Football365

A lip reader has revealed that Tottenham star Djed Spence said to Spurs boss Thomas Frank as he walked off the pitch after losing to Chelsea.

The north London outfit were defeated 1-0 at home to the Blues with the visitors unlucky not to beat Tottenham by a bigger margin in the end.

Spurs looked toothless throughout as they struggled to create any good chances but Chelsea remain below them in the Premier League table on goal difference.

One of the major talking points in the aftermath of the result was Frank being snubbed by Tottenham stars Spence and Micky van de Ven at the final whistle.

As they were making their way off the pitch both players seemed to refuse a handshake and a request from Frank to thank fans, as the Tottenham boss gave them an angry stare as they headed towards the tunnel.

When asked about the incident in the post-match press conference, Frank said: “All the players are of course frustrated. They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that.

READ: Simons gets Sancho’d in ‘ultimate humiliation’ as Spurs cannot ‘let it all work out’ for Eze rival

“I think it is about which 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.”

And now the Daily Mail has been in touch with an expert lip reader, who has managed to work out what Spence said to Frank on his way off the pitch.

Lip reader Jeremy Freeman has claimed that Spence said to Frank as the Tottenham boss came towards him: “I ain’t doing it… go away.”

The Spurs right-back is also understood to have said “leave me…off” during the moments where he refused his manager’s advances for a handshake.

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Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards branded Spence and Van de Ven a “disgrace” for “disrespecting the manager” after the full-time whistle.

Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “Djed Spence and [Micky] Van de Ven… I listened to a bit of an interview with Thomas Frank, and he sort of played it down.

“Well, you would — it’s important. He is a guy to play it down, yes, agreed.

“But if they’re disrespecting the manager like that, it’s an absolute disgrace. And if they did, I wouldn’t even play him in the next game.

“I really wouldn’t, because Thomas Frank’s not the sort of person who causes confrontations. So that would just be a lack of respect. But yeah, it’s strange coming from Van de Ven especially.”

Tottenham remain one of football’s biggest absurdities but few things are more curious about Spurs than their utterly wretched home form.

Their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday evening prompted dissent from the home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which would have been understandable if such a wretched performance had come in isolation.

But Spurs being woeful at home is nothing new. It is part of a pattern stretching back before Thomas Frank’s arrival, but solving the problem has become the manager’s biggest priority.

Tottenham have not won at home in the Premier League since Frank’s first match in charge on the opening day when Burnley were beaten 3-0.

Since then, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won in north London, while Spurs needed a late leveller to deprive Wolves a first win they are still searching for.

The scale of the problem is laid bare in the Premier League home table…

It would be less puzzling and perhaps even less infuriating if Tottenham were just a terrible football team. But they aren’t.

Away from home, they are good. Actually, this season, they are the pride of the Premier League on the road.

They have won four out of five, drawing the other, scoring an average of 2.4 goals per game while conceding only three in total.

This isn’t just a Frank problem. Throughout 2025, watching Spurs at home has been a miserable experience.

Of the 17 ever-present Premier League sides this year, no one has a worse home record. Even West Ham fans have had more to cheer in the s**hole they sold their soul for. Sunderland are one point behind having played 10 games fewer.

Premier League tables: All-time table | Possession table | Open-play goals

Go back a little further, 12 months from today when they beat Aston Villa at home. Since then, Spurs have won only four out of 20 Premier League matches, taking 16 of a possible 60 points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Is the new-ish arena just too plush?

Spurs’ stadium looks fantastic and it is one of the very best arenas in Europe for anyone visiting. Which, evidently, includes players as well as punters.

There is an acknowledgement that the matchday atmosphere requires improvement and initiatives from the club and fans are being considered. Home games were when Spurs fans could vent their frustrations at the board most visibly and audibly, and though Daniel Levy is finally out, supporters are waiting to see what difference the ex-chairman’s departure makes.

That air of negativity that has hung over the Tottenham boardroom and dressing room this year hardly makes for a partisan atmosphere, and the mood has deteriorated further with the struggles of the players on the pitch.

Perhaps Frank ball is part of the problem. Under the new manager, Spurs are not the front-footed side they were, which is just fine away from home when their hosts are expected to seize the initiative. When the onus is on Tottenham to dictate, their opponents prosper.

Spurs have two chances this week to put their home fans in a better mood going into the international break. They welcome FC Copenhagen on Tuesday in the Champions League in which their only win so far came in their only home game.

