Transcription
Hello everyone, Alistair Gold here. Yes, new signing alert. And you know, today's offer overrated anyway. Who needs them? Who needs them? Two in a week. It looks like going to be new signings.
Obviously, following in the footsteps of Kosta Takai's 5 million pound move from Kawasaki from Dale, we're going to get what looks like just around the 55 million pound mark for West Ham's Mohammed Kudus. And yes, that is apparently how you pronounce it because I watched that, you know, the Premier League uh getting the players to pronounce their own names video. Um, Guesty sent it to me and uh, it's Kudus. He actually pronounces it Kudus Mohammed.
Um, yeah, I said look in the last video that if common sense were to prevail, then a deal would move pretty quickly because in the common sense world, which isn't always what football clubs exist in, but in a in a common sense land, um, you know, Spurs would want to get the deal done to get Kudus in for the bulk of preseason. And West Ham need the money for their own transfer window plans. Um, so here we are.
And, uh, yes, look, the look on Mrs. Gold's face when I told her that I'd have to do a quick video. Um, it was a very similar one to the one she gave me about an hour after we'd landed in Sardinia. Um, when she saw me looking at my phone and told her that I got a message saying that Anastasia was about to be sacked or had been sacked. Um, yeah, it was that similar look, that look of sad acceptance that uh, unfortunately a video is going to have to come. Um, and look, she's a wonderful lady. She gets it. It's part of the job, so it's no big deal. And we get to talk about stuff like this. I was trying to think the other major event obviously was Thomas Frank being appointed, but I was working that day, although I think it happened at quarter 8 at night if I remember correctly. So, yeah, kind of ruined our evening plans, but look, it's part of the life. This is part of the can't enjoy all the funs of stuff like that big night.
Yes, I thought of something just in the interim to fill that gap. Um, I know it's a bit orangey red, but that's a great night. What a night. Um, and this is the reason, you know, players like Kudus are coming because next season, or this coming season, Tottenham Hotspur are going to be playing in the Champions League. And look, a lot of teams, by the sounds of it, were trying to get a deal done or certainly had inquired about getting a deal done with West Ham. And to be fair, and it's the kind of stuff we love to hear, was that he'd always really made Spurs his preferred destination. And barring a disaster, this deal should go through in the next 24 to 48 hours. I think tomorrow is likely to be the medical, it seems like. Um, and then, you know, this deal, which has been pushed through by Johan Lange, really on on the deal side of things. Um, we'll we'll get done.
There's some talk, literally, as I just as I was come on, because there's going to be bits and pieces that come out of the uh, the West Ham side of things as well on this. I think there's some suggestions that perhaps it's paid across three years, the fee. Um, so look, whether we find out there's any more add-ons from the West Ham side or not. At the moment, all we're hearing is this 55 million or maybe just beneath it. Um, which is probably in the going market, roughly the kind of price that you're looking at for a player like that. An established Premier League player now, two seasons in the top flight. Yes. First season ultimately far better than the second season. Second season, one where he maybe just struggled to kind of uh, find his place, maybe mainly in a change of managers and everything as well. Um, and you just hope that Thomas Frank will will bring not only the qualities he clearly has, Kudus, but also his consistency. I think that's the key thing if he's going to, and this is with no disrespect to West Ham, but you know, if you're going to be playing Champions League football and a club, Tottenham, that has these big expectations, you're going to have to be a consistent player.
Um, yeah, it's going to be really interesting. Obviously, we knew we spoke about this before about this 85 million pound buyout clause for Premier League clubs. I think it was maybe, and it's the first 10 days of July. I think it was 80 million for clubs on the continent. I feel like maybe it was as high as, was over 100 million, I think for Saudi teams. It might be even 120 million. I can't remember. But anyway, um, he looks like, barring a late disaster, Mohammed Kudus is going to be a Tottenham Hotspur player. Um, reportedly, that's set to sign a six-year deal at the club, which seems to be the kind of the going uh, contract length now, doesn't it? Um, I know there's an aspect of is it playable or amortization as well with with finances and stuff like that and financial fair play.
Um, and look, I said they were prioritizing a right winger. Obviously, we knew the other names on their list. They had him and Semenyo as well. They eventually found a way through for Kudus. Kudus. I'm going to keep pronouncing it wrong. Sorry. I'm so used to saying it the one way over years, and as soon as you learn the new way, it's like, okay, thanks for that, straight out your ear. Um, he will become the first uh, player signed between West Ham and Spurs since 2011. Scott Parker. Um, he's left-footed, but he plays on the right on the main and cuts inside a little bit like De Bruyne in that respect, but he's more of a dribbler. Um, a dribbler to the touchline as well when required, and he's certainly going to be a very exciting player to watch. He's going to get people out of their seats. That's what you want.
