Wayne Rooney shares what Thomas Frank immediately got wrong at Tottenham
Thomas Frank failed to live up to expectations before being sacked by Tottenham, with Igor Tudor already confirmed as his replacement.
Frank has left the Lilywhites sitting in 16th place, with the London club embroiled in a relegation battle.
The North London club has also been eliminated from both cup tournaments, with only the Champions League the remaining trophy available.
The Dane began life at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in great fashion, with just one loss in his opening seven Premier League games.
However, things quickly unravelled, with results and performances plummeting, and Wayne Rooney believes Frank should have avoided one thing in his opening months in charge.
What does Wayne Rooney think Thomas Frank should have done at Tottenham?
Frank began his life at Tottenham in quite an odd fashion, exclaiming to supporters that they would “lose football matches”.
While he may have been honest, and nearly every team in football ends up losing games, it does not provide much optimism for fans.
Rooney is in agreement with that sentiment, and the former Manchester United man has said he underwent the same sort of honesty under Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, which wasn’t a good thing.
Speaking on The Overlap’s fan debate, Rooney said about that initial press conference: “You have to say things which you don’t feel, which will help the players, even if you don’t believe what you’re saying, and the fans will listen to it. Whereas, as you say, he said we’re going to lose games.”
He continued to say: “I think when you go down that route of being too honest, and obviously we’re part of the media now, and you want them to be honest.
“But from a fan’s point of view or a player who’s in that dressing room, you don’t want them to be too honest.”
The former England striker is spot on. Players hearing their manager state they are going to lose games will do nothing positive in boosting their confidence.
After winning the Europa League the season before, the Tottenham players would have been wanting to hear how they could continue that success and to feel that winning feeling once again.
Igor Tudor must restore belief at Tottenham
While Tudor is only here for the remainder of the season, he still has a huge role to play at Tottenham.
Priority number one is to stave off relegation, but he must also instil a sense of self-belief at the club, which in truth has been lacking for much of the season.
The Croatian has been handed a unique opportunity to do just that in his first game in charge. Spurs host Arsenal on 22 February, and a win against their bitter rivals could do a lot to lift spirits.
Spurs are in danger of going down and have yet to win a game in 2026 in the Premier League, and supporters will be hoping a change of fortunes is sooner rather than later in N17.
For more about Igor Tudor’s arrival at Spurs, go to Football Insider.