Then on Saturday, Manchester United come to north London for a game which will set the mood for a fortnight for both sets of fans, with Ruben Amorim’s unbeaten-in-four side eighth, but level on points with fifth-placed Tottenham.

Arguably, Frank needs a win more than Amorim, despite it being the United boss who went into this four-game stretch between international breaks under more pressure than any other boss.

We find ourselves pondering a familiar question: What, precisely, is the point of Tottenham Hotspur?

The reason it feels a particularly pertinent thing to ask at this moment is not because, as ever, we’re unable to answer it. But because we really don’t think anyone connected with the club could give a coherent answer at this point.

What does a Good Season for Spurs look like this year? We’ve honestly absolutely no idea. A few events have collided to leave this looking like a club uniquely lost, in desperate need of direction and completely at a loss of where to look for it.

The flux at Spurs over the last six months has been quite extraordinary. The ownership hasn’t changed, but the boardroom structure and occupants are now almost entirely different. The manager has changed. The captain and most conspicuous ‘face of the franchise’ has left.

And perhaps in a curious way above all else, Spurs accidentally actually won something. We perhaps hadn’t realised the extent to which the trophy drought had become Spurs’ entire personality until just one fine day it simply wasn’t there anymore.

Spurs are now a club so lost and confused that even the anger and frustration is directionless. There is widespread frustration with Thomas Frank’s methods, particularly at home where his safety-first approach has become in its own way a massive risk. His well-documented opposition to taking low-percentage attempts on goal falls down entirely when the alternative, as has become the case across an increasingly wretched collection of drab home performances, is no attempts at all.

But there’s nothing coherent or visceral about it. Previously when faced with uncertainty about who to blame, Spurs fans could at least rest easy knowing Daniel Levy was there as the all-purpose default target. Everything could be and was pinned on him. At least you knew where you were.

There’s none of that now. And you can’t hate Thomas Frank, can you? Not really. Not the way you can hate more obvious pricks like Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho when things are going wrong. Even Ange Postecoglou had a more compelling villainous streak in the tough times than the affable Dane.

We do wonder, though, whether Frank is a bigger part of the problem than might be apparent from a set of league games that, in the round, have delivered a passable 17 points from 10 games for a team that ended last season tumbling giddily and uncaringly towards a relegation zone from which it knew it was always safely insulated by the graver incompetence of others.

Frank’s brand of cautious, reactive football feels like it’s incredibly reliant on what the other team does. Away from home, where the opposition feel obliged to create some sort of running, it has been wildly effective, with four wins and a draw from five games. At home, it’s been atrocious.

And the reactive nature of those tactics mean it feels far, far more likely that the away form will eventually move towards the home record than the opposite. Because it is a style of football dictated by what the opposition are doing more than by what Spurs are doing. And quite quickly teams outside the elite few who will simply back themselves to just beat Spurs anyway are going to realise that the more they play like an away team at home to Spurs, the greater their chances.

Which again just feels like something we’ve seen time and time again when the manager who has overachieved with smaller clubs steps up to the big time. Seriously, how often does it actually work?

Eddie Howe at Newcastle, maybe, at a push. Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs themselves, but there was always a sense of bottled lightning about that, and his post-Spurs career has been remarkably unremarkable. But for every Howe or Poch there’s a David Moyes at Man United or a Graham Potter at Chelsea or about eight managers in a row at Newcastle themselves as well as Nuno Espirito Santo at Spurs.

It’s beguiling to watch managers like Frank or Marco Silva or Oliver Glasner overachieve under the radar, and for fans of struggling big clubs to start coveting those managers, but it’s just a very different game and a very different world once you’re at the big clubs.

You won’t get away with the same tactics and most significantly you won’t have any hope of staying under the radar.

You don’t get away with the dodgy little runs of form that nobody notices elsewhere. Nicking the occasional result against the big teams is no longer enough to sustain a narrative for six weeks.

Silva, for instance, has just come off a four-match losing run at Fulham. Fulham fans will have noticed. Silva will have noticed. The wider football consciousness didn’t; but they will if he now wins four games in a row.

There has been huge and deserved praise for Glasner’s transformative work with Crystal Palace, and we’re really not having a go here at perhaps the most conspicuous mid-table overachiever who might have the best chance of success at a bigger beast, but they’ve also only just come out of a run of four games without a win and featuring three defeats.

One of those was Arsenal, which is fair enough, but the others were against Everton and AEK Larnaca. You lose those games as manager of Spurs or Man United or Liverpool or Newcastle and you’re in major talking point territory and at the very least tentative suggestions of a mini-crisis and a cracked badge.

