you get clean sheets you’re closer to winning a game and also last year we had six clears, so yeah, that’s very big for me.”
Frank reveals what he told the Tottenham players at half-time
Tottenham threw away a 2-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain two weeks ago, and Frank revealed that it was something that he discussed with his players at the interval against City.
While losing the UEFA Super Cup final on penalties may have been a bitter blow to the Lilywhites, the 51-year-old insists that his players have been able to learn from that experience.
Frank added: “I referenced it (throwing away the 2-0 lead against PSG) at half-time. When you’re tired, keep going. That was one thing. Two that we had to keep being brave on the ball. Three that we had to keep being good in the high pressure. But also that’s easier said than done. But from every game you learn.
“From games where you don’t get the result you want, you learn maybe even more. And then I think in some ways, of course the other thing was a foul, this was away at the Etihad. One of the most difficult places to go to. But the defensive principles are more and more and then I think the mentality is the key thing. You need mentality to win games like this.”
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