Frank took up the theme of the atmosphere inside the Tottenham stadium by appealing for more help from supporters during games, starting on Tuesday night.
“I think the fans were fantastic for the first 30 [minutes] and after the game if we perform badly and on top of that we lost the game, more than fair enough they boo us,” he said. “But during the game, we need a little bit of help. And especially when it’s not going the right way. They can be the turning point. We are down 1-0 last 15, imagine they carry us over the line and we got a little bit of an unfair 1-1? What a feeling. That point can be the difference in a long season.”
Pochettino had his squad train at the stadium before playing their first game inside it against Crystal Palace, which Spurs won 2-0, but insiders struggle to recall a manager holding a meaningful training session inside it since.
Tottenham have invited fans to watch open training sessions at the stadium on a couple of occasions, but otherwise managers have exclusively used the club’s equally impressive training campus to prepare for matches.
Frank has not held a training session at Tottenham’s home stadium yet and that might be something for the 52-year-old to consider. It is a tactic Enzo Maresca has employed at Chelsea on occasion with some success.
Tottenham’s patchy home form pre-dates Frank, but there remains a sense that he has not entirely helped himself in trying to fix it so far.
Xavi Simons form a concern
While Frank quickly seems to have found a formula that has proved effective on their travels, he has not found a way of balancing greater pragmatism against a need to go on the front foot at home.
He is the first Tottenham manager to have to construct an attacking line-up without either Harry Kane or Son Heung-min since Villas-Boas, which has been as difficult as most people might have predicted.
Of the new attacking signings, only Mohammed Kudus has offered much encouragement with one goal and five assists. Injury has contributed to on-loan forward Randal Kolo Muani failing to register a goal involvement so far, but the form of £52m arrival Xavi Simons is a concern.