For valid and understandable reasons, these managers and clubs are noticed far more for their good works than the inevitable blips. But that is flipped entirely on its head the moment they step out of that comfort zone.

It’s still too early to say Frank is doomed at Spurs, but he will have to realise soon that he’s now at a club where shooting blanks at home to Chelsea sticks in the memory far longer than set-piecing your way to victory at Everton.

Gus Poyet insists that Tottenham looked “confused” in their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, while he has reacted to the Djed Spence and Micky van der Ven incident.

Despite the defeat to the Blues, Spurs are still ahead of their London rivals on goal difference with Tottenham fifth in the Premier League table.

Spurs were extremely disappointing against Chelsea with the visitors to north London unlucky not to leave with a bigger margin of victory.

Reacting to Tottenham’s performance against Chelsea, Poyet exclusively told Football365 in association with BetWright: “Obviously we were all expecting more from Spurs. I think sometimes, when you get to this kind of derby… I don’t pay too much attention to how the teams arrive to this game. You know how they come from the previous game, because it’s unique. So I was expecting, let’s say, a more competitive, more equal game.

“I think Chelsea players, they are playing at the moment, like the style and the way they want to play. Spurs to me looked like they were a little bit confused, and it was difficult to get into the pace of the game, like they were never in the rhythm. Then when the best player in Spurs is probably the goalkeeper, that tells you everything about it.”

When asked why they were “confused, Poyet added: “I think the team, more or less, is the team that we were expecting. It’s just that I think Spurs is in a process of change. I don’t forget how Ange was playing in the beginning, with that incredible high line and it was craziness. There were 3, 4, 5, 6 goals. I said in the beginning of the season, that season, if you want to see goals, go watch Spurs. Winning or losing is another matter.

READ: Simons gets Sancho’d in ‘ultimate humiliation’ as Spurs cannot ‘let it all work out’ for Eze rival

“So any other manager coming after that, it will be a process. Obviously. I don’t think that the squad of Spurs has too much in common with the squad of Brentford. Completely different the style of a player. So there is a little bit of adaptation both ways, from the coach to the players and the players to the coach. And I think that’s been the season so far.

“There have been games like Paris Saint-Germain, you go ‘wow’ and then the next game, you go, ‘what happened?’ Up and down because of that new way of playing.

“But then it’s a derby and the derbies, they are there to be won because it has nothing to do with their identity. They have nothing to do with a change of coach. It’s just a matter of the players going in there and performing.

“It didn’t look like Tottenham was playing a derby properly. They were just in between. Do we attack? Do we defend? We keep the ball? Do we play long? We work for a corner, for a throw-in. It was like a little bit of everything, and at the end, it was nothing. So bad day and the bad day is clear when the game finished and everything that happened after the game, which shows that it was a really big frustration in that stadium.”

Poyet: I think it was frustration of the players

At full-time, Spence and Van der Ven seemingly ignored Thomas Frank’s offer of a handshake with the Tottenham boss giving the duo a angry stare as they walked down the tunnel.

Reacting to the incident, Poyet added: “It’s not because of Frank because I don’t know him, and I think he’s a great coach, but I said it maybe two years ago, for some reason that nobody knows, the coaches, they start finishing the game in England, and they started walking onto the pitch.

“I don’t like it. Me, I’m a little bit old-fashioned, shake hands with the opposition, get in [the tunnel]. The stars are the players. I made one mistake here in Korea in my first game at home. That was a very important game, and the people from the media asked me to go close to the fans, and I stayed a little bit longer, and I said to them, that’s it.

“Me, I clap the fans, shake hands, and I go in. Okay? Then there are special celebrations. Special days, no, but the last two or three years, finish the game, shake hands. And the cameras, they follow the coaches onto the pitch.

“So I think it became like a habit, and that habit makes you be in positions that we should avoid, let’s say, with your players, with the opposite players, and the referees.

“Because if you go in, you don’t complain. If you go in front of the referee, there is something you want to talk about, maybe you complain and you get a yellow card. So I like it the old way.

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“So now this way of the coach going into the middle part, being on the screen and being, you know, the person who gets the most attention at the end of the game, brings the possibility of issues, and it’s not nice, because then you need to resolve it, even if you do it indoors, it’s been public, and now you’re asking me about that.

“So I think it was frustration of the players and let’s hope it’s a one-off, it can happen.

