Thomas Frank has jokingly revealed what he had to tell Lucas Bergvall to stop doing after his impressive start to Tottenham’s season.
19-year-old Bergvall might not be playing for Sweden, but he’s been a hit for Spurs so far this campaign, with his bright start summed up by him scoring the only goal and being Player of The Match in Tottenham’s Champions League win over Villarreal on Tuesday.
That came after winning the same accolade in the 3-0 demolition of West Ham. He even earned high praise from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick during the Villarreal victory, as he and Pape Sarr pushed up the pitch to put pressure on the La Liga side’s defenders.
Frank has been full of praise for the teenager ahead of this weekend’s trip to Brighton, highlighting the benefits of having his levels of enthusiasm in his squad – however he has had to get him to dial down one aspect of his game on occasions.
Thomas Frank asks Lucas Bergvall ‘not to run’ in certain moments
Speaking to the media ahead of the game at the AMEX on Saturday, he said: “I think he had a good season last season. It laid the foundation for this season.
“He is going from strength to strength and he has that extra confidence. He has so much energy where we have to tell him not to run (in certain moments).
“More of the deep runs and arriving in higher positions are key. He is learning to be more and more clever in the pressure. We need his enthusiasm.”
Bergvall has played in every one of Spurs’ games this season, with one goal and one assist to his name so far. That’s the same number of goals he achieved all of last term while also grabbing four assists in 2024/25.
Thomas Frank admits he’s ‘building’ his perfect ‘front four’
When asked about Xavi Simons and how he plans to utilise him against Brighton after fan calls for him to play in midfield, rather than on the wing, Frank confessed he was working on formulating his best attack while focusing on other elements first.
He said: “We have a completely new front four (compared to last season), so we’re trying to add layers game by game.
“The strongest part of our game is our structure but we defend aggressively. We’re building on how we can add other forward players in future.”
Former Tottenham player Danny Murphy hailed Frank for easing Tottenham’s defensive issues under Ange Postecoglou earlier this week. The former Brentford manager will no doubt be hoping to do the same thing this weekend.
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