Thomas Frank praises Mauricio Pochettino after matching his Tottenham start | OneFootball

Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank has revealed the impression club “legend” Mauricio Pochettino left on him after he equalled his start after 13 matches.

A smattering of boos from the Spurs fans greeted Wednesday’s 0-0 draw at Monaco in the Champions League.

It made it one win in five matches, but Frank’s early record is now identical to Pochettino, who led Tottenham to an unlikely runner-up spot in the Champions League in 2019.

Pochettino won six of his first 13 matches with three defeats in the 2014-15 campaign before he embarked on the longest managerial reign by anyone at the north London club in the 21st century.

Including Spurs’ Super Cup shoot-out loss to Paris St Germain, Frank’s record mirrors that of the popular Argentine coach with six wins and four draws, but his team has scored more and conceded fewer goals.

Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Everton, Frank reflected: “Yeah, it’s not only that example but I think it’s a good example because of course Pochettino is a legend here.

“What he built, what he was part of achieving, I think it is definitely a spell I looked at when I was not here and of course I was very aware of when I got offered the job.

“I always looked at that and thought, ‘wow, what he built, what they built together there was quite unique and quite impressive’.

“I think any success in football history is more or less from clubs and teams that had the same head coach or manager for a long spell.

“That is of course not about me but also includes the key staff members, so they have continuity in key staff members that can be sports directors, CEO, that can be assistant coaches and of course the manager or head coach.

“That is almost a non-negotiable and then of course it is up to me to make sure we have enough progress along the way, but we all know it will be a little bit up and down.

“Then hopefully it will continue being a little bit better and sometimes unfortunately it will go a little bit like this (down).

“There are so many things but step by step we will get stronger. That I am not in doubt of.

“I am relatively happy with where we are, I would say relatively happy. I always want more, but I just know there is more to come.”

Frank’s cause has not been helped by a growing injury list, with captain Cristian Romero (adductor) and Destiny Udogie (knee) sidelined to join key figures like James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke on the treatment table.

The make-up of Frank’s midfield has been a regular source of debate, especially the need for both Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur, but the 52-year-old explained his ideal for Tottenham and why physicality is so key.

“In the Premier League, you need physicality so you need to have a certain level of physicality in the team because if you don’t have that, you don’t have no chance,” he said.

“If you look at the three big boys right now, look at Liverpool, Arsenal and (Manchester) City, they all have unbelievable physicality.

“And then I need to set-up a structure that makes sure we play free-flowing football as much as possible.”