Tottenham looked feckless and devoid of ideas against Chelsea, such that coach Thomas Frank seems to be losing Spurs fans.
Saturday marked almost two years to the day since Tottenham Hotspur were hammered 4-1 in this same fixture against Chelsea — only then, Spurs fans chanted their manager’s name at the final whistle.
At the time, Tottenham supporters were “loving Big Ange instead” as Ange Postecoglou’s high-line, high-risk style had those in attendance marvelling at the chaotic unpredictability of it all.
Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday was greeted with a chorus of boos at both the halftime and fulltime whistles for Spurs manager Thomas Frank. His own players, Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence, appeared to ignore his request to stay on the pitch and walked straight down the tunnel.
As Frank made a point of applauding fans afterwards, some appeared to be aiming some choice words in his direction.
“All the players are of course frustrated”, Frank said. “They would like to do well, they would like to win, to perform well. I understand that. It is important to be consistent in good times and bad times. That’s why I went around to the fans as I did. It is more fun when we win, I can tell you that.”
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Pushed on the Van de Ven and Spence snub, Frank continued: “I understand why you ask the question but I think that is one of the small issues. We have Micky Van de Ven and Djed Spence, the two are doing everything they can, they have performed very well so far this season. Everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way so I don’t see that as a big problem.”
To give Postecoglou his due, the November 2023 game was his first defeat as Spurs boss, which left them second in the Premier League table. Yet even after losing here, Tottenham left the pitch in third place, above Chelsea on goal difference.
Style is an important quality in these parts, and the biggest issue here was Spurs’ lack of attacking cohesion.