“I’ll make another example. I don’t set straight rules when I change a player, that the player comes in and out, and has to shake hands with me. No, you want to say something, then do; if you want to go in, go in. I was the worst when I was coming out. I’m not going to change now that I’m a coach, I’m not that hypocritical.

“So even when you change a player who is a little bit passionate, stay away because you don’t know why it’s coming. So try to be intelligent. But I think Frank probably didn’t know, and the players, they were frustrated because of the result, frustrated because of the way they played, and probably really frustrated about the reaction of the fans.

“There was a massive boo in there so I don’t think it’s a great time to talk to them, whatever he tried to say, you know, even stay, because that’s another thing. England is different to the world, but anywhere in the world, if you get that reaction from the fans, that booing, the players, they go in. You’re not going to stay to be booed. But okay, England is different.”

Tottenham ‘need to go and make things happen’ at home

When asked why Tottenham are better away from home, Poyet replied: “Normally it’s the responsibility of taking the game into your own hands. Away from home, you go with less responsibilities, maybe you feel secure, and you are in a different kind of… as a team.

“And then at home, you need to take it. You need to go and make things happen. So maybe the team, at the moment, feels better playing away from home or the results show that. So, it takes time, and the manager needs time for that to, you know, let’s say, ‘Okay, we know that away from home we’re going to be okay. Okay, how can we, you know, change at home to have better results.'”

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has been told that he should drop Djed Spence and Micky van der Ven after the head coach was “disrespected” by the Spurs duo.

Frank’s side put in a disappointing display as they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in north London and the visitors could have won by a bigger margin if they had taken their chances.

After the match, Van der Ven and Spence were clearly upset at the result and appeared to refuse a handshake off Tottenham head coach Frank as they exited the pitch.

Frank gave them a long stare of disapproval as they walked off down the tunnel but the Tottenham boss played down the incident in his post-match press conference.

When asked about the incident in the post-match press conference, Frank said: “All the players are of course frustrated. 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 about which 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.”

READ: Simons gets Sancho’d in ‘ultimate humiliation’ as Spurs cannot ‘let it all work out’ for Eze rival

Former Arsenal winger Perry Groves thinks Frank was disrespected by the Spurs duo, he said on talkSPORT: “I think that is a problem because if you’re Thomas Frank, the way that he looked round, it was a lack of respect. That’s what it was.

“It wasn’t just a little look. It was a men that stare at goats stare. He was looking at his two players and said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve done that to me.

“So Thomas Frank, and I think he’s a very good manager, but he’s found himself in positions that he’s never been in before.

“With the expectation of his 60,000 at home crowd, his team being booed off, which he would never have had at Brentford, and he would have been in complete control of the players at Brentford.

“So now he’s dealing with bigger egos and for him to get control, he’s got to bring in Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven individually.

“Not in front of the rest of the players, individually, and say to them, ‘if I ask you to do something, you don’t question me. You just do it. If you want to question me, you question me afterwards.’

“Because, Micky [Gray], you played obviously under Peter Reid at Sunderland, nobody questioned him. I know it’s a different era, but you could have a row with him and you do it within the confined dressing room, but no one would question him publicly.

“That was Van de Ven and Djed Spence just disrespecting Thomas Frank.”

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Host Hugh Woozencroft added: “Honestly, for me, if I was the manager, they wouldn’t be starting, they wouldn’t be playing midweek or at the weekend against Manchester United.

“Spurs fans will say they need them. You say they need them and maybe they do, but for me, you’ve got to set the tone as a manager at a football club.

“Those two players showed a level of ego that doesn’t match their talent when they did that to Thomas Frank.”

Before former Sunderland left-back Michael Gray gave his thoughts: “If they’ve got something of a bee in their bonnet about the way that the crowd reacted in the game, then do something about it yourself.

“But I think even if it’s a token gesture, you shouldn’t have to see your manager pointing to the two players to say, ‘go and say thanks to the crowd’.

“Even if you don’t want to do it, you walk so far up towards the supporters, you don’t even have to get close to them.

“In the back of your mind, you’re going, ‘right, I don’t really want to do this, but I’m going to do it. I’ll just clap my hands and say thanks very much.’

“Then you come off the pitch and then you can have a little word about what you’ve just done when you get into the dressing room. They didn’t do that. They ignored the manager and I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it, I have to say.

“I mean, I think they will play because he does need those two players, but he needs to have a stern word with them.”