I mean, uh, WhoScored put out a great stat, which I think I referred to vaguely remembering it, but I properly looked up on it. Um, and he's completed more dribbles, 216 in the Premier League across the last two seasons than any other player in the Premier League. So, he's quite good at dribbling a football. Um, the other stat, if you want it as well, only Lamin Yamin Mal with 291 won more offensive duels than Kudus in the top seven leagues this season, who he got 261. And look, if you want to see, as we always do whenever these things happen, you always have a little look for the uh, the old highlights packages. Um, he's more of a player that obviously we're well aware of. But you still got to look at these things. And what you see with him is not only this dribbling ability, but a terrific upper body strength. He seems very difficult to get off the ball.
Um, I'm intrigued to see if Spurs make a seat available for him behind the goals. You might know his uh, famed goal celebration is to go and sit on one of the photographers' like little stools in front of the um, of the uh, the the fans. Um, probably have less of a run and go and sit down than he does at the London Stadium. It's a bit of a trick to get to this size of the pitch, but look, you imagine that first time he does that in front of the South Stand, that is going to be be pretty cool. It is. Um, so yeah, I'm intrigued to see what he does. Like I said, I want far, and it doesn't matter what I want, but I would imagine most people want far more from him than we saw last season. Um, you know, Guesty whenever on the podcast always says, yes, but he was playing in a struggling team. And I always counter with the fact that, you know, not every player in a struggling team will do that. Jarrod Bowen got 20 plus goal involvements um in that same team. So, doesn't make a difference to me. You always can have a standout player in a struggling team.
Um, but yeah, so he's got to step up. He's got to be more consistent, but certainly it'll be interesting to see kind of presumably he'll play on the right on the whole, but also for Garner plays as a number 10, so he's more central. So, he'll be able to operate centrally in like a 4-2-3-1. Um, to be honest, his versatility means that he's going to be able to play across those three behind the striker. He can play as a striker if required. He can play off of someone like Solanke as well.
Um, another little bonus, not for him and his country of course, but for Tottenham fans is and Tottenham that Garner did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, so Spurs won't lose him this winter. So that's one key important thing which um, you know, is something to take into account with with players playing in that tournament. Um, and look, there's a lot of options up front now. That competition is going to be fierce, and that's exactly what you want. Um, and like I said, consistency is going to be the key for him. There's going to be a battle on that right flank now, which will bring the best out of him hopefully, and and um, Brennan Johnson as well, you know, last season's top scorer.
Um, and we're waiting to see really where Kudus will play under Thomas Frank. You know, will he revert to being back as the man on the right? Will he play as a number 10? Um, where exactly will we see him and and kind of how he adapts into this team under Thomas Frank, because he is a terrific player, and I really hope that uh, I'm sure Thomas Frank will see that. So you've got those three really on the right. On the left, you've currently got uh, Son, Matías Tel obviously is now a permanent signing. Wilson Odbear, Mikey Moore can play on the left. Technically, you've also got Manor Solomon and Bryan Hill at the club as well that all like to play on the left. A few of those can also play on the right. So I think wing options now, loads of them, which is terrific.
Um, it'll be interesting to see now whether Thomas Frank will allow Mikey Moore to head off on loan. You know, potentially you've got this great, you know, if West Brom and and Ryan Mason want him. You know, that there's a great place where he will be looked after by someone that knows him well. Um, but regardless, there is a part of me that probably would like to see Mikey Moore head off and get that regular football now, even though he's only turning 18 next month. But there's also the aspect to it as well of him being homegrown and potentially getting more game time in actually in the Champions League. Um, but yeah, we'll find out. We got Thomas Frank's press conference next week, uh, next Friday, ahead of the Reading friendly. So, this will be our first time to to ask him lots of questions. Um, and I'm sure we're going to try and fit in as many as we want. It'll be interesting to see because it'll be pretty busy, whether we get the old one question per journalist thing, which is it's very frustrating, especially when you know there's something else you want to ask and you frantically someone might be messaging another journalist and saying, "Oh, can you ask us if you've got, if it's better than yours, please, please kind of thing, just to make sure you get everything covered." Um, because a lot of players, you look at Vuskovic, I want to know what's happening with him too, what he thinks. It might be too early for him to kind of suggest or or give some kind of thinking there, but um, I mean, what's he got? International players due back at the end of this week, towards the end of this week. So they'll be coming back very soon. Um, and then you've got Tel, Odbear, Archie Gray, Mikey Moore, should be a couple of days after that. So at that point, ahead of that Reading friendly, he should have everyone available to Thomas Frank. He'll be able to see and compare, I guess, is the main thing.
