Thomas Frank has played down being ignored by Spurs players Djed Spence and Micky van de Van on the pitch after Saturday’s home defeat to Chelsea.Â
The hosts put in an uninspiring performance against their London rivals as they fell to a 34th-minute goal from Joao Pedro at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs fans vented their frustration at the full-time whistle, booing the team as they walked off the pitch following their third Premier League defeat of the season and fifth consecutive loss to the Blues.
Frank said he understood the supporters’ frustrations “100 per cent” and admitted that Chelsea were the better team on the night.
“We all sense the frustration and the emotions,” he said in his post-match press conference (via Football London). “That is part of football. It is extremely painful and of course that is part of the job to face you guys now and answer the very good questions when you just are burning inside.
“And you like to find solutions, watch the game back and see what went wrong, but I think it’s about trying to stay calm. In general, I think Chelsea were good and we were definitely second best.”
“We performed badly. I think we lacked energy and intensity and that freshness we didn’t have that. Then I think the high pressure they came with, I don’t think we solved it well enough even though we worked on it, so that we need to keep working on.
“I think our high pressure, we lacked a little bit in the beginning until we got on top of it and then they went up 1-0 and we are chasing. Then it’s a bad circle where we are chasing, lacking intensity and energy and bad decisions.”
Thomas Frank responds to Spurs duo’s snub after Chelsea defeat
Frank glared at Spence and Van de Ven as they walked away from him and down the tunnel, before he went over to applaud the fans, but insisted it was not a big issue.
“All the players are of course frustrated,” he said. “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 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.”
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 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.”
Read – Chelsea star ‘best in the world’ with Man City’s Rodri
See Also – Power Rankings as Premier League high-flyers surge in