Spurs fans are not happy after that surrender against Chelsea at home, while Arsenal and Liverpool fans are buzzing.

We have all your views on another weekend of Premier League action but send more to theeditor@football365.com

Woe is Tottenham

A week or two back I scalded you for writing articles about Spurs losing their soul.

I’m sorry.

You were right. It’s been a while since going to see Spurs at home was fun – certainly all of this year, the opening day of the season aside. It’s kind of f**king sh*t, like watching 11 Stuart Littles go to war. I never thought the day would come but this might be my last as a season ticket holder. The Barclays is topsy turvy fun, you don’t need to go to feel the drama, especially when the drama comes in the shape of 0.01 xG.

Let’s talk about Tommy Frank. Seems like a smart, pragmatic, loyal motivator. But that team set up was awful, and lacked in any creativity. It was more defensive than the away set up. I generally sigh when I see Tel and Odobert on the team sheet but Saturday was the day for one of them. Where’s Johnson? What’s he done wrong? He also has to break up the Bentancur/Paulhina axis. It’s stodgy. Start Sarr. All the time.

I do hope we haven’t got another 50m+ dud on our hands in Simons to follow in the footsteps of Lo Celso and Ndombele. We really do excel at ballsing up when we spend big. But right now, the poor lad looks shell-shocked.

At the time of writing we’re somehow 4th (You’re fifth now – Ed). We’re above Utd, Chelsea, Villa and Newcastle. Things could be a lot worse but this feeling of Frank not having a clue how to play at home is worrying. Two years ago, against Chelsea, the confused ‘It’s just who we are mate” nonsense that came to define Ange’s time at Spurs began. Please don’t let this be the start of what would be a very different type of nonsense.

Andrew, Woodford Green

…I am a long-suffering Spurs supporter who spent many happy times in my pre-marital days travelling from my, then, Oxon home to the old White Hart Lane (and including away matches). We were never champions but won both domestic and two UEFA cups.

Moreover, when any team came to the Lane, they knew they were in for a hard match.

I witnessed the great (if slightly underachieving) Don Revie-led Leeds team beaten twice in two visits, Man Utd (two in two), Arsenal (two in two), Liverpool (once) and would you believe – Chelsea (two in two). The 1972 match was in the Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke days when Spurs were 3-0 up in the first 21 minutes.

So, after Sunderland won at Stamford Bridge last week, I expected Spurs – at least to lay a glove on Chelsea – or are the Mackems that good? I thought Postecoglou had gone!

Answers on a postcard please!

Jim Sokol

Arsenal have so many heroes

Declan Rice was considered man of the match v Burnley and quite rightly so. However, so many other individuals are extremely disciplined and effective too.

As per usual the defence was solid, again conceding no shots on target but that is also down to the midfielders and the forwards too. Gabriel was as normal outstanding along with Timber. Califiori and Saliba again were solid with Califiori as normal, like Timber, playing positive wing back football.

Now, Gyõkeres was excellent before he had to come off and probably played his best overall game so far for Arsenal. As normal, his off the ball running created numerous openings for teammates but in this game his link up play was very good also producing chances for them. His pass across field to Trossard was very well weighted and subsequently produced the second goal thanks to an excellent cross and an equally impressive header by Rice.

Once Gyõkeres came off Arsenal were less dangerous. That could be down to Arsenal purposely slowing down or having no striker to open up Burney’s disciplined defence. Anyway, there was still no threat on Arsenal’s goal until the last kick of the game that hit the post to which Raya cheered as much as he did when Arsenal scored. A number of Arsenal fans wanted Trossard sold but it was sensible to keep him as he’s on top form.

A long way to go but things are looking good. One last thing….good heavens, two set piece goals allegedly ruining football. One from a corner and another from, ahem….. an opponents long throw! Disgraceful!

Chris, Croydon

READ: The Erling Haaland Team go second to confirm status as only feasible challenger to Arsenal

Villa made it easy for Liverpool

As commented on MOTD, it was kind of Villa to play in pre-approved tactics. My question for the mailbox is this: why is doing someone in the throat not a foul? He got booked for it, which also does not seem enough, but a foul wasn’t given.

It seems to me that if you are getting booked for hurting a player, then that is a foul and a free kick should be given.

Alex, South London

First thought on your team winning a game…

So, Liverpool won, and looked good while doing it.

My deepest condolences to Will Ford.

John, LFC, Washington DC

Sack them all at West Ham

I have no love for Newcastle United but I was really hoping they would equalise late in the game.

