Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank, who criticized a section of Spurs supporters for booing goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham, said he understood fans’ frustration and called for their undivided support.
Frank had said the fans, who were angry at Vicario for the mistake that led to Fulham’s second goal, “can’t be true fans.”
“We are nothing without the fans. No club is anything without the fans. We are nothing without our fantastic fans. Nothing. We need each other,” Frank told reporters on Monday, a day before visiting Newcastle United.
“We haven’t won as much at home, not only this year but the last for a long period, so the frustration can grow a little bit more. That’s understandable.”
Europa League winners Spurs, who sit 12th in the Premier League, are winless in the last four games, and have not won a home game in the English top flight since August.
“There’s nothing we want more than making them happy in every way. My point was, during matches, we need each other. After, fair with the booing. But during, I want to create a fortress,” Frank said.
Tottenham schedule is busy
Spurs may rotate their squad for four matches within a 10-day period, including a Champions League clash with Slavia Prague next week.
“We have a squad learning from last year, playing Premier League and Europa League, going into this year playing in the Champions League,” Frank said.
“That competing on both fronts takes some time to learn physically and mentally. We’re searching to find the right formula that will click while we have to rotate some players to keep freshness, keep the intensity high, look at injury risk.”
Frank said Spurs should look for positives in the last four matches despite the disappointing results.
“Especially in the PSG and Fulham games, there were some good performances. We have to keep going back to that, going back to what we can affect, how we train, the principles and keep the energy of the players and go again. That’s the only way out of it,” he said.