Thomas Frank and Jed Spence haven’t always seen eye-to-eye this season, and Sunday’s defeat to Nottingham Forest provided another flashpoint for the duo.
Sunday was another memorable day for Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank. The London side’s heavy defeat at Nottingham Forest increased the pressure on the Dane, with his relationship with defender Jed Spence once again coming into focus.
Spence and fellow defender Micky van de Ven appeared to despise Frank after the defeat to Chelsea earlier in the season. Both men apologized personally to the manager, but there was a new flashpoint over Spence at the City Ground.
The latest episode came about an hour after Spurs’ defeat, when Spence was replaced by Frank, BBC Sport reported. He reportedly appeared to question the decision as he left the field after his number was raised.
Spurs were losing 2-0 at the time thanks to two goals from Forest winger Callum Hudson-Odoi. Ben Davies made three changes for Spence, while Joao Parinha and Lucas Bergvall also featured, but it mattered little as Ibrahim Sangare added a third goal for the hosts.
The loss left Frank’s team at the bottom of the table with just 22 points from 11 games. Forest, on the other hand, moved five points clear of the relegation zone with the win.
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Spurs winger Mohamed Kudus gave a brutally honest assessment after the defeat. “It wasn’t good enough. It’s a very disappointing result,” the Ghanaian said. “We didn’t do enough today, myself included. We need to work harder on our all-round game.
“It’s very difficult to win games in the Premier League. You need the same input every day. We didn’t have that. We should have done more. The quality at the end, myself included, some of the decisions we made today were a bit too hasty. We need to pick it up and focus on the next game.”
Spurs’ next game is a league game against Liverpool on Saturday. Then there will be the London derby away to Crystal Palace and then Brentford on either side of the new year.
Fans voiced their displeasure on social media at Frank’s substitution during and after Forest’s comeback. “Bringing Davis in for Spence is a terrible call by Thomas Frank,” one wrote, while another wrote, “Frank saw this atrocious performance from (Pedro) Polo and decided to take Spence out instead.” “I can’t wait for Frank to explain how he’s going to help Spence (Davis) replace Bentancur (Parinha)!” (with a 2-0 deficit).
While some called for the manager to be replaced, others were less positive, with one writing: “I still think we should give Frank time. We should develop our best players and use them when they are fit again. But Frank needs to get a little serious!”
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