What Thomas Frank told Xavi Simons after the final whistle and Destiny Udogie injury update

Here’s every single word the Tottenham Hotspur boss said in his press conference after the victory against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday

Thomas Frank was a happy man in his press conference after Tottenham’s 2-0 win against Brentford on Saturday in the Premier League.

Xavi Simons brought the magic Spurs needed on his first start in five matches, starting off with an assist just 25 minutes into the contest against Frank’s old side. The Dutchman raced on to a ball over the top from Pedro Porro before cushioning a pass perfectly across the six-yard box into Richarlison’s stride to fire home.

The 22-year-old then underlined why he should have been starting games previously with his first goal for Tottenham. The midfielder lost the ball initially but won it back in his own half and dribbled all the way to the Brentford box and slotted inside the left-hand post.

The hosts had further chances in the second half with Caoimhin Kelleher called into action on a numerous occasions to deny players such as Djed Spence, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert. In all Spurs had 15 shots, with seven on target, but couldn’t add to their first-half strikes.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank after the win. You can find the full transcript below from the Dane’s press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Was that just what you and the team needed, a really vibrant attacking display?

Yeah, I think so. Sometimes you work hard on things and sometimes it just suddenly clicks. As I said before, the team has been a little bit out of sync in some stages. Today a lot more players were on the same page at the same time throughout the game. I think we looked such a threat going forward. Great chances, played with pace, tempo, penetration, unpredictable.

So I like that, it’s everything we like to be, but also being aggressive in the pressure. And still have that clean sheet mentality, we gave four shots away, which is very good against a Brentford team that is very difficult to handle when they play behind with their directness and their set-pieces, so overall just a complete performance, I would say.

Could that be a breakthrough performance for Xavi?

Yeah, definitely. I think every player needs that extra good performance, so I’m happy for him. He’s been working very hard. He’s a top pro, he’s so determined, he wants it so badly in every aspect of his game. And it’s just a little bit of adaptation, also that the team is a little bit out of sync.

And now it was more, for example, Kudos after a great start, a little dip because of the little injury, and a lot better today as Xavi is in a good place. Kolo is in a better place, Richy. So everything just coming more and more together, so now we need to build on it.

What was Destiny Udogie’s injury?

He got a soft tissue injury, unfortunately, against Newcastle.

Will it keep him out for long?

Not too long, not too long, yeah.

It’s quite interesting to see Thiago, a player that you signed yourself, but Spurs defence dealt very, very confidently with him?

Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that I know all the players in the Brentford world, except the two or three they signed this summer. So it was, in many ways, very special to meet them. It was nice to see familiar faces. You always want to have more time before and after. If it was not a draw, there had to be a loser, and then everyone is competitive. So it was very nice to see people, to see them there.

Did you feel Xavi was building up to that? How important can it be for him to get that first goal because a new signing always wants that first one?

Exactly. I think every player needs that extra bit of confidence. That comes from his performance, the team’s performance. I think that assist and the goal gave him that extra bit of lightness in his step, and his touches and everything. For him, it was also an all-round very good performance.

Archie Gray’s performance won’t make headlines, but you put him in again and he was really good against Mikel Damsgaard, how pleased were you with him after last Saturday’s difficult performance?

I think he did well. I must say there were a few others who shined maybe more. But for example, when Djed Spence was bombarding forward, he was very disciplined at a young age to be there on that side, taking care of that left defending position. I think he handled all the tricky situations with the ball, got out of it. He was always a good support. He covered ground very well. So I think it was a very solid performance.

There seemed a much better mood among the fans at half-time. Obviously, you were 2-0 up…

That helps a little bit.

It was notable where we were sitting that the fans really responded to that, it was like there was a conscious effort on their part to do it?

The Spurs fans are great fans. Sometimes there’s ups, sometimes there’s downs in football and life. But I like how the team responded. I like how the whole stadium, the fans responded. Maybe it was me, but I noticed when Vicario’s name was announced [before kick-off], I think an extra high roar. I love that. That makes me warm inside because that’s where you support your player, because no one, like no one, should be talking bad about our players. The fans should feel like that. No one. They should protect them and I think today there was a fantastic energy between both the team and the fans.

Have you said anything to Xavi in the dressing room after the game?

Yeah, I said… What did I say? I said ;well done, really great response, good performance’.

For that second goal, he starts in his own half, how helpful is it to have a player like that who can, in tight games, just produce a moment like that?

That’s what I believed from the beginning, that Xavi can produce that out of nothing. Everything just needs a little bit of adaptation sometimes, with everything, him, the team, everything. This was a very good step. Now it’s the next thing to do it again and again and again. But, yeah, very happy for him.

Is there any greater sense of relief than knowing that you didn’t lose to your old side?

Very happy with the win. I think that’s the most important thing. We used enough time on thoughts that we can’t do anything about. So now I’m just very happy. I think we built on a good Newcastle performance as well, and today, what I would say, I was just extremely happy with the offensive performance. It just looked more right today.

Is that the message now, especially offensively, that this is the standard?

Yeah, that is the standard. Sometimes there’s more tight games, as we know. But I like what I saw from the team and that’s what we need to build on and try to become even better.

Did it help that you know so much about the Brentford team, set pieces, that type of thing, that you were able to set up to really dominate the game?

Yeah. But, you know, I’ve been in this league for five seasons, so I know very well Pep Guardiola’s City team, for example. But of course, we had some inside-out information of some of the players. So I think it was like a normal preparation, just with small extra information bits on some players.

Have you had a chat with Keith Andrews at all?

In general, we had a few talks through the last four months, but today I hope we have a beer or a glass of red now after.

A first league home win since the opening day, how important is that going forward to make this place a harder place for teams to come now?

It’s hugely important. Hugely important that we won at home, but also the performance. And, yeah, we need to keep building on it.

You said the attack was more right, what did you notice?

Yeah, I think a few things. We worked very hard on the structure, how we want the structure to be, with which position we wanted for, let’s say, Xavi and Mo and Richy and Kolo and also the two sitters and how we pushed Djed a little bit higher.

That, and then I think more of the players were more in form, sharper together. All that, I think, helped today.

Had you seen that in training?

Yeah, to be fair, I think, I thought we had a very good training yesterday. I think it just looked, again, more right. I think the team in general on paper looked right today.