Fans booing and players snubbing the manager – an ‘abject’ day for Spurs

On the face of it, Tottenham are having a good season.

After 10 Premier League games Thomas Frank’s side find themselves in the Premier League’s top four and unbeaten in the Champions League.

Yet results – and noticeably the mood of supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – have gone south in recent weeks.

After Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Chelsea – just as he does after every home game – Frank encouraged his players to do a lap of appreciation around the stadium.

As his players were booed off pitch, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence were caught on camera snubbing their manager and going straight down the tunnel.

“All the players are of course frustrated,” Frank said of the incident. “They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that.

“I think it is difficult to be consistent in good times and in bad times. That is why I went around to the fans as I did. It is more fun when we win, I can tell you that.”

When pushed on the reactions of Van de Ven and Spence and if their response was acceptable, he added: “I think that is one of the small issues. We have Micky and Djed who are doing everything they can.

After finishing 17th in the Premier League last season, Spurs began Frank’s tenure with three wins and three clean sheets in four games.

The Dane has repeatedly said he wants to make Tottenham Hotspur Stadium “a fortress”, but the loss to Chelsea means Spurs have won just one of five home games under him.

They have not won back-to-back league games since beginning the season with wins against Burnley and Manchester City, and have won just one of their past five games in all competitions since the October international break.

Poor home form is a continuation of a trend that started under Ange Postecoglou last season – Spurs have won just three of their past 19 home Premier League games (four draws and 12 losses), with no current top-flight side winning fewer home matches since 10 November, 2024.

In fact, in England’s top four tiers, only Southampton have won fewer home games than Spurs in this period.

“There will be more questions of Thomas Frank after the game,” former Premier League goalkeeper Rob Green said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I don’t think he’ll have learned anything after that because it was such an abject performance on the ball. They never gave themselves a chance. They never got better. No sustained pressure at home is just not good enough.”

Former Spurs midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports that the defeat was “one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Tottenham”.

“That was as easy as it gets,” he added. “If that was a boxing match I’d have stopped it. They never laid a glove on Chelsea. They made it so easy.”

Fans echoed his sentiments as they made their feelings clear, with boos ringing out at the full-time whistle.

Frank said he understood the frustration of supporters but asked for patience while his side continues to develop.

“They [the fans] did everything they could to back us in a game that we didn’t perform well in. Chelsea were better than us on the day,” he said.

“There’s no doubt, and I keep saying it, that we have a front four that is new. We have to build together with short turnarounds in games. We’ll do that. I’m not in doubt that will happen.

“I think every team I’ve coached has scored a lot of goals. It will happen again in the future here.”

Attack isn’t Frank’s only issue – only Wolves (four) have made more errors leading to opposition goals than Tottenham in the Premier League this season, who have made three along with Manchester United, Nottingham Forest & Fulham.

Tottenham have two opportunities to make amends at home in the next week, with games against Copenhagen in the Champions League and Manchester United in the Premier League.

After an abysmal league campaign last season, Frank has certainly brought improvement. But more is needed to improve both results and the mood in north London.

“I don’t think I have been in a game where we have created that little,” Frank told BBC Sport after his side finished Saturday’s game with an xG rating of 0.05.