Thomas Frank believes that Tottenham’s poor home form will improve if there is a better connection with the crowd, the fans make more noise and stay positive during tough spells.
Frank’s side have made a strong start to the season, 14 points from their first seven games taking them into third place, but they will need to raise their level when they host Aston Villa on Sunday. The statistics do not reflect well on Spurs, whose record of 13 points from their past 17 Premier League home fixtures is the worst of any team to have been in the division throughout that period.
“We would like our home to be a fortress,” Frank said. “Can we make our home an unbelievably difficult place to come to? Then the job is half done in terms of what you like to try to achieve. And that is like an unbelievable cohesion between the team and the fans.
“It cannot only be the team, it cannot only be the fans. It needs to be both. We need to bring energy to each other. We need to work unbelievably hard, perform well, try to be positive – but also need a little bit of help. Every game goes a little bit up and down. You have good spells, bad spells. We need the fans, especially in the tough moments. The better they can be behind the team, the better it will be.”
Spurs have impressed on the road under Frank but it has been more of a struggle at home. They thrashed Burnley but were beaten by Bournemouth and needed a last-minute equaliser against Wolves. It was put to Frank that his team must give the fans more reasons to sing.
“One thing I know is that it’s very rare they can play a perfect game through 90 minutes,” the head coach said. “I’ve said before, play 60 minutes, play 10 perfect games. That means there’s 50 left where we can’t excite every single minute.
“I’m very aware they also need to play positive and attacking and happy football, that can get people off their seat. We need to do what we can. I also think it’s fair to say when it’s not going well enough, we need to help.”
Frank considered whether his side’s creative blend and expectations around Spurs are issues to overcome. The nature of Spurs’ attack has altered. The sale of Son Heung-min and injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison have hit their creativity.
“It’s a fair question,” Frank said. “Our front four from last season is not available. It’s a new front four. There’s been a promising sign of it from some of the players.”
