Man Utd vs Spurs, Premier League | Every word of Thomas Frank’s pre-match press conference

Thomas Frank spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Thursday, ahead of our Premier League clash against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday (12.30pm).

Here’s what he had to say…

Let's start with team news - how is everyone?

Thomas: “Everyone, mostly, is okay. Micky trained today and is available for selection for Saturday, so that’s good. Djed is getting closer, it will be touch and go and there's a good chance he'll be ready.”

Are you expecting Cristian Romero to be back?

Thomas: “Yes, I do.”

What did you think Cuti Romero meant by his social media post and what was your reaction to it?

Thomas: “I think if you want to know what he meant you of course need to ask him. I think that is the right way to take that question. Cuti is a very passionate character and player that wants to leave everything on the pitch. He is very ambitious and wants to win every single time  - sometimes when you are like that, sometimes there can be an outburst, which happened this time. It is something we of course dealt with and dealt with internally.”

How do you feel about him using social media to do that?

Thomas: “There are a lot of ways of doing things. Cuti has been very good for us this season and the past seasons and I think that is very important to be aware of. I would not have done it. That is my message.”

Are you happy with the amount of business that the club did during the transfer window?

Thomas: “We signed Conor Gallagher, who is a quality player for the starting XI. Of course, he needs to perform, and no one has promised any position, but we signed a quality player and we signed a young player for the future. I think if you compare that to a lot of the other Premier League clubs, I think that is very good. I think where we are is okay. We tried to do more, but it was not possible for whatever reason. I said it the whole time that it is very, very important that we take good decisions and are calm. It needs to be for the short-term and the long-term.”

Joao Palhinha says he’s really excited for the United game - how is the morale in the squad?

Thomas: “Joao has been very important for us in many, many ways and to have a versatile player like him that can play as a six, as a right-sided centre-back, he also played one of the two he did in the second half. He is very impressive and he is part of driving the team. I agree with him. I think there has been, I said it for a while, I think the performances are more competitive and consistent. Are they perfect? No, but we are getting closer and closer. I think, especially in the last four performances or more that we have a little bit of an unbeaten run. Can we, instead of only, not only, but have some top second-half performances, I think we can also add up more in the first half. I think we are in a place where we can look forward.”

What have you made of Michael Carrick’s time in charge of United so far?

Thomas: “Yes, I think he has had a great start. It seems like there was injected a little bit of energy into the team. I think it looks like some of the players are in a good place. We know the threats that I also think they posed before from Bryan Mbeumo,  Amad, Cunha and Bruno Fernandes, he’s getting this team ticking. He has done that the last, I don't know, four or five years. It has been incredible. It is a threat, it is a challenge, but we are looking forward to it.”

Xavi Simons - is this just what you wanted to see from him - just enjoying his football a bit more and taking more risks?

Thomas: “Yes, but I think he took plenty of risks also when he started. I just think now, of course, naturally, he is more consistent. He is knowing his team-mates better. The team-mates know him better. We have become a little bit more consistent. He is adapting more and more to the Premier League and also to play in the Premier League and Champions League is just different. I agree that his last performances have been very good and the way he is creating for the team in different ways, I like that. He was touching the ball in behind, he was driving the ball, slide pass, outside the foot, cross, so I think he is getting better and better.”

Do you think (Cuti) that it is acceptable, and do you think that having had a word with him maybe on a couple of occasions beforehand, it is maybe not getting through to him?

Thomas: “Of course, like with a lot of things, we are dealing with it internally, in terms of what we are taking care of it, that is my main message to him.”

Would you prefer your squad not to go on social media?

Thomas: “Social media, I can't get rid of it. I think it is what some people call the future or it is the now, whatever it is. It is out there and one thing I do know, we all definitely put too much attention to social media, all of us. It seems like everything that is written on social media is the truth. It is such a small number of people who are actually writing something out there and everything we take for granted, ‘that’s the truth’, which I think is a challenge in general, overall. But of course, with everything, that is the way it is, and we just need to deal with it.