It's a big old bloated squad. It is a little bit like um, what's that Monty Python movie where um, oh, is it Graham? I'm trying to remember his name now, who is humongously fat and gets bigger and bigger and bigger. That is essentially the Tottenham squad right now. It is huge. Um, and that's he needs to get players out of the door. You know, it's very exciting now, it looks like we're about to get the the big kind of first statement signing. It needs to be the first. It cannot be like last season where it's like Solanke, there you go. So there needs to be more, please. Um, there needs to be two or three. Um, and when I say statement, I mean in terms of of the price and the fact that this is an established Premier League player and a very exciting player on his day as well. There needs to be more of those days. That's my one reservation about him mainly. But hopefully, um, with someone like Thomas Frank, who let's be honest, he's very good at developing players, and that's what we want. Um, but yeah, he needs to get players out the door.
So it's like I saw a report, was it yesterday, linking Spurs with Burnley center-back Maxen Est, if that's how you pronounce it. Um, from what I understand, they're wide of the mark. Um, not certainly a player that they're involved in any talks for at the moment, and like I've said, it's worth noting, of course, as well, that Spurs have got 87 center-backs right now. Um, at this current moment in time, you've got Romero, Van de Ven, Davies, the injured Radu Drăgușin, of course, Ben Davies can play there, uh, Luka Vušković, Kosta Takai is there now as well. Uh, that's not even to mention Ashley Phillips, Alfie Dorrington. Um, who else you got? That's nine in itself, and technically you could also whack in Archie Gray if you want to, purely because, you know, he performed admirably in the role last season. In an ideal world, you don't want him playing there, but I just thought let's round it up to 10. Um, you know, Vušković, like I said before, there's a lot of clubs that are waiting to see what happens with him. Romero, we know the future at the moment. We're trying to find out. Romero will ultimately, of course, be one of the first questions. Um, or certainly in the first five to 10 questions, I would imagine in Thomas Frank's press conference. Um, we're all waiting to see exactly, you know, him kind of heading back, I guess, as well.
Um, and uh, so just double checking his number one, you could do stuff. No, no, no. We know, we know all of that. We know all of that. Um, yeah, there there are just so many center-backs right now, and quite frankly, if you don't lose Romero, I think you are probably set with your center-backs. Um, especially with, I mean, Drăgușin, you'd imagine will be back, you know, in the first couple of months of the season. Obviously, it's going to take him a while to get back. Ben Davies, we need to find out exactly what's happening as well. He's obviously Spurs took up that option on his contract, but whether that was just to ensure they get a fee or not, we'll find out. Um, Takai coming in as well is is meant to be part of the first team squad. So there's there's a lot of options there, even if he's going for a back three, you know, to I would imagine Ashley Phillips heads out, but he'll have a good old look at him. Um, Alfie Dorrington, I think, was with the under-21s last night, wasn't he? So that would suggest that he's not going to be part of the first team squad. So that would also suggest another loan on the horizon for him.
Um, but yeah, it's just, you know, there's the European squad to think about. I don't want to even say it. I know. I'm so sorry. Sorry, I feel like I repeat it so many times, but ultimately, even with Alejo heading off to back to Rosario Central on um, on loan with um, Kudus and Takai coming in, I think I've got to double check, but I think it's 31 players into 22 spots in that Champions League squad. So, unless a new center-back happened to be a former Spurs academy player, I'm trying to think which center-back's out could do that. Um, it's too late for Leaders. I think he's probably not going to come back, is he? Um, anyone obvious? Uh, Tanganga, I suppose, but you know, he seems very happy where he is right now. I don't think you you're going to need to make a deal like that. Um, and I would think if you're going to bring in another center-back, it would be if someone goes and it becomes a big player, kind of thing. But um, yeah, so 31 into 22, that doesn't go. That's a squish. And that is before signing anyone else. And I know people get so annoyed about this, and they're always like, "Uh, why does it affect Tottenham and not other clubs?" It does affect other clubs, but we just don't really care about other clubs. So, let's be honest. Do you read news that comes out of? Do you read Chelsea's European squad news? Of course you don't. Who cares? Nothing to do with us. Chelsea have these issues. They're always leaving players out of European squad. So, yeah, other clubs do. And this is why you see clubs like Man City, for example, trying to bring through so many of their young kind of homegrown players to to negate these issues, and Spurs just got themselves into this right old tizzy, didn't they, of just letting homegrown players go. Uh, it will be fixed in the next couple of years. And I've said before, I think Archer Gray, Lucas Bergwijn will be able to go on European list next season. Um, but yeah, they'll fix it. It just takes time. They they've, it's poor squad planning in a way. Um, or it's just taking money for players that didn't want to be at the club anymore or wanted new challenges. So, it's something to juggle.