I am also hoping that the West Ham owners sack their entire coaching staff as they are probably responsible for their current predicament.

Why? A goalkeeper with cramp!

Howard (maybe he just doesn’t train) Jones

READ: Nuno buys time and shows West Ham roadmap to survival as Newcastle fade away

Five in a row for Man Utd would be ludicrous

Naturally I am disappointed that we didn’t beat Forest, although was expecting it to be a trickier game than the league table suggests. Not least with the new manager bounce, and Dyche’s ability to set up a team to make them hard to beat. But it’s a point more than last season and we move on.

Having said that, I am more disappointed for the Utd supporter who isn’t going to cut his hair until we win 5 in a row. But he has really given himself a mountain to climb, especially without European football. None of Liverpool, City or Arsenal won 5 league games in a row last season for instance – and we’re not at that level yet.

So Frank, if you’re reading this, change the challenge to 5 games without losing and we can all get on with our lives. Think of the children.

Garey Vance, MUFC

Who had Earps in d***head bingo?

Didn’t have Mary Earps turning out to be a massive tw*t on my Lionesses bingo card. When I saw her coming out in the press a couple of days ago I didn’t think any more of it. Silly me.

Everyone was going to find out she prefers women once the book hit the shelves in any event, but it’s not exactly hold the front page stuff anyway. So it leaves an uncomfortable conclusion she wanted eyes on her just before she took a steaming turd all over a team mate, as well as a manager with an unprecedented record.

One Tottenham Hotspur summer signing has been likened to Manchester United flop Antony as a former player is already “sick to death” of him.

Spurs were active in this summer’s transfer window as they prepared for a season in the Champions League after last season’s Europa League triumph.

Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani were among their notable additions and there has been a mixed hit rate.

Kudus and Palhinha have made a positive impact in the opening few months of this campaign, though Simons and Kolo Muani have flattered to deceive.

On Saturday, Simons dropped to the bench only to be subbed on for Lucas Bergvall in the opening ten minutes against Chelsea as Spurs deservedly lost 1-0.

Speaking post-match, Frank explained why he did not start Simons against Chelsea.

“There’s a reason why we didn’t start him, of course,” Frank said.

READ: Simons gets Sancho’d in ‘ultimate humiliation’ as Spurs cannot ‘let it all work out’ for Eze rival

“I think he’s played two starts, short turnaround. Also, that energy and freshness I talked about, played 90 minutes Wednesday night. So that’s why we decided that, and then he played 70 minutes here.

“So I think that was nothing. It’s just because it looks different when you come on after three minutes and get subbed off.”

Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara has since hit out at Simons, with it claimed that Tottenham have “signed an Antony”>

“It feels like we signed an Antony,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

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“Xavi Simons, I’m sick to death of him. He gives the ball away, soft, short, and Caicedo nicks it off him.

“Honestly, he’s come on for Bergvall after five minutes, and it’s like we’re playing with ten men. I’m sick of it, £52million we spent and he’s bang average, he gives the ball away for fun.”

Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf, meanwhile, intimated that his former club dodged a bullet by not signing Simons, who has only had “one good year of football”.

“Xavi Simons played one good year for Leipzig – that wasn’t the case for Paris Saint-Germain before – and an average season last season and was sold for £52million to Tottenham Hotspur,” Leboeuf told ESPN.

“And you expect what? What do you expect from those players who have one good year of football? To be to be a game changer?

“People are dreaming, dreamers. I don’t get that.”

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur’s players are already ‘bored’ with head coach Thomas Frank, while club chiefs have been sent a transfer demand.

Former Brentford boss Frank replaced Ange Postecoglou at Spurs ahead of this season and he’s had a mixed start at the Premier League club.

Frank has made Spurs far more solid and their results in the Premier League have drastically improved, but they have had a really poor couple of days.

In midweek, Spurs crashed out of the Carabao Cup by losing 2-0 to Newcastle United, while they suffered a 1-0 loss against London rivals Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Tottenham were fortunate to only lose 1-0 against Chelsea, who were far the better side and could have easily scored a few more goals.

READ: Simons gets Sancho’d in ‘ultimate humiliation’ as Spurs cannot ‘let it all work out’ for Eze rival

After the match, there was an awkward exchange between Frank and two of his players, with it seeming that the pressure is building on the head coach.

Spurs are currently fourth in the Premier League table, but Frank may be fighting a losing battle at the north London outfit as he reportedly does not have the backing of his players.

