Thomas Frank lauds Tottenham’s ‘huge mentality effort’ in win at Crystal Palace
By George Sessions, Press Association
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank hailed his players for a “huge mentality effort” after a gritty 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.
Spurs fans had started to turn on Frank after a run of five defeats in eight left them 14th in the Premier League on Christmas Day.
While there had been no suggestions internally that Frank’s job was under immediate threat, Tottenham needed to return to winning ways and Gray’s 42nd-minute header settled the contest between the current FA Cup and Europa League holders.
“I really liked the desire, details, mentality in the team and the character and resilience of the team is something I spoke about a lot,” Frank reflected.
“That is so important that we have that resilience in the team, because in a long Premier League season, you need to go to a very difficult away ground here and fight and show character. To get a clean sheet, win 1-0, that was a massive win in many ways.
“Was it a top performance? No. Are there things we can improve? Yes. But to go here, with the season having been a little bit up and down, I think it’s a huge mentality effort from the players.”
Gray was the unlikely match-winner after he opened his account for Spurs on his 60th appearance with a close-range header, which marked his first professional goal at the 112th time of asking.
Frank has backed the 19-year-old in recent weeks – even after an error in a recent 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest – and was delighted to see his faith rewarded.
He added: “I think Archie is growing. He showed why he has a very good potential in many ways. I think it’s another fine performance overall.
“Talking about resilience, he made a mistake in the Nottingham game, played another good game against Liverpool, growing as a young man. He was alert. I loved that goal, because he was alert, he was seeing where the ball will land and he was ready on it.”
Gray’s effort occurred against the run of play with Palace dominant in the first half, but Jean-Philippe Mateta sent two efforts off target and Will Hughes failed to test Guglielmo Vicario from another opening.
The pattern continued into the second half with Justin Devenny only able to fire over before Maxence Lacroix headed wide, but Palace ran out of steam and Tottenham finished strong.
Spurs were only denied another after VAR cut short Richarlison’s celebrations for offside in the 75th minute and substitute Wilson Odobert smashed against the post late on, but it finished 1-0.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner acknowledged: “It’s again a performance where both teams, I think you shouldn’t lose.
“Creating enough to score goals, but miss all our chances and get punished by a corner and a set-play. It shows exactly what we have to improve.
“I can’t remember – and you all watch longer than me – that a Crystal Palace side dominate a Tottenham side like we did, but then leaving the pitch with a defeat, it makes it frustrating for all our players.”