Um, but yes, I did mention there um Alejo has headed back to Rosario Central. It's a straight loan from my understanding, means no option, no obligation to sign him permanently. It's I think they've got a recall clause, is actually pretty definitely sure they've got a recall clause um in the winter should the loan either not be going as planned or another club wants to sign him. I think if I'm not mistaken, the Argentinian league runs till December. So technically, if he does stay there, he'll be playing across two seasons. Um, it just hasn't worked for him. And to be honest, this loan, it's very Bryan Gil like in terms of Bryan Gil. You might remember Spurs um signed him from Sevilla, didn't they? For I can't remember the exact figure, it was about 23 million, something like that, plus Erik Lamela, and then they loaned him back to Sevilla. So Sevilla were like, 23 million, Erik Lamela, and Bryan Gil back. Nice business. And that's exactly pretty much what Rosario Central are getting right now. Spurs boy in for 13 million. And now what are we 18 months? No, two years on, he's heading back there. So they've got him on loan, and Spurs gave him 13 million in overall to do so. So, yeah, he's only played eight times for Spurs. Scored that one goal. Yeah. And he loves it. Rosario, every spare moment he gets, he seems to go back there. Um, and look, Ángel Correa is back there as well. So his hometown club. So that would be pretty exciting for for him to go back to. But it just one of those that hasn't worked. One of those Paratici deals that was a bit of a stinker in a way, let's be honest. I really hope for his sake he makes it. You know, he's got the kind of raw tools there, but yeah, just hasn't really been able to break through on on either of his loan spells. Actually, Sevilla again, he went to there. Espanyol. Um, Sevilla was a disaster. Espanyol is a bit better, but not too many starts. Um, but hopefully, you know, he still makes it in his career. He was he doesn't seem to have ever been as happy as he was at Rosario where he was scoring goals. Um, and yeah. Yeah, I would imagine we've probably seen the last of him in a Spurs shirt. You would think. I think that's that's probably done for him, which, yeah, which is which is a shame, but like I said, you know, you've heard me say this before, it's my little thing about Fabio Paratici, it's that he he's become this cult figure, but actually he's had a fair few stinkers in there that haven't worked. Um, but as most transfer people do, so it's not like digging him out over anyone else. It's more this kind of theory of like, doesn't he sign some amazing players and get him on, you get on the phone, Fab, and all this sort of stuff, when you know you look at it and and you have the likes of the Leaves, Bryan Gil, who just I love him as a talented player, but my goodness, if ever there was a player that wasn't suited to the Premier League and just should be playing in La Liga.
Um, Gollini, I remember um being told that Paratici and and Nunes, Porto Santo, essentially making it very clear that Gollini was going to be the Tottenham first choice keeper and Lloris's time was coming to an end. It didn't. He wasn't. He went back. He wasn't particularly great for Spurs. Um, you know, talking to Nuno, Nuno was a man that Paratici pushed on, you know, the club and convinced Daniel Levy using videos of his Valencia Valencia side, look, he can be attacking and exciting. He wasn't. Um, so yeah, you know, his main successes practically really came from either going back to his old club for players that he used to have. Um, I know technically Romero had gone to Atalanta, but he was a former Juventus player. Kuluševski, Bentancur, um, Udinese went to Serie A to get Destiny Udogie, Pape Matar Sarr, they're probably the five you think about, and they are very good players, don't get me wrong, they are successes, and he had little wins behind the scenes as well. Paratici terms of like uh, the academy and raising the budget there. So absolutely, this is not Paratici slander. This is very much just it's not the all-conquering hero kind of thing, you know, that I think he's sometimes made out to be, is kind of almost like a cult following he has, whereas, you know, I think Johan Lange actually has kind of done a lot of good stuff that maybe has got overlooked. Um, you know, he works kind of under the radar, the Italian media don't know everything he's doing like they do with Paratici. Um, and, you know, not having this 10 different transfers on plates spinning at once like Paratici does before he picks one. It's a quieter, more straight-focused thing. And look, he's he's got Kudus over the line. Um, and some very, very good young players over the last couple of years as well. But of course, we want to see more of these established players like Kudus, but hopefully this is the start of it. You know, that and Solanke last season. So, yeah. So, that's that. What else have we got?
