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Tottenham urged to hire one manager who can save ‘even Timo Werner’ as Postecoglou replacement

Dan Owen

Sat 14 December 2024 17:15, UK

Despite what his filletting of Timo Werner may have you believing, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is not usually the type to dig out his own players in public.

Straight-talking and blunter than an old butcher’s knife he may be, but Postecoglou tends to stay clear of the sort of headline-making controversy more usually associated with his Tottenham predecessors Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

But as the under-fire Australian lambasted Timo Werner following Spurs’ 1-1 Europa League draw at Rangers on Thursday night – the RB Leipzig loanee’s first-half display simply not ‘acceptable’, he said – this gave the impression of a manager coming towards the end of his tether.

TBR reported, after last week’s 1-0 loss at AFC Bournemouth, that Daniel Levy was not planning to sack Ange Postecoglou.

But should Spurs slip up against Southampton on Sunday, should the relationship between manager and supporters become even more strained following a run of one win in eight games, Levy may be forced to make a decision he’d much rather have avoided.

Could the solution to Tottenham’s problems, meanwhile, lie just under Levy’s nose? Well, 16 miles away, to be precise.

Tottenham urged to raid Brentford for Thomas Frank if Ange Postecoglou goes

Jan Molby, the Liverpool legend and former Denmark international, feels that not only does Thomas Frank have the tactical chops to take on such a role, this Spurs squad is also perfectly-suited to a man who has established Brentford in the Premier League.

“I have no more doubts, he is the right man for Tottenham,” Molby tells of his compatriot. “The squad they have fits Thomas Frank, 100 per cent. Look at the players and the way Thomas Frank plays. I think it’s perfect.”

Frank may be more of a tactical chameleon than a philosophist wedded to one style of play – he has no problem adapting depending on the players available – but his teams tend to be underpinned by the base principles of aggression, organisation, high-pressing and fast transitions.

Frank turned Ivan Toney into one of Europe’s hottest centre-forwards.

And, despite Toney’s departure over the summer, it is testament to their much-admired head coach that Brentford went into this weekend as the Premier League’s joint highest goalscorers; Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo stepping up heroically in the England international’s absence.

“All the attacking quality he has at Brentford, he gets a lot out of it,” Molby adds. “At Tottenham, he will have even better attacking qualities if he goes there, so try to think about what he can get out of those boys.

“I would go so far as to say that even Timo Werner could get going again!”

Thomas Frank open to Champions League challenge

Thomas Frank was heavily linked with Manchester United over the summer, the Red Devils opting to stick with Erik ten Hag before bringing in Ruben Amorim a few months later.

Speaking this week, meanwhile, Frank insisted that any club looking to take him away from Brentford must provide him not only with a step up, but also the sort of behind-the-scenes support he needs in which to thrive.

“I think [I would look for] a couple of things. One, I’ve said it a million times, I’m very, very happy here. If I ever should go to another club, I think it’s difficult sometimes to be in a position to ask the right questions,” Frank explains.

“You definitely need to do due diligence yourself. You need to pick your chairman. [But] more normal managers, if that club comes and we think it is interesting enough, then it’s maybe not an option for us to chose the chairman if we want that challenge.

“I think there’s a part of me that thinks that, one day, maybe I need to try something different. Is that a bigger club, [offering a shot at the] Champions League? A bigger challenge? I don’t know.”