Tottenham boss Thomas Frank apologised to fans after a dismal 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario admitting Spurs showed no fight in the north London derby.
Spurs produced the lowest expected goals (xG) of any Premier League team this season, registering just 0.07 xG — worse than their previous low of 0.12 xG from a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in early November. The result left Tottenham ninth in the table, having won only three of their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Frank labelled the performance “extremely painful” and said: “It was a bad performance and completely the opposite of what the intention was before we came here. We can only apologise to the fans for this performance.” He highlighted Spurs’ failure to win duels and get out of pressure, saying they were outmuscled when the ball went long and lost too many second balls.
Ex-Spurs striker Les Ferdinand called the display “embarrassing,” and Frank acknowledged responsibility for his selection, having started with a 5-4-1 that was overwhelmed in the first half. He switched to a 4-2-3-1 at half-time, but Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze completed a hat-trick with his second goal just 35 seconds after the restart, taking the game beyond Spurs.
Vicario, part of Tottenham’s leadership group, also apologised to traveling fans and stressed the team lacked the necessary fight. “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,” he said, adding that the squad must stick together ahead of a Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain.
Pundits were critical. Ferdinand agreed there was no grit in the display and said the game did not feel like a derby. Jamie Carragher questioned whether Frank can shift from being a pragmatic, defensive-minded coach to a manager who can also set up a team to score and win regularly at a top club, noting Spurs’ worrying underlying numbers. Gary Neville warned the tactical approach had sacrificed attacking intent and left Spurs with no clear way to progress the ball through the thirds.
Frank reiterated he takes full responsibility for the result and that regardless of system, Spurs needed to be more aggressive and win more duels. The club now faces the challenge of regrouping quickly for their upcoming Champions League fixture.