Tottenham manager Thomas Frank refused to condemn Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence after his defenders appeared to ignore him following Saturday's 1-0 defeat against Chelsea.
Joao Pedro's 34th minute strike gave Chelsea a fifth consecutive victory over their London rivals and a 10th win in their last 12 meetings in all competitions.
Frank's team were booed off after they produced only one shot on target in their latest disappointing display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It was a third home loss in seven matches under the former Brentford boss, who has been unable to solve the poor home form that also plagued his predecessor Ange Postecoglou in 2025.
Adding to Frank's problems, Van de Ven and Spence headed towards the tunnel after the final whistle and, despite Frank seemingly telling them to thank the Tottenham fans, they walked past the Dane, who stared in their direction before he turned to applaud the crowd.
"I think that is one of the small issues. We have Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence who are doing everything they can. They perform very well so far this season and everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way, so I don't think it is a big problem," Frank said.
"All the players are of course frustrated. They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that.
"I think it is about, which is difficult, to be consistent in good times and in bad times. That is why I went around to the fans as I did. It is more fun when we win, I can tell you that."
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'FRUSTRATION AND EMOTIONS'
Although they sit in third place in the Premier League – above Chelsea on goal difference – Tottenham fans are becoming frustrated with their manager's prosaic tactics, which stand in stark contrast to the club's 'to dare is to do' ethos.
Asked if he understood the supporters' reaction at the result, Frank said: "Yes, 100 per cent. We all sense the frustration and the emotions. That is part of football."
Frank has always been known as a pragmatic manager willing to sacrifice style for points, a philosophy unlike the attack-minded Postecoglou, who was sacked despite winning the Europa League last season to end the club's 17-year trophy drought.
"I would say that of course hurts massively. I have never been in charge of a team that created that little in one game. That of course I will look into," Frank said of Tottenham's dismal attacking performance against Chelsea.
This was only Chelsea's third clean sheet in 12 matches and boss Enzo Maresca was relived to emerge unscathed for once.
"In any case I am happy with the 1-0, happy with the three points and especially because we kept the clean sheet, but it is something we need for the future. We know we are a team in the end who will score goals, but we need to do better defensively," Maresca said.
"I think the performance was very good. On the ball and off the ball. For sure the way we press was very important."
