Thomas Frank saw his Tottenham team fall to a chastening 3-2 loss away at Bournemouth before Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro exchanged words with supporters post-match
Thomas Frank admitted everyone at Tottenham was “frustrated” after Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro confronted travelling fans after the defeat at Bournemouth.
And the under-pressure Spurs boss insisted he had been unaware he was drinking from an Arsenal paper cup before the club’s latest defeat. “I think it’s fair to say that we’re not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal,” said the Dane.
Ange Postecoglou confronted Spurs fans after a defeat here last season while Frank was booed by the travelling support following the Christmas bore draw at Brentford. Londoner Antoine Semenyo netted a 95th-minute winner – in his last game before signing for Manchester City – to extend Tottenham ’s run to only two wins in 12 Premier League games. They sit 14th.
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And at the end of the game, the Dutch centre-back and the Spanish defender went over to the Spurs fans before goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario attempted to pull them away.
Frank said: “I haven’t seen that situation, that’s one thing. I think it’s fair to say everyone involved in Tottenham, players, staff, fans, everyone is a tough one to take today.
“I think hopefully everyone can see how hard we worked to get everything in the right direction. And I think overall the performance was good, especially in the second half, in a game where we deserved to get more. That is extremely painful to be part of, so of course people are frustrated, I’m frustrated, so that’s natural.”
Palhinha, who scored Tottenham’s second goal with a 78th-minute overhead kick, added: “It was just the supporters were sharing their frustrations. We of course understand, we respect them first of all. I just said we are fighting for all the same. We want to win, not just the players – the staff and the supporters. We are trying to get the wins that, in my opinion, we deserve in the last games.
“It’s a punch in the stomach after what the team did during the game.”
The evening did not start well for Frank when he was photographed pre-game drinking a coffee from a paper cup with an Arsenal logo. The Premier League champions won 3-2 at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
The Dane said: “Definitely not noticed it. I think it’s fair to say that we’re not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal. Is there anyone thinking I’ve done that? All the staff has done it.
They’ve been in the changing room, the game before us. Its normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, I do that before every game. I think actually it’s a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that.
I think we’re definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with another logo of another club, of course I’ll never do that. That’s extremely stupid.”
Frank added: “It’s very difficult, it’s really painful. We got a more than well-deserved equaliser. We were the team closer to winning it in the end, so to concede an equaliser five minutes into added time is so painful in every aspect.”
Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur were both subbed off to add to Tottenham’s growing injury list. There will be an update on Mohammed Kudus on Thursday. “As I said, quite a few times we are in the market, the club is working very hard, they can. It’s difficult in January, and we need to get players in that can improve the squad,” Frank said.
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