The North London side edged a 1-0 win against their Spanish opponents on Tuesday (09.16.25) in their first match of the UEFA Champions League, and the 51-year-old manager has insisted this is just the beginning for Spurs.
Speaking with Amazon Prime after the match, he said: “I thought it was a big win. Any competition it’s good to get three points and get a good start. Happy with the clean sheet. Extremely good and limited Villarreal to little.
“Offensively we struggled to create something against a good team that also defended very well with their 4-4-2 structure. It was a very even game that we edged in the end. I like that our foundation is strong.
“This team and these players, we will score goals. The big thing was that we needed to defend better. We worked very hard on structure, clear principals, recovery runs and tackles.”
Spurs were handed the win thanks to Luiz Junior’s own goal, though things nearly took a turn for the worst when defender Micky van de Ven bundled Villarreal striker Georges Mikautadze with five just minutes left on the clock.
The move resulted in a yellow card for van de Ven, and a free kick for Villarreal just outside of the area.
Frank later admitted he feared the worst when the free kick was given to Villarreal, though acknowledged referee Rade Obrenovic had made the right decision.
The manager said: “At the moment it didn’t seem top. Sometimes I can clearly see penalties and yellow cards.
“This time there was a little bit of hope. But when I’ve seen it back, it was clearly outside the box. It’s a free-kick and a yellow card.”
Although Frank admitted Tottenham had “just edged” their victory over Villarreal, the manager is adamant he has to be “happy with [his] wins”.
He said: “I definitely learned you have to be happy with your wins and appreciate them. I think there was many good things.
“We defended really well and gave little away throughout the game against a really good Villarreal side. I think offensively we didn't hit the highest level.
“There was definitely a spell second half where we decided let's give it to the Villarreal guys and then we'll sprint back, that's a very good fun thing.
“It was a very even game that we just edged.”