A report from a respected account on X with a ‘team of five elite reporters’ claims the squad is ‘bored’ with Frank, while they are ‘desperate’ for January signings.

They tweeted: Exclusive: According to close source to Spurs players: ‘𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲’.

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Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven were the p;ayers who appeared to snub Frank and Alan Shearer has since commented on this exchange, with Spurs an “embarrassment” against Chelsea.

“They [Tottenham] were an embarrassment. They have been booed off the pitch,” Shearer said on BBC’s Match of the Day.

“I get they want to go out, they want to get off the pitch and they want to get in the dressing room and then say their sorries [apologies] later on.

“I get it and understand it. As much as Thomas Frank likes to go around and thank fans and clap them, I get the players’ point-of-view that they’ve been absolutely awful and they want to get off the pitch as quick as possible.”

Former Premier League centre-back Ashley Williams added: “I don’t think it’s… [a big issue]. Just play better, that’s the main thing.

“You’ve played badly in a derby. You want to get back in the dressing room. They’re frustrated. That’s nothing to do or anything personal against the manager, or the fans. They just want to get inside.”

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank was visibly angry at two of his players after he was blanked on the pitch after their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.

The visitors scored the only goal of the game on 34 minutes when Moises Caicedo robbed Micky van der Ven of the ball in the final third and squared it to Joao Pedro to finish into the net.

That result has dropped Tottenham down to fourth in the Premier League table with Spurs unable to build on their 3-0 away win against Everton last time out.

Instead that is now just one win in their last five matches in all competitions for Tottenham and some players were unhappy at the final whistle.

In the aftermath of defeat to Chelsea, Van der Ven and Tottenham team-mate Djed Spence were seen snubbing Frank as he looked to speak to them.

Frank gave them a death stare as the duo walked past him and down the tunnel with the Tottenham boss visibly angry.

READ: One per club: Big Eight stars most likely to leave in January, including Kovacic, Jesus and Richarlison

When asked about the incident in the post-match press conference, Frank said: “All the players are of course frustrated. 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 about which 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.”

Put to him whether their attitude was acceptable, Frank added: “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 who are doing everything they can.

“They perform very well so far this season and everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way, so I don’t think it is a big problem.”

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After their xG was just 0.05 against Chelsea, Frank said: “I would say that, of course, hurts massively. I’ve never been in charge of a team that created that little in one game, never.

“So that, of course, I will look into what we can do to make it better. But I think that’s one thing. I think everything is a little bit linked. And today, yeah, we didn’t hit the level.”

On how Tottenham can give fans confidence they can be more creative going forward, Frank continued: “A couple of things. Today of course everyone will be frustrated. I’d say we have 24 hours and then we need to look forward again. Today was one snapshot that didn’t look good.

“I think there have definitely been other spells that have been better. There’s no doubt, and I keep saying it, that we have a front four that is new that we need to build together with short turn arounds 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.”

Every ‘Big Eight’ team has players who could leave in January, but we have picked out one star at each club who is the most likely to get a move…

Arsenal: Gabriel Jesus

Plenty has changed at Arsenal while Jesus has been unavailable, with the soon-to-be fit-again striker to join a much stronger squad than the one he was part of in January.

Arsenal’s hit rate with their £250m summer signings looks to be far greater than Liverpool has managed with their £400m+ investment, with the Gunners building a near-perfect squad with obscene levels of quality in each position.

Their lack of depth in the striking department has hindered Arsenal in recent seasons, though the returning Jesus will arguably be Mikel Arteta’s third-choice forward when he’s fully fit. Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz will certainly be favoured over the Brazil international, who may also be behind stand-in Mikel Merino in the pecking order.

Naturally, this places the 28-year-old in an incredibly difficult position as Arsenal can certainly afford to get rid of him in January to raise funds. He has said that he intends to stay at the Emirates, but Arteta and co. could easily say differently.

READ: Set-piece goals just the latest overblown moral panic for the Premier League content machine

Aston Villa: Ross Barkley

Did anyone else assume that Barkley left Aston Villa in the summer?

The former England international was a pretty sensible addition for Aston Villa as they bulked their squad ahead of their Champions League return in 2024/25, but it was hardly a surprise that the centre-midfielder was only a bit-part player under Unai Emery after enjoying a resurgence at Luton Town.

It has been a similar story for the 31-year-old this season as he’s only made three substitute appearances for the Villans in the Premier League.