Oh, of course, Kosta Takai did officially arrive this week as well. New contract or a contract till 2030. His first words didn't contain much, which was only about a minute or so. Um, obviously did it in Japanese. You'd have heard me say before, his English isn't particularly great. He did confirm during that interview, yes, he can play on the left or right of a central pairing. So, that's good news. And ultimately, his aim at Spurs, my first aim is to be on the pitch for a match and do my best. A very simple but yet hopefully effective aim. Um, yeah, I'm intrigued to see how quickly he fits in, how well he takes to um, the challenge ahead for him and and these early training sessions. I think he will. I've said this before, but he'll benefit from being mid-season. He should be sharper than the rest, and that will give him a little bit of a leg up. Um, and yeah, he'll need a rest because I think he's played something like 31 games since February, but I think that will naturally come because he's not going to be playing in every match. So, yeah, so he's joined up.
Um, what else? Oh, yeah, you might remember me reporting go about a month or more back that Spurs were going to make major changes to their medical department, sports science departments. That has now happened. Tottenham's or former director of performance services Adam Brett and head of sport science Nick Davies have both left the club after only a year in their jobs. Uh, Brett arrived last summer after almost a decade at Brighton. Davies joined from West Ham at the same time. He'd worked previously with the the Welsh national team as well. Um, and of course, we know the story of last season, injuries galore. Um, Conte at times having 13, 14 fit senior players to call upon during the middle of the campaign for a good two to three months, I think it was. I think the main cause of concern for him, and he spoke about it, was the re-injuries. You had Micky van de Ven, Romero getting re-injured. Odbear, Richarlison, Ben Davies all getting re-injured as well. And Spurs have just continued this review of their medical and sport science departments over the past year, having made those changes last summer because uh, Jeff Scott, who's the head of medicine, sports science, departed after 20 years, I think it was um, at Spurs. And now Brett and Davies also head off after only 12 months in charge. Davies is moving to another club. There's certainly been suggestions it might be Everton to link up with David Moyes again. So, we'll see.
Um, and look, there's expected now to be a process to replace both men at the club in due course. But in the meantime, Thomas Frank will have some familiar faces around him. Um, Chris Haslam comes in as one of his right-hand men, right-hand men. Yeah, that's right. Um, he's head of performance and also a first team assistant coach. Nick Stubbings has come in to take up the role of lead of medical following 11 years at Brighton as well. And Tom Perryman comes in as a strength and conditioning coach. You actually see him in one of the videos of training this week. Um, and actually, there was a really interesting interview yesterday, uh, I think came out in the night or early evening with Thomas Frank and Johan Lange talking about the coaching staff and going into more depth about them. Um, that coaching staff, if you weren't aware, it was announced this week. It confirmed a lot of the stuff I've been waffling on about in recent weeks that was likely to happen. Obviously, we already know that he brought with him Justin Cochrane. Haslam as well from Brentford. Um, Joe Newton, the first team coach analyst came in as well. We knew that ex-Man United and Arsenal coach Andreas Georgam was coming in, having previously worked with Frank at Brentford, and he was arriving as a first team assistant coach, but with an expertise in set pieces, both attacking and defensive, and also working on restarts. We certainly know Brentford had this great thing, didn't they, of being very, very quick from the off um, kickoffs and stuff. We also now know that Cameron Campbell has come in as Spurs um, first team individual development coach, working very much as the title suggests, individually with players rather than as a as a bigger thing. That made me think he he'd done he'd been head of player development at RB Leipzig. I think his Scottish chap has been in, I think he was at Rangers and then he he went on there. That made me think that individual coach, I don't know who remembers this chat, reminded me of Ricardo Moniz, I think his name was, the skills coach under Martin Jol um, back in the day. Remember him? And players used to rave about the stuff that he would teach them.
