Thomas Frank claims that the white noise from the transfer market and the pain of near-missers for top goals such as Ebereechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White do not distract him.
It is the line that they all pedal, but Frank is convincing. He successfully worked as a head coach at Brentford, trusting others to stimulate recruitment, because that was their area of ​​expertise and is more than happy to keep it the same way at Tottenham.
He is involved in the process and remarks 'many similarities' between his new club and the person he left in June, but maintains the same rule that he keeps free from transfers as soon as the negotiations are in operation.
Frank's area of ​​expertise is on the training pitch. That orders his focus and his work in this area so far on Spurs has been impressive. Two positive results and two strong performance with the help of two different tactical systems against two opponents from different ends of the tactical spectrum.
First Paris Saint-Germain, the European champions, smooth and full of confidence that they will not change plans for anyone. They might have been a bit rusty after a month on vacation, but were still full of quality when Spurs rose against them in the Super Cup.
Frank knew what to expect and plan it accordingly. A back three, strength and physicality everywhere, strong lines of defense and very little appetite to live in possession or to pass on the ball at the back.
He called it a 'special operation' and it was successful for an hour. They took positives from their air threat and goals from set pieces, despite losing the trophy on penalties.
When Burnley dropped in North Londs three days later, it could hardly have been different anymore and yet their plan was clear.
Scott Parker built promotion of the championship on a stingy defense with few risks, pressed the press and pace during the break. He was not about to throw fascia for a difficult road in the Premier League.
Frank switched accordingly to a rear four with three changes that let go of the style. Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Brennan Johnson added Zip and adventure at the expense of power, nous and reliability.
The home crowd would demand traces not -planted opponents, so he supported his team to make his way of deep, by the Burnley press, who played almost everything, short of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario whose distribution had been against PSG to get rid of their threat of high turnover.
Again, there were difficult spells, but in general it worked well. Three goals of Open Play, three points and an early marker of flexible Frank de Antithesis of predecessor Ange Postecoglou, an evangelical purist who simply refused to give his principles until it was too late to save his job.
The Dane again confirmed what those who knew him said when he moved from Brentford through London that he has a pragmatic football brain. He is looking for the way to win. He is wise and tactically astute, able to form a plan to challenge every opponent with the help of the available assets.
“I'm very directly as a person,” Frank said Friday. “I try to be very clear. I say 'no' and 'yes' and 'I want this'. I believe in simple messages and try to create a story about every game.
'There are probably two or three important areas that win the game or hopefully maximize our chances of winning. But there are many other areas that will influence this.
“Those important areas will change. For example, against Burnley we were big on crosses and figures in the box. It was clear that set pieces against PSG were a big thing. '
The next is Manchester City. Frank keeps his 'important areas' for himself, but it is safe to assume that his game plan will be closer to PSG than Burnley on the sliding scale.
“I always think how we can tweak a bit in our principles,” said Frank, who enjoyed City while he was taken in Brentford, seven points of eight games.
Tottenham can also have a good record against the dominant force in the Premier League most of the last 10 years. They won five of the last 10 against City and only lose nine of 23 against them under Pep Guardiola.
Manchester City, however, will be more difficult to predict than PSG or Burnley, header to predict than they would even have been in their splendor because they are a team in Flux.
For years under Guardiola they played with the highest confidence to compete against all companies without changing style. This season is different. They also find a new form with an inflow of new signing sessions.
So, although Frank and his staff have done their homework and enjoyed a full week of tactical preparation, they cannot be sure whether Guardiola will play exactly as he did against Wolves last week or have something else in his sleeve.
Rodri is fit and there are abundance options. That is the advantage of the power of the city in the market. They spent more than £ 300 million in 2025, but that will not bother Frank. It is his job to beat them on the field, not on the market.