Why Thomas Frank has Arsenal to thank for Tottenham patience

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Evening Standard

·7 January 2026

Why Thomas Frank has Arsenal to thank for Tottenham patience

Spurs hierarchy ‘completely aligned’ about future despite pressure on Frank

Thomas Frank believes he will be given time at Tottenham because of chief executive Vinai Venkatesham's experience working with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

Frank insists everyone at Spurs is “completely aligned” about the future amid pressure on him after just two wins in 11 Premier League games.

Frank’s confidence, amid rising unhappiness among supporters, in part stems from his relationship with Venkatesham.

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Venkatesham was a key figure in Arteta’s early years at Arsenal, when the Spaniard survived the sack despite a bad run of results.

Vinai Venkatesham left Arsenal in 2024 and joined Spurs as chief executive last summer

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The Gunners finished eighth in his first two seasons in charge and then missed out on Champions League qualification again when they finished fifth in his third season, but Arteta was backed.

Venkatesham left Arsenal in 2024 and joined Spurs as chief executive last summer.

“Vinai is one of the best communicators I ever met, as a CEO, leader whatever, he is absolutely excellent in that,” said Frank. “I think I’m ok but he is way superior which I think is crucial internally and externally.

“He’s calm and he takes sensible decisions, two rare abilities in football, but also two absolutely crucial abilities if you want to have success long term.

“For me, Vinai is crucial for Tottenham to have success in many ways. Then of course we have known each other for six months so we are getting closer and closer and know each other better and better. I would say I’m ok calm but I’m a tiny bit more emotional at times so we learn about each other as well.

“So, Vinai is good. And besides being smart and taking sensible decisions, he also got huge experience of ten years at Arsenal with how they built and experienced how they built it.”

Spurs’ style of play has been one of the major criticisms levelled at Frank.

Asked whether he felt Venkatesham’s experience at Arsenal had informed his approach at Spurs, Frank said the 44-year-old understands the journey the club has to go on to challenge for major trophies.

“Yeah definitely,” said Frank. “No doubt about that. Plus he also knows what good looks like and also knows how unfortunately it can take time to get up to where good should look like.

“That’s definitely beneficial because also he understands the journey we’re on.”