Um, I reported in the last video about Matty Wells staying on, obviously being Postecoglou's right-hand man. Um, Thomas Frank asked him to remain on the staff, and I also said that Stuart Lewis, the under-18s coach, was going to have a role in supporting the first team staff as well. Those two appointments have now been confirmed. Matthew Wells, if you're not aware, grandson of the legendary Cliff Jones, the double winner, um, believed to be friends with Justin Cochrane as well after years together as coaches in the academy. Um, he's very highly rated. Stuart Lewis, obviously three years, three trophies in three seasons with under-18s, developed a lot of these players, and now he's got this really interesting new role that's being created called First Team Academy Transition Coach. Uh, so as part of this new role, he'll help the development and integration, this is the Spurs description, help the development and integration of the young Tottenham players into the senior setup. Um, and yes, earlier in the week, Spurs, uh, I wish I'd noticed this because I would have been able to confirm it way before, although technically I said it was likely to happen. Um, they advertised for a new under-18 lead coach. Um, so yeah, I'm intrigued to see how much work that is for Stuart Lewis and how much it kind of involves his day. Um, you know, what if there's some of the young players aren't there? What if there some are injured? Does hopefully he comes across and starts getting experience in the kind of the senior working as well. Um, as I said in the previous video, I think Rob Burch left the club. Ex-Liverpool and USA goalkeeping coach. Fabian Houtz comes in replacing him. Uh, and like Lewis, Dean Brill steps up from the academy as well to become first team assistant goalkeeping coach. So, he'd been head of academy goalkeeping. So, that's massive for him. That's a great step up. And actually, in that interview, we had Thomas Frank gave a really good breakdown of what these new coaches will do. So, I'm going to run through this very quickly. So, apologize for the old story time uh with Alice there.
Um, oh, I remember I was going to say that. Yeah, the first game, away game of a City season against City, isn't it? Has moved back to half 12. Easy to get home from, not so easy to get to. Um, yes. So, here we are. This is Thomas Frank on exactly what happens with coaches, who they are, what they'll do within the setup. He said, "Let's start with the three assistant coaches. Justin Cochrane, who came from Brentford and worked with me before. He'll be in charge of the offensive part of the game and then some training planning and get that smooth and running. Then we've got Andreas Georgam from Man United, but also worked with him previously at Brentford. He'll be assistant coach, but the main focus on set pieces, the restart, and some culture, which was interesting. Then we'll have Matt Wells, who will be responsible for the defensive part of the game and also contributing to training. I think that the way they split the roles, I think is really good and covered all the abilities we would like to have. And look, I know some people will look at that and say, 'Well, Matt Wells on the defense, you know, Spurs defense has conceded so many goals last season.' But of course, different systems, different, you know, not the inverted fullbacks. Um, just different things. He'll be asked to do different things by Thomas Frank. So, I would judge it as a whole in what his job entails."
Then we have added Cameron Campbell, who's an individual coach and big on how we develop the players. That was a big wish from both Johan and I. It was something we talked about that we thought was crucial, and I think not many clubs have actually nailed that. We tried in the past. I tried in the past. So hopefully we can take it to the next level. Then we've got Fabian Houtz in as the goalkeeping coach. Really excited about him coming in. Great experience in terms of working with some of the best goalkeepers in the world, and hopefully they can help push the goalkeepers. And then finally Chris Haslam, who is the head of performance, first team coach, which is of course the physical part of the football training and all that, but also the link to everything. So, I think we've got a very exciting group together. So, yeah.
Yeah, you might remember me mentioning in the last video that there was a real emphasis from Spurs and from Thomas Frank to kind of have a squad, sorry, a team of coaches that not only gave him a lot of strengths, but also covered some areas that he had a lack of experience in, especially European football, planning for 60 game seasons, uh, and the like. So, he's got that around him now. It's a really good kind of blend of that coaching staff, and they just have to get to know him, and he has to get to know them now and how they work. Um, so we shall see that in these weeks ahead, and then he spoke about the analysts as well. So he said, so in the analyst, analyst, so in, he didn't do that. So in the analysis front, we also got Joe Newton, who came in from Brentford as well, and he'll be like a coach analyst. He'll be the bridge between the analyst team and the coaching staff. So we make sure that everything is aligned in terms of training matches, debrief, pre and post-match, and how we prepare for the opponent, but just in as much and how we debrief the game, because it's the way we play our principles is the most important thing, but with the twists we use or how we tweak it to the opponent.
And Johan Lange spoke about the process of putting this together, this coaching team. He said, "In the interview process we had for Thomas, we spent quite a lot of time talking about which kind of staff should we try to assemble around Thomas. Firstly, we mapped out which kind of competences we thought was important to have the best possible start before we start to put any names to it. Thomas had a wish to bring in a few coaches that he's worked with before. But for all the other roles, we've had a very, very good process where we've interviewed several candidates for each of one of the roles, and standing here today with a very, very good feeling and quite excited about the staff we've put together."
