Thomas Frank defends ‘good’ Tottenham performance after 3-2 defeat to struggling Bournemouth

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered defeat to a Bournemouth team who failed to win 12 consecutive matches, but Thomas Frank has opted to praise his players.

Tottenham Hotspur were not in good form ahead of their trip to Bournemouth, but they at least managed to go unbeaten in three successful Premier League games.

However, this run has come to an end with Antoine Semenyo scoring a stoppage time winner to snatch all three points for the hosts.

This is the first time Bournemouth have won a game since their 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last October, although Spurs do still have the second best away record in the league.

Thomas Frank identifies the positives from Tottenham’s defeat

Despite the obvious shortcomings at Spurs which are clear for all to see, Thomas Frank has continued to search for ways to indicate that his team are actually playing well.

Tottenham did not create many chances against Bournemouth and their defence was poorer than usual, but Frank believes they deserved something from the game.

He told Football London: “I think it’s very tough to sit here right now and we haven’t got anything out of overall a good performance.

“I think we started well, got up 1-0, conceding two goals on second phase set pieces. Especially the second one, we needed to do much better. But I really liked the character in the team and from the players, they gave everything.

“The second half, I think we were completely on top, and keep going even through disappointments and small setbacks, which we talked about before. Work very, very hard with the players and the team on that.

“Don’t score inside the post from Richie, overturn the penalty, keep going, getting the equaliser, 2-2. After that, I think we are closer to winning than Bournemouth are. With the Micky header, with all the good opportunities.

“So, to sit here and concede in five, six minutes of extra time is very painful, very tough. But that’s football.”

Frank needs a Spurs reality check

Somehow Frank believes that Tottenham played well against Bournemouth and he has managed to come up with some excuses as to why they were defeated.

However, Spurs only scored two goals due to special moments from two individuals in Mathys Tel and Joao Palhinha. There was more creativity on display than some previous matches, but it was still not enough.

At the other end of the pitch, Tottenham were dreadful and that is something which needs addressing immediately. Frank may be wanting to keep things positive, but is only going to infuriate the club’s supporters even more, because they can see what is happening for themselves.

READ MORE – Five things we learned as Tottenham lose 3-2 to Bournemouth in the Premier League