Thomas Frank: 'We all sense the frustration and the emotions, that’s part of football'
Thomas Frank’s side managed a figure of just 0.05 expected goals – their lowest in a single Premier League game on record.
The positivity around Tottenham from the start of the season is quickly evaporating.
There were loud boos at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following their dismal defeat to London rivals Chelsea on Saturday. It was not so much that they lost, something Spurs fans are used to when it comes to facing their fierce rivals, but the manner in which they were beaten.
Spurs did not lay a glove on Chelsea and conceded from a dreadful mistake at the back, when Xavi Simons sold Micky van de Ven short with his pass which saw the defender dispossessed by Moises Caicedo, who picked out Joao Pedro to score.
While expected goals does not always provide an accurate picture of a team’s performance, in this case it most certainly did. Thomas Frank’s side managed a figure of just 0.05 expected goals – their lowest in a single Premier League game on record.
There was nothing for Tottenham fans to get excited about and head coach Frank had no grounds to dispute the reaction from the supporters.
“Yes, 100%,” Frank responded when asked if he understood the boos.
“I think we all sense the frustration and the emotions, that’s part of football.
“It’s extremely painful. Of course, that’s part of the job to face you guys now, to answer the very good questions when you’re just burning inside and you like to find solutions, watch the game back, see what went wrong, all that.
“But I think it’s about trying to stay calm in general. I think Chelsea were good. We were definitely second best. We performed badly.”
There had been plenty of optimism around Spurs after the first few games of the campaign, with Frank winning three of his first four league matches in charge. Even last week’s win over Everton, while not a great performance, saw them move up to third in the Premier League.
Of course, there must be recognition that Frank has taken charge of a team that, despite winning the Europa League, finished 17th last season. He is also without several of Spurs’ best attacking players in James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Dominic Solanke.
But while results have improved compared to the second half of last season, Spurs fans are understandably dissatisfied with what they are seeing in terms of performances.
Much of the discourse around former boss Ange Postecoglou’s appointment at Tottenham was about trying something new, and how turning to the pragmatic coaching of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte had not really worked.
Postecoglou’s dreadful Premier League campaign ultimately cost him his job, but sacking him and seemingly reverting to the pragmatic approach of the past in appointing Frank has seen the positivity from that Europa League success rapidly disappear.
Frank has shown himself to be a fine coach. He took Brentford from the Championship to the Premier League and established them as a mid-table side. The Dane of course needs and deserves time to build his own team.
But Tottenham, as a club, are at a pivotal point. With the man who has been the target of vocal protests for several years in former chairman Daniel Levy now gone, many Spurs fans have got what they wanted, and there has been anticipation that this could be the fresh start needed.
Owners ENIC and the Lewis family have been adamant that they do not want to sell the club despite receiving interest and have promised investment into the playing squad. The evidence from Saturday’s defeat certainly shows it is needed and the focus is now firmly on them to deliver what is needed.
Having been able to count on two of the world’s best attackers in Harry Kane and Heung-min Son for so long, this attack, despite having been the focus of significant investment, is woefully short of quality and they are overly reliant on summer signing Mohammed Kudus for creativity. All three of Spurs’ shots against Chelsea came from him.
For their opponents, there has been a frustration that similar problems of the past couple of years in poor discipline and inconsistency continue to hold them back. But while they still have a lot more to prove if they are to provide a serious challenge to Arsenal for the title this season, supporters can take satisfaction in the fact they still have superiority over their rivals, having now won ten of the last 12 meetings between the two clubs in all competitions.
: Vicario 7; Porro 5 (Udogie), Danso 6 (Romero), van de Ven 6, Spence 6; Palhinha 6, Bentancur 6 (Richarlison); Kudus 6, Sarr 5, Bergvall 4 (Simons, Odobert); Kolo Muani 5 (Johnson).
: Sanchez 7; Gusto 7 (Lavia), Fofana 7, Chalobah 7, Cucurella 7; James 7, Caicedo 8; Neto 7 (Estevao), Fernandez 7, Garnacho 7 (Gittens); Joao Pedro 7
Jarred Gillett 7.
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