Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank took complete responsibility for his side’s abysmal display in Sunday’s 4-1 defeat to North London rivals Arsenal.
Frank watched on from the sidelines as his team succumbed to a rampant Arsenal side inspired by Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard with the former bagging his first Premier League hattrick in red.
Spurs have now lost three of their last five Premier League outings but Frank admitted that this latest defeat at the hands of their city rivals was an extremely painful pill to swallow.
“It’s extremely painful – I won’t walk away from that,” Frank told Sky Sports.
“We can only apologize to the fans for that performance. It was a bad performance. I’ve seen a lot of character and fight in this team, but we didn’t win enough duels.
Frank deployed a variation of formations across both halves, starting with a back three in the first before swapping to a back four after the interval, all in a bid to try and stifle the Gunners’ attack.
However, the tactical tweaks proved ineffective as Arsenal scored twice either side of the half time whistle to condemn the Lilly Whites to their fourth league defeat of the season.
“I will always take responsibility for my choice,” Frank continued when asked about his decision to change his formation. “It has been an ongoing theme that we are working hard to improve.
“It doesn’t look good today, or against Chelsea. There will be noise – we played against our biggest rivals, and we lost badly – but we’ll keep noise out and focus.
“I know this team is competitive. Of course, it looks bad. It was not good enough.”
Olaoluwa is a dedicated sports writer and passionate football enthusiast with two years of experience. Known for his keen analysis and commitment to the game, his work reflects a deep love for football, blending strategic insight with the emotional moments that make it a global passion. He is focused on honing his skills and consistently aims to inspire and engage readers through every article he writes.