He then went on a little bit more about Stuart Lewis's role and Dean Brill's as well. He said, "As Thomas referenced, I think it's important for us to have specialists. We're very fortunate as a club that we're able to attract some of the best specialist coaches in the world. And as you say, we've made a couple of internal promotions. Stuart Lewis will come into a new role as transition coach between the first team and the academy. Um, and as Thomas said before, around Cameron coming in as an individual coach, we want players of all ages to have that development mindset. But of course, to strengthen even more the bond between the first team and the academy is something that we've worked hard on for a number of years. And with this new hire of Stuart coming into this new role, we believe that it will be even uh, stronger in the years to come because we have some very, very exciting young players that will come through, push in the upcoming years, and they need maybe a little bit of special attention as well to bridge that big gap that it is to go from academy football to the Premier League. We've had Dean Brill coming in as a newer role as assistant goalkeeping coach. He was head of academy goalkeeping coaching. Again, it shows that we want to show both players um, but also staff, not only coaches, but can also be in the medical, performance analysis, scouting, in all departments, if you're coming into our academy, getting the DNA under the skin, that we can have good exciting pathways for coaches, specialists in this football club. I think that's what I said actually in the last video that I that kind of something that I find fantastic, that there can be a pathway for coaches as well as young players. So, we get to see whether that comes."
Oh, looks like PSG are 2-0 up against Real Madrid. Um, keeping my slim hope of PSG going all the way to the final and having to have a long time off just ahead of the Super Cup. Yes, I'm clinging to tiny little things. Um, you might have seen the training session video from the first uh, session they had under Thomas Frank, where they started with this one kilometer run. He actually explained this in the video, so he says it better than me, really. That was just a short test, basically a one kilometer test. So if they did it well enough, they're below 3 minutes and 15 seconds. So that sounds easier with turns, by the way. So that's one thing that is done, and then it's football. Everything with the ball, everything is on that, and then we'll top up with some runs because I believe there's a big bit in that mental part of pushing.
So I did some digging around and found out who were the fastest. Um, might not be a surprise to people in the club, but 19-year-old George Abbott led the way. He was the fastest. He is known to have a terrific engine on him, and he flew through the distance. You can hear the the coaches in the video kind of encouraging him. U Dominic Solanke came in second from what I understand. Jamie Donley came in third, which is maybe you don't associate Jamie Donley with having that pace, but certainly had that energy. U because that's the thing, it's not just pace, is it? It's maintaining that across an entire kilometer as well. Um, and Alfie Divine came in fourth from what I was told as well. So yeah, they were your four fastest in that one. Obviously, you haven't got the likes of of Micky van de Ven and players like that back yet. I always remember Troy Parrott used to be very um, high energy. I remember in those infamous Conte runs that he was one of the fittest. Troy Parrott. Um, obviously no longer. I was going to say no longer with us. That sounds a bit dark, but he's um, he's no longer with Tottenham. He is at RCD Alkmaar of course. Um, although Moyes told you're technically not supposed to say RCD Alkmaar because the A and the RCD means Alkmaar. So you're saying Alkmaar, Alkmaar.
Alejo did not particularly enjoy those runs. There was that little footage of him which will now be his kind of potentially the last time we see him in a Tottenham logo. He was like on the pitch. They just kind of panned to him. Everyone, it looked the way they'd edited it like everyone else had gone on to the next session. He was lying on the pitch just going, as if to say, I'm done. Um, perhaps he knew that his um, his exit was coming, so he didn't need to be put through what everyone else was. Um, yeah, look, if you want to look for a top character professional, um, not saying that Pedro Porro isn't, but just if you want to see someone that is just remarkable, Pedro Porro, you know, Pedro Porro should have been part of that international the group of international players that come back later this week because he was in the Nations League with Spain, you know, got to the final. He was still playing kind of last month. Um, he should not be back at this stage, but there he was. We saw him in the gym, or he certainly put it on his Instagram. He was in the gym on Friday, I think it was, and then here he is back in the group, and you can kind of see him after the run, the one kilometer run, having a little chat. He kind of puts his arm around Yves Bissouma and as Yves as he goes through that, Yves kind of says something which sounded like um, you know, "I could see what you were doing," or something. And then Porro seems to kind of go into a little bit of advice. He says, "The only words I could pick out were the most important thing to do." H we'll maybe never find out what that is. Um, because it will be kind of lost to the sands of time. But uh, yeah, I just think he's such a great role model. He really is. He is such an ultra-professional. He works so hard. He's such a great, bubbly character, and he's just always there for everyone. He is the kind of player you want in your squad. And he's also very talented as well. Look, we talked about Paratici before. He is one that has come good for me. Pedro Porro. I think there's a lot more to him. I'm intrigued to see how he works in the Thomas Frank system. You know, he's going to have more defending to do, but then maybe he'll be left less exposed as well, would be another key thing for him. So, um, yeah, like I said, you could see Tom Perryman, the new strength and conditioning coach in it as well.
