As much as Tottenham fans will always love Ange Postecoglou's moxie and fighting spirit, it has become patently obvious through the first four matches of the 2025/26 Premier League season that Spurs are going to be in a much better place over the long run with Thomas Frank at the helm.
Frank is just as personable with the players and arguably even more affable with the supporters and media, as his calm, fatherly demeanor is both endearing and a welcome change of pace from the more volatile managers of Spurs past. But the biggest upgrade is in the tactics department, as Frank may very well be the best pure tactician in the entire Premier League right now.
Several players are already benefiting from the switch in coach, but the long-term development to watch the closest is that of top prospect Archie Gray, who joined Tottenham for a whopping 30 million pounds from Leeds.
Gray didn't get to have the best opening season in a Spurs shirt, though, as he spent the campaign shifting from position to position, mostly shoehorned in as an emergency center back. It was, in effect, a lost season for Gray and a frustrating one for fans, with some of the less wise members of the supporters group already writing off the 19-year-old English sensation.
Thomas Frank is still a fan
Frank is here to rectify what Postecoglou did wrong with Gray, and although the young midfielder has yet to play a key role for Spurs this season, the Danish manager went out of his way to praise him and make it clear that he is going to be a full-time midfielder for the new coach, via The Spurs Express:
“I see him more as a midfielder. He has really impressed me. He played a very good pre-season friendly against Newcastle and was great against Burnley. Unfortunately, we can't play more than 11 players. Maybe we can change the rules...”
Before the 2025/26 season started, many Tottenham fans were already tabbing Gray as one to watch under Frank, as they recalled Brentford being awfully close to signing the midfielder last summer before Tottenham sealed the deal. Frank was very high on Brentford as a new signing, as was their analytics department, and so if he saw something special in Gray at the time, you had better believe not much changed after Postecoglou bungled him as a Spurs rookie.
Gray has made just one appearance for Spurs this season, but it was an effective start with 71 solid minutes played in an opening 3-0 win over Burnley, completing 92.7 percent of his 41 pass attempts with some gritty defensive work. Tracking Gray's development as a deep-lying playmaker under Frank will be one of the underrated storylines of the season for Spurs.