Premier League: Van de Ven and Spence apologize as Frank defends Spurs ‘foundation’

Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank said on Monday that Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence have apologized for rejecting their manager and going down the tunnel after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Spurs were booed by their own supporters after failing to win for the fourth consecutive home game in the Premier League.

Van de Ven, who started the match as captain, and Spence were two of the better players in an inconsistent start to Frank’s reign.

But they stormed past Frank at full-time as he tried to get them to acknowledge the home fans.

“Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday and said they wanted to say sorry for the situation,” Frank said.

“They didn’t want it to look bad, or any of the misconceptions you can get in this wonderful media world.

«So there was no disrespect intended towards me or the team at all. They were just frustrated with our performance and the booing during the match,» the 52-year-old Dane added.

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Despite poor home form, Spurs are fifth in the Premier League and are unbeaten after three games in the Champions League.

A win at home to FC Copenhagen on Tuesday would put Spurs in a strong position to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League for the second time in six years.

Winning the Europa League last season masked an otherwise disastrous campaign that saw Ange Postecoglou sacked despite the end of the club’s 17-year trophy drought.

Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League – the worst season in English football’s top flight since relegation from the old First Division in 1976/77.

“Obviously we’re coming off a bad performance – there’s a big flashing light now. Everyone’s having a bit of a hard time looking past that and seeing some of the very good performances we’ve had this year as well,” Frank added.

«If someone had said that after ten games we would now have seventeen points and be unbeaten in the Champions League, then everything is not perfect, but there is a good basis.

“Anyone would have assumed the situation where we are now in terms of 22 (league) defeats last year (season) and a 17th place finish.”

Lucas Bergvall is on the sidelines after suffering a concussion in the early stages of the match against Chelsea, but Spence and Mohammed Kudus should be fit to play against Danish champions Copenhagen despite the setbacks.

Published on November 3, 2025