Frank says he takes ‘full responsibility’ for north London derby disaster – but does not believe his formation was the issue | OneFootball

Thomas Frank defended his tactical set-up in the 4-1 defeat to north London rivals Arsenal.

The Spurs boss brought in Kevin Danso as an extra central defender, in place of a midfielder, before then choosing to bring off the Austrian at half-time for attacker Xavi Simons with his side 2-0 down.

Richarlison’s wonder strike brought the score back to 3-1 after a Leandro Trossard goal and double from Ebere Eze, before the latter scored again to make it a hat-trick.

“I’ve seen lots of teams including my own play 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 and be very aggressive, positive and forward thinking,” Frank said when asked about his starting line-up.

“That was not the case today. I don’t think it’s about the system.

“I’m a very big believer in no matter what system you play, you can be successful.

“I completely understand the question and I will always take the full responsibility. The full responsibility will always be on me.

“Today I picked a team that played 5-4-1, changed it at half-time – very, very clever, one minute into it they scored to maker it 3-0 and then the rest is history after that.

“What I would say is that no matter whether you play one or another system, we needed to be more aggressive and be better in the duels, and that doesn’t matter about the system.

“But I take responsibility for everything today.”