Manchester City’s problems from last season resurfaced in brutal fashion at the Etihad as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a 2-0 win that the Spurs boss revealed was partly thanks to Jürgen Klopp.
Brennan Johnson and João Palhinha struck just before half-time to secure a second straight league win for Thomas Frank, who has made the perfect start since replacing Ange Postecoglou in the Spurs dugout. The result not only sent Spurs top of the Premier League, but also provided an early indication of how Frank intends to shape this team.
During his post-match press conference, Frank admitted that he owed the victory to a philosophy that Jürgen Klopp famously described as “the best playmaker in football” — Gegenpressing.
“Yeah, it was good, he [Jürgen Klopp] was a clever man. I need to text him and say, ‘hey, that’s awfully clever’.
I definitely believe in the aggressive press as you saw today, as you saw with my Brentford team. I believe in the high pressure. I believe if we can be front-footed. I like that mentality, I think it’s offensive, you know, it’s a more offensive way of defending.
And then it’s more fun to defend in the opponent’s half, and of course today I think we were very successful also to score a goal from it.”
Manchester City’s downfall arrived from that exact weapon. The sequence for Tottenham’s second goal was as textbook an example of Gegenpressing as any Klopp side could produce.
Attempting to play out from the back, young goalkeeper James Trafford’s short pass was pounced upon by Pape Matar Sarr. The ricochet saw Richarlison denied, but Palhinha was on hand to rifle home his first goal in Spurs colours.
Frank’s comments will resinate with Liverpool fans. Klopp walked into Anfield in 2015 and, inheriting a side in transition, reshaped them through pressing, energy, and collective identity. Eight years later the German coach had built a side capable of conquering England and Europe.
Frank is under no illusions about the work ahead at Spurs, but the early signs suggest a manager intent on applying similar values.
Even the backdrop echoes Klopp’s early Anfield days. Spurs missed out on Eberechi Eze, who instead joined Arsenal, and questions were fired at Frank about the club’s transfer business, but he shrugged them off with the assurance of a man who knows his tools are already sharp enough.
“But what is 100% sure is we brought two top players into the club in Kudus and Palhinha. Both have performed very well which I’m very pleased with.”
There was more praise for his group of players, belief in their talent, and an insistence that this squad is good enough even without further signings.
“We have a good group of players, a talented group of players, a group of good quality players that I’m very pleased with. We brought in two good players to help. Can we improve it? Perfect. If we can’t then we have very good players, we’ve just shown that today.”
The energy around Spurs feels different. These are still early days, but the confidence, the clarity of approach.
Liverpool’s journey under Klopp taught us that pressing isn’t just a tactic, it’s an identity. It’s football’s renewable energy, a system that feeds itself through belief, running, and courage.
Frank, like Klopp in 2015, is showing his players that defending can be joyful, that chasing can be creative, and that goals can be born from hunger as much as artistry.
At the Etihad, Tottenham pressed like believers, and for Thomas Frank it already feels like the start of something bigger with a hint of Klopp inspiration.
