Tottenham Hotspur suffered yet another home defeat as they lost against Fulham on Saturday night.
After three minutes, Samuel Chukwueze burst down the left and played a low cross into the box. The ball made its way to right-back Kenny Tete, whose strike hit Destiny Udogie and flew into the Tottenham goal.
Fulham doubled their lead just two minutes later. Guglielmo Vicario, out of his goal, played a dreadful clearance straight into the path of Josh King, who laid it off to Harry Wilson to curl into an empty net.
Spurs improved in the second half, and Mohammed Kudus dragged Spurs back into the game. Lucas Bergvall clipped a pass over the Fulham defence before the Ghanaian hit an excellent half-volley past Bern Leno. Spurs, however, were unable to score a second, making it four games without a win.
Here, The Athletic’s Jay Harris breaks down a defeat that leaves Spurs in 10th place in the Premier League.
Why did Tottenham fans boo their own goalkeeper?
Tottenham’s supporters are fed up with their awful home form, and right now, it does not take much for them to voice their frustration. However, it felt counterintuitive and harsh that they constantly booed Vicario after his mistake which led to Wilson’s goal.
You could hear it straight away when the ball was passed back to the 29-year-old from kick-off, but it did not stop there.
A few minutes later, Vicario rushed out of his area again, and the crowd ironically cheered when he smashed the ball into the stands. It brought to mind the uncomfortable way Spurs fans used to treat Davinson Sanchez. It was a horrific error from Vicario, but they should have backed him — and Sanchez in the past — to make up for it.
Vicario tries to fend off Raul Jimenez just before his poor clearance (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Vicario is a member of the squad’s leadership group and will often face the media after Spurs lose games. He apologised to the supporters after last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby. He shows far more accountability for his actions than captain Cristian Romero as well as Micky van de Ven, who wore the armband against Fulham. When Van de Ven and Djed Spence walked straight down the tunnel after the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea, Vicario clapped the fans with Bergvall.
Frank said after the defeat to Chelsea that he understood why fans booed after the game, but they should always back the team during it because they can give them an extra push to score a goal. He was completely right, but they ignored him.
All of this underlines how disconnected the fans feel from the team at the moment.
Can Frank take control?
Spurs have lost three games in seven days since they returned from the November international break.
Expectations were low before Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, but they needed three points against Fulham. The way they were smothered in the opening 15 minutes is hugely concerning.
One of Frank’s biggest strengths during his time with Brentford was his tactical flexibility, but it feels like a weakness now. He came up with bespoke plans for opponents, but it is much harder to replicate that with Spurs because they play multiple matches a week and barely have time to train. He keeps changing systems with Spurs, but has not worked out his strongest starting XI yet.
Spurs are awful at home. They have won three games out of their last 21 in the league. And things do not get any easier: they travel to St James’ Park on Tuesday to face Newcastle United, and then Frank has an awkward reunion with his former employers Brentford.
Frank’s side have lost three games in seven days (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It feels like there are so many issues to address. The £60million ($79.5m) summer signing Xavi Simons rarely starts, goals from set pieces have dried up, and their defence, which looked solid at the beginning of the season, has fallen to pieces.
Pedro Porro looked furious at full time when he stormed down the tunnel and whipped his shirt off. Frank needs to grasp control of this situation as soon as possible.
A poor start costs Spurs again
Fulham pummelled Spurs in the opening 15 minutes. Thomas Frank used the same 4-4-2 formation which showed flashes of promise in Wednesday’s 5-3 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, but they were completely overrun.
Frank likes to use a man-marking system, and Fulham took advantage. Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven were being dragged high up the pitch and out of position by Josh King and Raul Jimenez, which left huge pockets of space behind them.
Fulham’s first goal came from Danso’s header being intercepted in the centre circle. One simple pass released Samuel Chukwueze down the left wing, who teed up Kenny Tete. Minutes later, Harry Wilson’s effort came from an awful mistake by Vicario.
They were lucky it did not get any worse. Chukwueze hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box, and Van de Ven made an incredible tackle to prevent him from scoring after he skipped past Pedro Porro and Vicario.
This was a game Spurs desperately needed to win and, not for the first time this season, a slow start proved their undoing.
What did Frank say?
He told Sky Sports: “When you’re down 2-0 after six minutes, there is a mountain to climb. When you’re in a bad spell, everything seems to go against you as well — the first was a deflected shot, the second is a mistake from Vic [Guglielmo Vicario].
“I didn’t like that our fans booed at him straight after and a few times after that. They can’t be true Tottenham fans because everyone supports each other when you’re on the pitch and we do everything we can to perform.
“I’m fine with them booing after the match, no problem, but not during. That is unacceptable in my opinion.”
What next for Spurs?
Tuesday, December 2: Newcastle (Away), Premier League, 8.15pm UK, 3.15pm ET