What is the ambition in the Premier League from here to the end of the season?

Thomas: “I also think it is maybe a nice little context to say that Man United don't play European football. I think we can all acknowledge that it is an extra challenge, something we embrace and we are happy with. So, I think let's judge us when we are on the same challenges. The ambition is that we want to do very well and carry on with the good performances and beat Man United in two days' time.”

So many players liked the post - does that make it even more of a delicate thing for you to have to deal with internally?

Thomas: “First and foremost, we don't know what a like means. I don't know how many words were there in the text. Is it, ‘well done guys, you did amazingly when I had to go off at half-time’? If that's a like, then perfect, then there's nothing.”

Can you understand the fans' fears about the lack of activity towards the end of the window?

Thomas: “What I like is that the fans are very passionate and they want the best for the club. And are very ambitious, which they should be. Tottenham is a fantastic club, and we should achieve great things. It's also, you say the chances, we have a few players out, some of them are coming back, and a lot of them are coming back also this season, and hopefully sooner rather than later. So, that's one thing. Of course we look into loan options, of course we look into other options, but for different reasons, nothing more happened. I still think it was not like we wanted to buy five players. It was not the case. So, we got a very good player in Conor Gallagher and a good young one in Souza.”

I know it's with hindsight now, but I just wonder, do you look back at all on the Brennan Johnson sale? Bearing in mind we now know no more attackers came in after that, do you still feel the timing was right?

Thomas: “There's a lot of moving parts in every decision, in terms of when you sell a player or when you buy a player. You can say if you play 3-4-3, we have right now five available players to the front three, which is a decent number. Hopefully, Richy is back soon, then we have six, and when Mo comes back, then we have seven. So, if you look at it from that perspective, I think it's okay.”

I just wondered if you could clarify, was it yourself and Johan, Vinai, whoever, who spoke to Cuti again?

Thomas: “I can clarify that we dealt with it internally.”

Fabio Paratici has been unveiled at Fiorentina – he’s said Fiorentina have a serious set of owners - I just wondered what you make of those comments?

Thomas: “I haven't seen them. I don't know them. I back Fabio, so that's probably the truth.”

Spurs have conceded quite a lot of goals from outside the box this season. I just wondered if you had any particular thoughts on why that is the case?

Thomas: “No. That can be a big analysis on that. There can be unbelievable quality in the moment from players. It could be, for instance, that we didn't put enough pressure on the ball in a specific moment. You can say I think we scored two goals in the last four or five games. That should have given us more points than we got. There’s a lot of things we can improve, one of them is to concede less.”

Can you confirm that you've fined or discipline Cuti Romero?

Thomas: “I can confirm that we dealt with everything internally.”

What would be the argument to fine or discipline him when he stated he was ill, he felt he had to play because we had 11 players and he thought it was disgraceful - where in what he’s said is not true, I guess?

Thomas: “I think the beauty of written text is that you can read a lot into it. Nobody really knows what was the purpose of it, except Cuti, or the guys who have spoken to him, and everything is dealt with internally.”

I guess it shows he cares…

Thomas: “I think it shows that Cuti is extremely passionate. He wants to win. He wants to do everything he can, together with his team-mates, to achieve great things, but you need to ask him next time you speak to him.”

It felt like in January maybe one more signing could have made a difference in pushing to Europe. The club has spoken about ambition a lot, but it feels like the club is kind of settling for mid-table right now. Is that fair to say?

Thomas: “That's your opinion. This club is very ambitious. I think if it was like this, easy to get another play in, then I'd play Football Manager. I decided it was not as fun to be a Head Coach at Tottenham. So, it's never that easy. It's much more complicated. We all know that. We are in different stages of where we want to be, but that's not to say that we are not ambitious. We are very ambitious.”