Stand-in captain Micky van de Ven and England full-back Died Spence seemingly ignored their manager at full-time
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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank defended Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence after appeared to ignore their manager after the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.
Spurs players were subject to boos from the home crowd after the final whistle, and though Frank encouraged his team to do a lap of appreciation around the stadium, Van de Ven and Spence appeared to snub their boss and go straight down the tunnel.
"All the players are of course frustrated," said Frank said when quizzed on the incident. "They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that.
Frank defended Van de Ven and Spence and called their reaction a ‘small issue’open image in gallery
Frank defended Van de Ven and Spence and called their reaction a ‘small issue’ (Getty Images)
"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."
When pressed on the reactions of the duo and whether their actions were acceptable, the Dane said that the pair “are doing everything they can”.
"I think that is one of the small issues. 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,” he added.
The boos at full-time came after Spurs fell to a third Premier League loss of the season, with Frank’s side having won just one of their five home matches in the league this season. In addition, they have not won back-to-back league matches since August.
Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence appeared to ignore their manageropen image in gallery
Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence appeared to ignore their manager (Getty Images)
And the Dane was somewhat understanding of the fan reaction, while also emphasising that his team needs time to gel.
"They [the fans] did everything they could to back us in a game that we didn't perform well in. Chelsea were better than us on the day," he said.
"There's no doubt, and I keep saying it, that we have a front four that is new. We have to build together with short turnarounds 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,” he added.