Tottenham Hotspur were twice beaten in comical circumstances on Chelsea’s previous visits to north London.
In November 2023, Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero were sent off in a chaotic 4-1 defeat. Last year, Spurs were leading 2-0 after 11 minutes but first-choice centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero suffered muscle injuries. Cole Palmer then inspired Chelsea to a 4-3 victory.
Both of those results were under Ange Postecoglou but the theory was that Thomas Frank would make Spurs much harder to beat. He might break the curse against Chelsea at the first attempt.
They only lost 1-0 on Saturday evening but it was the worst performance of Frank’s reign. If Spurs were guilty of being too cavalier during Postecoglou’s time in charge, then this was the total opposite. They made more substitutions (six) and racked up more yellow cards (four) than shots (three).
Spurs generated an xG, which measures the quality of their chances, of 0.05 compared to Chelsea who registered 3.03. It is the lowest amount they have produced in a Premier League game on record (since 2012-13). Guglielmo Vicario’s incredible saves from Joao Pedro, and a woeful miss from Jamie Gittens, were the only reasons why they did not lose by a bigger margin.
“That hurts massively,” Frank said. “I have never been in charge of a team that has created that little in one game. I will look into what we can do to make it better. That is one thing but I think everything is linked.”
Lots of supporters will argue that they went down fighting under Postecoglou even if they suffered some humiliating results. This meek performance prompted a furious reaction from the fanbase. In second-half stoppage time, they started booing when Vicario played a free-kick short to Djed Spence instead of lumping the ball into the box. Spence turned around and passed it straight back. Those boos continued at full-time.
Frank admitted that his side failed to match Chelsea’s energy and intensity. That is unacceptable in a derby against one of your biggest rivals. It felt like they pinned all of their hopes on scoring from a set piece but Robert Sanchez effortlessly claimed every corner. Pedro Porro kept trying to chip the ball over Marc Cucurella for Mohammed Kudus unsuccessfully. Xavi Simons, who replaced Lucas Bergvall in the fifth minute as a concussion substitute, was constantly shoved off the ball and made an awful back pass in the build-up to Chelsea’s winner.
Spurs have lost three games at home under Frank and only won once. This was the fourth home game in a row where they failed to register an xG above 1.0. Their home form has been dreadful for 12 months but he has found no solution to the problem. It is crucial that Spurs start winning in front of their supporters so Frank can build a positive connection with them.
To compound the feeling of anger and irritation, Micky van de Ven and Spence walked straight down the tunnel at full-time despite Frank and set-piece coach Andreas Georgson trying to stop them. It was only a week ago that Frank praised Van de Ven’s leadership after the centre-back scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Everton. Frank tried to downplay their actions by saying that it is “one of the small issues that we have” and “everyone is frustrated” but it was a concerning public display of dissent.
The strangest part of this situation is that Spurs are above Chelsea in the table on goal difference. Depending on how the rest of this weekend’s games go, Spurs might still be in the top four on Monday. They finished 17th last season and lost 22 games. Surely finishing in the top six would represent a successful season? Especially when you consider the new signings Frank is trying to bed in, injuries to key players and all of the change at executive level.
The problem is that it is becoming difficult to ignore the parallels between Frank and Nuno Espirito Santo. Nuno was appointed as Tottenham’s head coach in June 2021 after a protracted search which saw them rejected by multiple candidates. He earned his move to north London after guiding Wolverhampton Wanderers to promotion and stabilising them in the top-flight. Frank followed the exact same path with Brentford but, crucially, was the club’s first-choice following Postecoglou’s dismissal two weeks after winning the Europa League final.
Nuno won his first three games in charge and was named the manager of the month for August. Spurs lost five of their next seven fixtures and Nuno was sacked on November 1 — exactly four years ago. Nuno’s style of play during his brief tenure was pragmatic. That is not necessarily a bad thing but Tottenham supporters demand entertainment. They were pleased Frank tightened up the defence but want to be inspired and see the next stage of his evolution. He needs to find an attacking spark from somewhere to avoid being permanently viewed in the same way as Nuno.
Maybe the frustration that poured out from the players was positive. Bergvall was desperate to stay on the pitch after suffering a concussion and argued with the medical staff (who deserve praise for prioritising his health). Frank booted a water bottle when Joao Pedro scored. Kudus, Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur threw their weight around in a few firm challenges. Spurs were emotional and erratic but nobody could accuse them of not caring.
This was always going to be a tricky period of the season. After a relatively kind fixture list, including Wolves, West Ham United and two of the promoted teams, Spurs play four of last season’s top six between mid-October and the start of December. Throw in Champions League away ties at Monaco and the holders Paris Saint-Germain too.
It has been a punishing couple of weeks with two defeats in the top flight and a premature exit from the Carabao Cup. The optimism about Frank’s project is quickly draining away, perhaps slightly unfairly, but this was a shocking performance and a brutal reality check.