LONDON – Thomas Frank defended his substitutions after being booed during Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Saturday.
While United took the lead with Brian Mbeumu’s goal in the 32nd minute, Frank chose to replace Xavi Simons with Matisse Tille for the final 11 minutes.
Loud boos greeted Simons’ exit but just five minutes later, Till turned smartly inside the box and fired a deflected shot past Ceni Lammens to equalise.
Tottenham appeared to have won the goal when Richarlison teed up Wilson Odubert’s shot in the first minute of stoppage time, but Matthijs de Ligt’s header in the 96th minute saved a point for United.
Frank made five changes in total – including taking off Randall Kolo Mwani in the first half – and when asked if his decision on Till had paid off amid the negative reaction, the Spurs boss said: “Sometimes you get lucky but of course, I would say that every time I make a decision to switch a player, it is with one goal: to get the team to win, to get back into the game, or to try to see the game out of anything.
“One goal: to try to win the game. There is no doubt that Matthijs put in a good performance, a great goal, a great participation and overall I think we played a good, positive game, but you also need a little bit of activity.”
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He clicked on what he specifically wanted from Hill, and he said: “Score a goal.”
Frank also confirmed that Kolo Mwani withdrew after suffering a minor, unspecified injury while Cristian Romero left the field two minutes before the end due to fatigue and not a specific injury.
