The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd was not pleased by Spurs' efforts against Chelsea.
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank played down concerns after he appeared to show frustration with defenders Djed Spence and Micky Van de Ven following the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
The scoreline disguises what was a dominant performance from Enzo Maresca’s side as Spurs struggled to make much happen once again in north London. Tottenham Hotspur now haven’t won at their home ground since the opening weekend of the season.
Boos rang out across the ground both at half time and after the final whistle given the nature of the performance. Frank was asked for his reaction to those boos after the game.
Thomas Frank reacts to Tottenham Hotspur boos
He said: “100% [it’s natural]. I think we all sense the frustration and the emotions, that’s part of football. It’s extremely painful. It’s part of the job to sit here now and answer the questions. When you are burning inside and like to find solutions, we watch the game back and see what went wrong. It’s about trying to stay calm in general.
“Chelsea were good, we were definitely second best and performed badly. I think we lacked energy and intensity, that freshness we didn’t have that. The high pressure they came with we didn’t solve it well enough.”
Frank went out onto the pitch to applaud supporters following the match but some of his Tottenham Hotspur players did not want to do the same thing. Having turned in two particular error-prone performances, Spence and Van de Ven walked past the former Brentford boss and straight down the tunnel.
Spurs manager insists no fallout with Spence and Van de Ven
Frank was seen disgruntled at their decision not to thank fans in a moment filmed from the stands. After the match, the Spurs boss was asked whether that ‘striking image’ is a cause of concern for him.
He said: “All the players are, of course, frustrated. They like to do well, to win and perform well. I understand that. It’s difficult to be consistent in good times and bad times, that’s why I went to the fans as I did. It’s more fun when we win, I can tell you that.
“I understand why you ask the question. That’s one of the small issues. We have Djed Spence and Micky Van de Ven doing everything they can, I think they’ve performed very well this season. Everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way but I don’t think it’s a big problem.”
Tottenham Hotspur are back in action at home on Tuesday night in Champions League action against FC Copenhagen and once more on Saturday for the visit of Manchester United in the 12:30 kick-off.
In other news, Daniel Sturridge praises 'exemplary' Chelsea player for 9/10 Tottenham performance.