Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has apologised to followers for his or her dismal 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, as Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario admitted they confirmed no battle in opposition to their north London rivals.
Spurs’ wretched loss noticed them produce the bottom anticipated targets by any crew in a Premier League match up to now this season, with their 0.07 xG surpassing their earlier record-low of 0.12 xG registered of their 1-0 residence defeat to Chelsea initially of November.
Simply 22 days on, Spurs slumped to a different abysmal defeat as they slipped to ninth within the desk, having received simply three of their final 11 video games in all competitions.
The meek defeat on the residence of their native rivals was labelled “embarrassing” by ex-Spurs striker Les Ferdinand, forcing Frank to make an apology to the membership’s followers.
The Dane informed Sky Sports activities: “It is extraordinarily painful. It was a nasty efficiency and utterly the other of what the intention was earlier than we got here right here.
“We are able to solely apologise to the followers for this efficiency.
“Irrespective of if the crew went to play a bit quick, they received on high of that, and we could not get out.
“They were stronger in the duels and we couldn’t get out of those duels. When it went long, with the duels and second balls, we didn’t win enough of those.
“On the day, a nasty efficiency that we misplaced.
“I’ve seen a lot of fight and character in this team [in the past] but one big thing we didn’t do well enough was winning the duels.
“We are able to name that no matter we need to name it, however we did not win sufficient duels.”
He added in his post-match press conference: “It is truthful to say that we’re very disillusioned and sad with the efficiency at present. I do not need to run away from that.
“As I said, I apologise to the fans. I think it’s also fair to say where we’re coming from – we finished 17th last year, and we’re trying to build something, which today didn’t look like we tried to build something.”
Vicario: We did not battle
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Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario displays on a disappointing north London derby loss to Arsenal
Spurs suffered a fourth successive defeat in opposition to Arsenal, with the Gunners’ 4-1 win their joint-biggest Premier League victory over them.
Vicario, a member of Tottenham’s management group below Frank, additionally apologised to followers and criticised the crew’s battle within the loss as they now flip their attentions to a different powerful process, as they go to Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
“It was a very bad night for us,” the Italian informed Sky Sports activities. “First of all, we have to apologise to the people that support us and travel, to expect to watch a fight because as a collective, we didn’t fight.
“That is not negotiable to compete in a soccer match, particularly at this stage.
“But now is a tough night, it’s a very bad defeat, but we have to stick together because we know what we have to address.
“We’ve one other huge evening on Wednesday. We’ve to stay collectively and imagine in ourselves as a result of tonight we did not present something that we’re usually able to.
“I know the emotions are high when you lose a derby like that, but we need to have cool heads.”
Spurs gamers look dejected of their 4-1 loss at Arsenal
Ferdinand agreed with Vicario over the shortage of grit proven within the defeat.
He stated: “It wasn’t a five-star performance from Arsenal. The scoreline was five-star, but there was no fight. Arsenal didn’t get out of third gear.
“You count on slightly little bit of spark. Arsenal have gotten three gamers who have not performed in a north London derby earlier than. Tottenham in all probability had one. However there was nothing.
“At the start of the week, I was thinking about this game. Nothing the players did out there felt like a north London derby.”
Frank’s ways in highlight
Frank opted to play a 5-4-1 system at Arsenal, nevertheless it backfired as the house aspect dominated the primary half, scoring twice, whereas Spurs did not have a shot at aim.
It led Frank to alter to a 4-2-3-1 system at half-time, however Arsenal’s hat-trick hero Eberechi Eze scored his second simply 35 seconds after the restart.
Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick in Arsenal’s win over Spurs
Requested whether or not he received his ways improper at his post-match press convention, Frank stated: “I always take full responsibility. So the full responsibility will always be on me. Today, when we didn’t perform, I picked a team that played 5-4-1.
“I modified it at half-time. Very, very intelligent. One minute into it, they scored to make it 3-0, after which the remaining is historical past after that.
“What I would say is that no matter if you played one or another system, we needed to be more aggressive and be better than the duels – that doesn’t matter what system.
“However I take the accountability for every little thing at present.”
Jamie Carragher believes ex-Brentford boss Frank needs to be more positive if he is to be a success at Spurs.
He told Sky Sports: “The one damaging up to now below Thomas Frank is can he go from being a practical coach and making an attempt to make it tough for the opposition, as he tried to do right here, to extra about how are they going rating? How are they going to win a recreation?
“I can keep going back to the underlying numbers and the xG. It’s very low.
“Even after watching the primary 5 minutes of the sport you are considering ‘what are Tottenham going to do right here to harm Arsenal?’
“That is the problem with every manager making a jump to a top team. You’ve got to have more than just trying to stop the opposition. That’s not having a go at Thomas Frank. The top managers are there for a reason.
“They’re particular, they’re elite. It is as a result of they will coach groups to be tough to beat at occasions, but additionally they will coach groups to win video games. That’s the huge distinction. If you aren’t getting that proper, you will not be in a job that lengthy.”
Neville: It could have been more embarrassing
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville on Spurs:
“Spurs are going to get plenty of criticism off the again of this recreation. There’s plenty of love for Thomas Frank and all of us need him to do nicely.
“But that first half does need some discussion. I’ve played against teams where they’ve come out to play and forgotten they are playing football. They just play one part, which is just to stop the other team by playing deep.
“Spurs had no idea how to get from front to back. If you’re playing like that you have to win, because it looks really ugly if it doesn’t come off. That’s why you see Thomas Frank go more progressive at half-time.
“They regarded like a crew who had labored on find out how to cease the opposition and had forgotten about successful the sport. If you push a crew an excessive amount of into that glass-half-empty mentality, it may possibly actually look ugly.
“It could have been worse and more embarrassing. They have to work on an identity they are going to stick to. They had no idea how to play through the thirds of the pitch, no pattern of how to play. That’s got to be worked on.”
