Every word Thomas Frank said on Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence snub and record low Tottenham XG

Thomas Frank had to face the media after Spurs' dismal derby defeat to Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The north London side recorded a record low XG for the club since such data came into existence with just 0.05 as Frank's side had just three shots all game in the Premier League derby and only one target.

Chelsea scored the only goal of the game 34 minutes in. First Djed Spence gave the ball away before Spurs got it back only for Xavi Simons to underhit a pass to Micky van de Ven and the Dutch defender lost it in trying to dribble past Moises Caicedo who found Joao Pedro to score.

The home side barely created anything other than a couple of Mohammed Kudus efforts before the break and had goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to thank for it not being a far heavier defeat on the night with a string of saves, mostly from Joao Pedro.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank after the game. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Can you understand the fan frustration and boos at the end when your team has created so little in a home derby?

Yes, 100 per cent. We all sense the frustration and the emotions. That is part of football. It is extremely painful and of course that is part of the job to face you guys now and answer the very good questions when you just are burning inside. And you like to find solutions, watch the game back and see what went wrong, but I think it’s about trying to stay calm. In general, I think Chelsea were good and we were definitely second best.

We performed badly. I think we lacked energy and intensity and that freshness we didn’t have that. Then I think the high pressure they came with, I don’t think we solved it well enough even though we worked on it, so that we need to keep working on. I think our high pressure, we lacked a little bit in the beginning until we got on top of it and then they went up 1-0 and we are chasing. Then it’s a bad circle where we are chasing, lacking intensity and energy and bad decisions.

It looked like after full-time you were trying to get Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence to go over to the fans and they just ignored you and walked past, what can you say about that?

All the players are of course frustrated. They would like to do well, they would like to win, they would like to perform well, so I understand that. I think it is about which is difficult to be consistent in good times and in bad times. That is why I went around to the fans as I did. It is more fun when we win, I can tell you that.

That is quite a striking image of Van de Ven and Spence walking past with you looking at them, is that acceptable?

I understand why you ask the question, but I think that is one of the small issues. We have Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence who are doing everything they can. They perform very well so far this season and everyone is frustrated. We do things in a different way, so I don’t think it is a big problem.

Can I just ask as well about the XG, it was just 0.05 today, a record low for Spurs since XG has existed?

I would say that, of course, hurt massively. I've never been in charge of a team that created that little in one game, never. So that, of course, I will look into what we can do to make it better. But I think that's one thing. I think everything is a little bit linked. And today, yeah, we didn't hit the level.

What happened exactly with Lucas Bergvall, because it appeared like he was trying to stay on the pitch?

That was a concussion. So he totally couldn't stay on and I think the medical team did a good job in that aspect. And even if he wanted to stay on, it's the right decision that he stays on.

How much did that disrupt your game plan, losing him after only three or four minutes?

Of course, we would have loved to have him continue. That's why we picked him in the starting XI. Unfortunately, that couldn't happen. So others will step in. Xavi knew the game plan.

You brought on Xavi, obviously, only a few minutes into the game, then you brought him back off again. Are you worried about his confidence now because he still hasn't scored a goal?

No, I think it's part of it. There's a reason why we didn't start him, of course. I think he's played two starts, short turnaround. Also, that energy and freshness I talked about, played 90 minutes Wednesday night. So that's why we decided that, and then he played 70 minutes here. So I think that was nothing. It's just because it looks different when you come on after three minutes and get subbed off.

In a derby and a goal down, is it acceptable to have a whole second half without a shot on goal?

Good question. There's probably not one answer to that. One thing for sure, we need to do that better.

Can you see the team evolving attacking-wise? It felt like there were sort of baby steps against Aston Villa, but there's been a lot of home games where it's kind of hard to see the attacking patterns of play that I'm guessing you want?

Yeah I think the thing is all games are a little bit different. But I think there was signs of it against Everton away, against Villa home, against Newcastle away. Today there's not too much signs of it.

Xavi Simons has had a few careless passes in the games he's played so far. It feels like something that should be relatively easy to correct in a player's technical ability. How frustrating is that?

I think when players make mistakes on the pitch, if they lose a ball or they miss a pass, of course I can get irritated. In general, I'm not talking about a specific situation. But that's part of football. How many times have you seen a player miss a pass or do something? That happens. And that can be flow, that can be confidence, that can be everything, whatever it is. So mistakes are part of football.

What is your message to the fans to give them confidence about the team creating?

Couple of things. Today of course everyone will be frustrated. I'd say we have 24 hours and then we need to look forward again. Today was one snapshot that didn't look good. I think there have definitely been other spells that have been better. There's no doubt, and I keep saying it, that we have a front four that is new. We have to build together with short turnarounds in games. We'll do that. I'm not in doubt that will happen. I think every team I've coached has scored a lot of goals. It will happen again in the future here.