Tottenham Hotspur

Here are the key lines from Tottenham manager Thomas Frank's news conference:

• Injury concerns mount up as Mohammed Kudus is ruled out until April and Dejan Kulusesvki's injury is described as "complicated"

• Rodrigo Bentancur's hamstring injury is also worse than first feared, with Lucas Bergvall set to be assessed
• However, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke are back in training
• Frank said he had a "good conversation" with captain Cristian Romero this morning following statements he made on social media
• The Spurs boss also said he is working "very, vey hard" to improve the squad
• Frank defended his playing style, saying "I see myself as above average intelligence" and "my teams have always produced chances and scored goals"
• On Romero's comments, he said he sees ", externala very aligned club"

That's all folks, but please do scroll down to read more...

That was quite the news conference.

So much going on at Tottenham at the moment, it is easy to forget that Thomas Frank was supposed to be facing questions about Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Aston Villa.

We are going to sign off now, but let's do so by summing up what the Spurs boss had to say...

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Well, kind of.

Back in June 2025, as part of BBC Sport's news piece on the sacking of Ange Postecoglou - we ran a poll for you to decide who should be the next manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

Among the options on the list were Gareth Southgate, Mauricio Pochettino, Oliver Glasner, Xavi and, of course, Thomas Frank.

Frank led the way by a comfortable margin with 23% of people believing he should be the next man in the hotseat at Spurs.

Southgate was second with 17% while Pochettino was in third with 16%.

Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace on Friday, 2 January, just two days before Mohammed Kudus got injured.

Unfortunate timing for Tottenham, who opted to cash in on the £35m offer for the forward.

Image source, Getty Images

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank on his side's poor form: "We would love to be higher up the table. We are working hard.

"But the important thing is to look at the game on Saturday [against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round]. It is a good opportunity as that is an important competition for the club.

"This is a tough spell that we will get through."

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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank was asked if he believes Cristian Romero was trying to protect him with his Instagram post: "Could be. I have a very good relationship with Cuti. He has done very well. But, long-term success is, everyone is aligned - me, the players, captain, leadership - which we are."

On Romero and whether he his aligned with key figures at the club: "You probably need to ask him. What I know is, he has been here for five years. I have been here for seven months and I see a very aligned club and it is up to us to prove that."

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was asked if he feels we have seen enough to justify him getting the time he wants: "We definitely want to do more. I think we have scored enough goals. An acceptable amount.

"I share the frustration [of lack of attacking football], it's in the ethos of the club. It is something we are working very hard on.

"I see myself as above average intelligence so I am very aware of that.

"My teams have always produced chances and scored goals and this team will do the same.

"I think it is fair to say we are lacking some of the tough, free-flowing offensive players that we had last season and that is part of the challenge."

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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank on the fitness of Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke: "Both of them trained. Both of them are getting closer. Dest is a bit closer than Dom because he's only been out for around five weeks so that's a lot less than six months. Both are positive and improving."

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has finished his news conference now, but we have plenty more lines to bring you from it.

The Dane produced an interesting analogy at one point when asked about the current storm the club was facing: "In a storm, some are building fences and hiding behind it, others are building windmills and getting stronger and getting more energy and learning from it."

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More from Tottenham boss Thomas Frank on the transfer window and Cristian Romero: "I think, especially in football, the most important thing is to keep the noise out. Then you can see there's this situation with the post from Cuti [Romero].

"There could be others where it's maybe not that positive or a lot of people speaking.

"When we want to attract players, we need to tell our, as close to possible, unbiased story and a good story about this fantastic, beautiful club and why you should come to the club. I'm pretty sure that clever players and agents can look through if there's a little bit of noise.

"I think it's very important to stress that even though there's noise, the club is very aligned. Johan [Lange], Vinai [Venkatesham] and I are very aligned. Ownership is very aligned. We know it's a tough spell that we need to get through."

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank was asked about the potential of doing business in the January transfer window: "I will repeat my answer. We are working very, very, very hard to try and improve the squad. Everyone around the club is doing that.

"Generally it is a very, very, very difficult window.

"We are very keen to get short-term success and long-term success so players we are bringing in are to improve the squad."

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank on recent performances after picking up just five points from the last five available: "I think the last five games we played, it has been consistent, good, competitive performances and that's what you need in a long season.

"Those five games should have given us more than the five points we got. Probably eight, nine, 10 points. That's what we are focusing on.

"It is my job to deal with scrutiny. I will take all the questions and the blame. It is also my job to look through everything and look through the defeat last night. It was emotional but in many ways it was good and we deserve more.

"We need to keep doing that. The last two games should have got us four points maybe more."

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Tottenham manager Thomas Frank on Cristian Romero's social media post: "I think he has done a lot of things right. He has still a young leader and he has done a lot of things well on and off the pitch. I was very happy with his performance last night.

"He was true captain throughout the game and at half time. But when you're a young leader sometimes you make mistakes. It is good to keep it internal. We had a good conversation this morning which we will keep internally."