The most worrying image of a worrying evening for Spurs fans occurred in the seconds after the final whistle.
Thomas Frank shook hands with Enzo Maresca on the touchline and then walked on to the pitch towards Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence. He gestured to them to suggest they should acknowledge the supporters but both players walked straight past him, dismissing his entreaties, and headed down the tunnel.
It could hardly have been a more clear sign of disrespect and it was made worse by the fact that Van de Ven was the captain. Frank turned and stared after them for several moments as they went. Somehow, the behaviour of the players felt worse because Frank is such a decent, courteous man. It felt as if Van de Ven and Spence were abusing his nature.
It was clear Frank was less than impressed and he was right to be. It was not a good look. Van de Ven and Spence were two of the three players directly at fault for the only goal of the game, which they gifted to Joao Pedro in the first half.
That may have darkened their mood but it does not excuse their disrespect for their manager and the ammunition it will give to his critics. By doing what they did, by behaving like spoiled brats, they made a bad night worse.
Frank brushed it off in his post-match press conference as a ‘small issue’ but the footage quickly went viral and asks awkward questions about the manager’s authority and the state of the Spurs dressing room disturbingly early in the season.
Thomas Frank brushed off Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence’s snubbing in his post-match press conference as a ‘small issue’ but it asks awkward questions about his authority
Xavi Simons suffered one of any footballer’s worst humiliations when he was brought on as an early substitute for Lucas Bergvall and then taken off for Wilson Odobert 17 minutes from time
A bit like Florian Wirtz at Liverpool, Simons is playing like a man who is struggling to adapt to the unforgiving speed of the Premier League and is repeatedly profligate in possession
On a night of lows for Spurs, Xavi Simons suffered one of any footballer’s worst humiliations when he was brought on as an early substitute for Lucas Bergvall and then taken off 17 minutes from time, to be replaced by Wilson Odobert.
Simons could have few complaints. He was woefully ineffective as an attacking force and he was partly to blame for Joao Pedro’s winner when the ball was stolen from him by Moises Caicedo. Simons cost £52m when Spurs bought him in the summer but he looked badly off the pace against Chelsea.
A bit like Florian Wirtz at Liverpool, Simons is playing like a man who is struggling to adapt to the unforgiving speed of the Premier League and is repeatedly profligate in possession. He played like a passenger who Thomas Frank and Spurs cannot afford to carry to this extent again.
Spurs have struggled at home for most of the season but this performance plumbed new depths. Thomas Frank’s side was abject against Chelsea and the fact that they recorded an XG of 0.05, their lowest since the metric was introduced more than a decade ago, showed just how sterile and devoid of attacking threat they were.
Tottenham have made progress since Ange Postecoglou left but this display suggested they are very much in a false position in the top four.
This was the display of a mid-table team at best and it is a measure of how disillusioned some Spurs fans were with that they watched that some took to the airwaves after the match bemoaning the fact that Postecoglou had not been given a chance to remedy Tottenham’s woes.
Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven snubbing Frank after full-time was not a good look
While Spurs have made progress since Ange Postecoglou left but this display suggested they are very much in a false position in the top four, with this a display of a mid-table team at best
Richarlison spent more time looking like he was going to get himself sent off than find the net
It is difficult to see where the goals are going to come from at Spurs. In the time he was on the pitch, Richarlison spent more time looking like he was going to get himself sent off than find the net. Randall Kolo Muani was ineffectual, Mohammed Kudus spent most of the match losing the ball. Ditto, Xavi Simons.
In their defence, they were feeding on scraps. The service was all but non-existent, too, and there was a crippling lack of creativity. Things might be better when Dominic Solanke returns but Spurs’ problems appear to run deeper than that.
