Ex-Spurs star claims Thomas Frank “doesn’t have the courage” to manage Tottenham and suggests the players don’t respect him.
Former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega has cast doubt on whether Thomas Frank has the tactical courage required to manage Spurs.
Tottenham slipped to a 5-3 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, extending their disappointing start under the ex-Brentford boss. Despite a promising opening to the campaign, Spurs have managed just one win in their last six games, conceding nine goals in their previous two outings.
Frank’s appointment by former Spurs chairman Daniel Levy represented a major shift from the approach of Ange Postecoglou, who was committed to a single, attack-minded philosophy.
The Danish manager has instead attempted to make Tottenham more tactically flexible and defensively balanced, regularly alternating formations depending on the opposition.
Spurs used a back five in their 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, then switched to a 4-2-3-1 against PSG — but both systems failed to deliver results.
Vega, who spent four seasons at Tottenham, believes Frank’s constant changes are leaving players confused and uninspired.
“He keeps changing his ideas every couple of minutes,” Vega said on talkSPORT Breakfast.
“With Ange, whatever flaws he had, he stuck to his principles. He had the courage to stay true to what he believed in. Players need that clarity. That’s why, even when he had an injury crisis and relied on youth for most of the season, the dressing room stayed behind him — and it showed on the pitch.
“I don’t think this dressing room is starting to believe in Frank. He’s changing the way they play constantly. The players look lost. There’s no tactical foundation.
“When a coach has a clear plan and sticks with it, the mentality grows and the team improves. But if you change things every five minutes, you make players insecure. That’s exactly what we’ve seen in these last two games.”
Vega went further, questioning Frank’s authority:
“If he can’t command the dressing room, it doesn’t matter how good or likeable he is — he doesn’t have the guts for it. I don’t think he has the character for this job.”
Frank Responds with Optimism
Frank, however, insisted there were many positives to take from the goal-filled clash in Paris.
“I was pleased with the performance — it was exactly the reaction I wanted,” he said.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to make sure we responded the right way after a poor game. Today I saw much more of the identity we are trying to build — more character, more personality, more aggression. Those are essentials for any team, regardless of formation.”
He added that he felt Spurs could have left with at least a point:
“It’s frustrating we conceded the goals we did because the performance was good enough to get a draw or even a win. But it’s something to build on. The strikers scored, the whole team played well, and young players like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall were excellent.
“We were up against serious quality — one Ballon d’Or winner in Dembélé and possibly the next in Vitinha. What a player.”