Um, and there was a little speech. Justin Cochrane spoke to the the squad uh towards the end of the session, it seemed to be. And and I'll just read you what he said, just because it's quite interesting, and the way they talk to the players about how it's going to get tougher and tougher. He said, "What we're going to do is we're going to take it up all the time. We're going to get better at these sorts of drills, which will take it into the bigger picture. It's basically about taking up the right positions, passing details, and knowing your way out in terms of knowing that if Pedro has the ball and he's being pressed by Dom's left, Luka, as Pedro plays me in here, I'll now play in there." Okay? It's hard to turn in these little practices when there are so many people congesting. Then also looking out for what I call long line passing or passes down the line or diagonal passing. It's the first day. Top effort over there and really good energy. And obviously see really good energy. That's what we want to see from this Thomas Frank side. Um, because I said it before, he's going to have to get off to a first start, fast start even. There's there's a lot of expectation there. There is because of what's come before and hopefully what will come, you know, in in the future, and and, you know, he he he's come across very well so far in the two interviews we've had, and like I said, I shall get my first chance, hopefully, as long as I don't miss out, to ask a question or two at his first press conference next Friday, which I'm very, very much looking forward to.
Um, right, I better wrap it up there. Hopefully, there's nothing more from a um, saying tweets now. If PSG can do this to Madrid, dread what they'll do to us. I know. I know. Which is why I'm clinging on to not quite a sharp thing, but I know I know they're going to be ridiculously good. My word, they're just such a such a good team. Um, there you go. I know I'm also let myself into getting now. I get them a lot, but I know I'm going to get inundated with stuff like, "When are you going on holiday? When's your next day off?" When? Just to let you know, so you don't have to ask. My days off normally, normally I get one midweek day off, which is the Wednesday often. Um, and I will be off either the Saturday or the Sunday, depending on who when the match day is. Um, so that's normally how it goes. Holidays, I have none left this summer, I'm afraid. I'm sorry. I do not. I think the next time I'll wait till October at some point. So, I'm sorry, but don't worry. There's days off. There'll be two a week like most human beings. That's the trouble. Everyone always goes like, "He's always off. He's always on holiday." It's like, "It's not a holiday, just a day off." We have most people have two days off a week. This is one of my two. It's just that I think Spurs also seem to have access um to um, yeah, to um, get a what you call it, to get access to my um, the rotor at work.
Um, yeah, I'm intrigued to see if Spurs bring in more attacking players as well, by the way, on top of Kudus. I was just thinking that. Um, obviously said before, Viera at Brentford's been someone that they've looked at in the past, but I you would doubt that Brentford would sell and uh, Viera as well at the same time. Um, that would be that would be madness surely after also losing your head coach, loss of your coaching team, loss of your fitness staff, to then lose your two most potent attacking players. Oh, Norgaard as well um going to Arsenal isn't he? So yeah, that would seem utter madness. That would see, I know they've got a very good policy and bringing through new players into the team and everything, but my goodness, you're putting yourself in a very precarious position if you were to do both. So it may be that, you know, there's an attempt to bit try and hurry up United over perhaps, I don't know, but certainly Viera is great, but I think you would have to have some outgoing players as I've said in those attacking spots, because otherwise it's just chaos. It really is.
Um, this is going to be one of these periods where I know everyone's going to be desperate for other players to come in, but I seriously think Spurs have to try to focus on getting players out the door. I know they can do both, but come on. Honestly, Thomas Frank's going to have training sessions where he's going to have essentially four different Tottenham teams that he can line up um, if they don't sort it out. Um, yeah, it's got to be done, right? I'm going to have to go because, you know, Mr. Gold will get annoyed if I keep going on for too long. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Q&A. Um, I know there's a lot of really good questions I'm looking forward to answering. I'll probably try and fit loads of those into a video this weekend, mopping up anything else that happens in the next couple of days. But yeah, I don't want to upset Mrs. Gold. She's been very good and let me do this in the first place. Right, I think that's everything. Yeah, let's see what the coming days brings. Whether we'll get Kudus wrapped up tomorrow or not, we'll see. Or if not Friday, um, you know, the earlier part of the day, we'll see. But look, a new signing. That's exciting. Good stuff. Um, and hopefully I just can't wait for the preseason matches as well. I love them. I love it when you start to get football back in your kind of in your veins. It's fantastic.
Right, time to head off. As always, stay healthy, stay safe, and look after yourselves. Catch you later. Goodbye.