Tottenham were devoid of ideas vs. Chelsea, and fans are turning on Thomas Frank
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.
It would be customary in these circumstances to suggest they ran out of ideas but the alarming thing for Frank is they didn’t appear to have many to start with.
The importance of “expected goals” stats is sometimes overplayed but nobody could argue with the stark picture it painted here: Spurs’ xG of 0.05 was their lowest-ever in a Premier League game since records began, dating back 504 games to the 2012-13 season.
“I would say that of course hurt massively,” said Frank. “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’ve been doing. That’s one thing. Everything is a little bit linked.”
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Did Thomas Frank get it wrong for Spurs vs. Chelsea?
Janusz Michallik reacts to Tottenham’s “disappointing” performance during their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League.
Spurs had three shots in the match, conceded João Pedro‘s 34th-minute winner after two mistakes playing out from the back and were indebted to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for a string of fine saves to keep the score down. Substitute Jamie Gittens blazed over a glorious late chance which would have given the scoreline the slant Chelsea deserved.
There are underlying reasons and mitigating factors to the hostility Frank experienced.
Some fans did not want Postecoglou to depart after last season, despite a dreadful league campaign after delivering the club’s first trophy in 17 years by winning the Europa League in May. And it stands to reason that if the shift towards Postecoglou’s extreme playing style was marked, the return journey cannot be considered without complications.
Furthermore, Frank is open about the lack of fluidity Spurs currently possess, partly due to injuries to key players including James Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski but also their summer transfer window issues which saw them miss out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze before acquiring Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani late in the window.
They were further disrupted by losing Lucas Bergvall after just seven minutes due to concussion protocols, which prompted his withdrawal. Bergvall wanted to continue but he staggered in concerning fashion on the touchline and the correct decision was quickly made.
Simons came on to resume the challenge he is so far struggling with: injecting creativity to a team lacking inspiration.
And Frank has inherited a troubling home record which stretches back over a year. Spurs have now played 20 league games at this stunning home stadium and won just four.
Their efforts here extended to dropping the usual 10-minute pre-match video montage and allowing the crowd to build an atmosphere organically. It didn’t yield the desired outcome because what Spurs lacked from open play, they compounded with some awful set-piece delivery.
Rising frustration in the second half could be charted through a series of dead-ball situations. On 64 minutes, Pedro Porro played a free kick to Mohamed Kudus who played it back to him. Another pass went out wide and the ball went out of play. Cue anger in the stands.
Five minutes later, Porro overhit a free kick straight into Robert Sánchez‘ arms. More anger. On 87 minutes, Kudus hit a corner which Sanchez claimed easily. Another opportunity to play forward saw Vicario play it short to Spence, who played it back to Vicario and the Italian launched the ball forwards to Sanchez. And in the game’s final act, Spence hoofed it upfield aimlessly for Sanchez to gather again.
The boos were deafening. Without departed chairman Daniel Levy to act as a focal point for such fury — which he did for so many years — the fans took aim at the team and Frank.
For Chelsea, Caicedo was excellent once again, winning the ball twice for Pedro‘s goal, leading Maresca afterwards to declare that “him and [Manchester City‘s] Rodri are the two best defensive midfielders in the world” right now. The Blues are now up to fourth and Caicedo’s contribution to that achievement is profound.
Chelsea teams in years gone by came to the old White Hart Lane and won so often they nicknamed it ‘Three Point Lane.’ This is, then, in some senses a familiar feeling but one Spurs were supposed to banish as they aim to compete for the biggest prizes on an annual basis.
The task of plotting a path to that place now lies with Frank and this was an awkward early reminder of the longstanding frustration after years of falling short.