Thomas Frank will toast Tottenham’s “big win” over Borussia Dortmund with two glasses of red wine, but acknowledged it must be the catalyst for more consistency.
Dominic Solanke scored on his first start of the season to ease the pressure on Frank after a 2-0 win over 10-man Dortmund in the Champions League.
Frank’s seven-month tenure looked close to being over after Spurs lost at home to West Ham on Saturday, which sparked chants from the club’s supporters that he was “getting sacked in the morning”, but the Danish coach stayed in post for this fixture.
Even though talks with key figures over lunch on Monday offered no assurances over his future, Frank watched his fortunes turn with captain Cristian Romero firing the hosts ahead in the 14th-minute before Solanke’s fortuitous close-range finish made it 2-0.
Daniel Svensson had been sent off by this point and Tottenham cruised home to claim a first win of 2026, but Frank quickly shifted focus to Saturday’s Premier League trip to Burnley.
Asked if this performance proved he was worth sticking with, Frank smiled: “I think it’s about the team and everything, but of course I understand the question.
“What I feel the whole time is the staff is with us, I think the players are with us, the ownership, everyone wants the same thing and we’re on the same page.
“We do a lot of things in the right direction and today was a big performance and a big win. Of course, I’m very aware of that, but I’m also very aware that this we have done and we need to keep that consistency and turn that a little bit.
“As I say, some of the other games we easily could have won. Now we need to build on this.
“And I just see a team that is running very, very hard and I think that’s a very, very good sign. That’s a healthy sign of a culture and we are building something a little bit step by step.
“We can easily have got better results the last three games, we just didn’t, but we’re running hard.
“I think the big thing is to build on this with a performance and a win against Burnley.”
Without 13 players due to a mixture of injury, suspension and ineligibility, Frank went with a 3-4-3 formation and it paid off.
Quizzed on how he will celebrate, Frank said: “I think two big glasses of red will be necessary, I will enjoy that.”
Dortmund boss Niko Kovac had no complaints about the result or Svensson’s red card for a studs-up tackle on Wilson Odobert – even if the force was minimal.
Kovac added: “Congratulations to Tottenham, a deserved 2-0 victory. First half didn’t play well. Very passive, not aggressive in the one v ones and made it difficult.
“We knew the situation. We expected the opponent to be physically strong, didn’t compete, conceded the 1-0. Then the red card, a tough one but at the end of the day the referee showed a red card. Better in second half but not enough.”
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