Tottenham slumps in derby, Thomas Frank apologizes and takes responsibility

Gilabola.com – Tottenham suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat to Arsenal and Thomas Frank admitted that he was fully responsible for the result, feeling that his tactics were wrong, the team was too passive, creativity was very low, and Spurs’ position was now even further behind their city rivals.

He also apologized to the supporters who went home before the match ended when Tottenham performed poorly from the start of the match and Arsenal exploited this weakness dominantly.

Frank is said to have admitted that his three-back tactic was not working and he was forced to change formation at the break. Unfortunately, one minute after the changes were made, Arsenal added a third goal and made the situation even more difficult.

The Spurs players seemed unable to get out of the pressure. They have difficulty pressing and often lose important duels. Frank assessed that this was not just a system problem, but because his team was less aggressive in dealing with Arsenal’s intensity.

The very low xG record further worsens the picture of Spurs’ performance. They recorded 0.07 xG against Arsenal, which is one of the lowest records in the Premier League this season. This figure emphasizes how bad Tottenham’s attack was in that match.

This situation places Tottenham in ninth place in the standings. They are now 11 points behind Arsenal who are in the title race. The defeat also reopened questions about the direction of Spurs’ play under Frank.

Frank said he fully accepts the criticism. He considered that the players were not aggressive enough and were unable to create opportunities from transition situations that should have been exploited. He stated that the responsibility was his.

Performance Problems and Unrealized Expectations

Frank said that he regretted the team’s performance which was too passive. When Spurs tried to press high, they failed to do so effectively. This situation made them keep going back and looked like they were just trying to catch the ball without a clear direction.

When holding the ball, Tottenham were unable to build the game well. Frank assessed that the players could not escape Arsenal’s pressure and often lost the ball in dangerous areas. He admitted that the team’s creativity was low, but said that was not his main worry in this match.

Apart from technical factors, Frank assessed that the difference in readiness between the two teams also influenced the results. He said Arsenal were six years more mature in their project, while Spurs were still in the four-month phase of identity formation.

Frank again highlighted that his team was not able to be as competitive as when they faced Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain some time ago. He feels that the decline in performance this time is very sharp and needs serious evaluation by the entire squad.

Even though it’s hard to admit, Frank thinks Tottenham still has a lot of big work to do. He asked for patience after reminding that last season they only finished in 17th place despite winning the Europa League.

Frank repeated his apology to fans. He emphasized that he does not want to shy away from criticism. According to him, the team must get up and fix the details that made them fail to appear competitive in the derby.