Barkley is certainly a handy asset to have around as Aston Villa juggle several competitions, but he stands out as the most dispensable player in their squad. Therefore, it’s not out of the question that he leaves several months before his contract expires next summer if the right opportunity arises.

Chelsea: Axel Disasi

This was a flip of a coin between Disasi and Raheem Sterling…

The two members of Chelsea’s bomb squad remain cast aside after missing out on an exit in the summer, with their disappointing loan spells at Aston Villa and Arsenal, respectively, limiting their options.

I’ve gone for Disasi as it felt as if Sterling was particularly picky in the summer, as he turned his nose up at the Saudi Pro League and Turkish Super Lig, while his immense wages are another prohibitive factor.

Disasi, meanwhile, also has no future at Chelsea as he’s not even been recalled as head coach Enzo Maresca contended with an injury crisis at centre-back. He could end up in Turkey in the winter, as his lower wages and age make him a more tempting option than Sterling.

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Liverpool: Federico Chiesa

Should Liverpool be looking to offload Chiesa in January? No, he actually deserves a lot more game time as one of their few shining lights during their ongoing crisis.

But it is clear for all to see that the Italy international, who has overcome his injury woes, is not admired by head coach Arne Slot, who seemingly prefers Liverpool’s other attackers.

Chiesa deserves credit for knuckling down and silencing his doubters after looking set to be a pointless signing last season as he took a while to get going, especially considering he had the easy-out of a return transfer to Serie A in the summer.

Still, Chiesa is fighting a losing battle at Anfield and could easily join any of the top teams in Italy from January onwards to show what he’s capable of. Joe Gomez could also head to Serie A in January, but it would be a mindboggling decision from Liverpool, given their defensive woes, to let him leave mid-season if they do not land Marc Guehi in the same month.

Manchester United: Joshua Zirkzee

Right now, it looks like it’ll be Zirkzee, Kobbie Mainoo or both who will be the ones to leave Man Utd in January, provided there are any exits at all.

Zirkzee and Mainoo are in a similar boat in that they need to play more regularly from January onwards if they are to have any hope of playing at the World Cup, while opportunities continue to be difficult to come by at Man Utd under head coach Ruben Amorim.

At the moment, Amorim’s favourites are impressing as the once-sinking Old Trafford ship has been steadied with a three-game winning run, so it is currently hard to see a road to the starting XI for Zirkzee and Mainoo before the end of January.

Unfortunately for Mainoo, Man Utd’s options in attack are far greater than in centre-midfield, so an exit for Zirkzee certainly looks to be more feasible at the moment, and he could follow Chiesa in joining a Serie A giant.

READ: Big Weekend: Tottenham v Chelsea, Arne Slot, West Ham, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane

Manchester City: Mateo Kovacic

Chelsea’s decision to cash in on Kovacic for around £30m in 2023 has not aged well, with the Croatian international going on to shine for Man City in their 2023/24 Premier League triumph.

While he’s been out, Kovacic has been heavily linked with a potential move to Aston Villa and others, with the summer arrival of Tijjani Reijnders likely to limit his opportunities.

Kalvin Phillips is another candidate, though it appears that no one wants him…

Newcastle United: William Osula

The 22-year-old has had quite the ride over the past 18 months, with his story including the near-miss on a surprise summer move to Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.

This failed deal raised eyebrows as Frankfurt were willing to pay £30m for Osula, who looked far below the required level when deputising for Alexander Isak last season.

However, that once-baffling price tag has become more sensible in recent months as Osula has rapidly developed to the point where Newcastle would be within their rights to push for retaining him.

Still, Osula has been massively outshone by summer signing Nick Woltemade, who has been a revelation since joining Newcastle, and his opportunities will be further limited once Yoane Wissa is finally fit.

Tottenham Hotspur: Richarlison

Richarlison starting this season in Tottenham’s first XI was one of the more surprising aspects of the opening to the 2024/25 campaign, but the Brazil international has already contributed to five goal involvements in nine Premier League matches.

With head coach Thomas Frank ‘not fancying’ another Spurs striker, Richarlison has had more opportunities than expected after being heavily linked with a move to the Middle East in the summer.

Despite this, reports of a January exit are gathering steam ahead of the winter window, with a ‘sensational’ return to Everton seemingly on the table if he does not fancy the Saudi Pro League or MLS.

You imagine that the north London side will want another striker through the door before sanctioning Richarlison’s exit, though his recent form should boost their negotiating power in a couple of months.