Brentford played out a goalless draw with Tottenham as Thomas Frank returned to his old club, with Spurs supporters chanting “Boring, Boring Tottenham” at the G-Tech Community Stadium.
Frank joined Spurs in the summer after six-and-a-half years as manager at Brentford, and just 26 days ago he secured a 2-0 win over his former club, but Spurs struggled to pose a threat in west London as the away fans lost patience with their performance and booed them at half-time and full-time.
Spurs fans sang songs by former stars such as Dele, Moussa Dembele, Eric Dier and even former manager Martin Jol in the first half, before belting out the awful ‘Boring, Boring Tottenham’ late in the second period.
Asked what supporters need to understand more about, Frank said: “It’s very difficult to answer that question. There’s a few boos after the game, but I haven’t read anything on social media or articles.”
“I’ve been watching the team and I’m very aware that we’re not where we want to be.”
However, although Tottenham had more shots on target than Brentford and recorded more xG than the hosts, goalkeeper Caoihin Kelleher remained unfazed by the toothless attack.
Frank made his presence felt at Spurs, keeping his seventh clean sheet in the Premier League this season, bettering the six he kept in all of last season under manager Ange Postecoglou.
The first half was a monotonous affair for both teams, with Brentford’s Kevin Shade’s fifth-minute tap-in ruled out for offside and Spurs’ Archie Gray’s goal-bound header decisively blocked by Nathan Collins.
Unlike Tottenham, Brentford improved after the break. Spurs captain Cristian Romero, returning from suspension, was fortunate to avoid a potential red card for a last-man foul on Igor Thiago, who was brought down as he handled the ball after a defender missed a clearance.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews said: “I thought it was a red card.” “I think the Spurs have been very lucky.”
A minute later, Gray went down in the box following a challenge from Shade, but was not penalized by referee Andy Madrid before VAR cleared the matter.
Kean Lewis-Potter of the hosts missed the kick as he worked his way into the box, allowing Thiago to fire home from close range. Vitaliy Janert also converted a good save from Guglielmo Vicario with a header to keep Spurs at one point.
Frank: The defense was great, but we lacked sharpness.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank:
“The positive is that it was against a very good home team who beat Liverpool, Man Utd, Newcastle and Villa, drew with Chelsea and had fewer chances, chances and shots in total, just seven shots, so we have to respect that result.
“A very, very strong defensive performance. I thought the back four did a great job and the whole team did a great job as well.”
“The biggest negative was a lot of unforced errors, which cost us eight, nine, and half transitions, and we weren’t able to get into good positions. And when we got there that day, we weren’t at the cutting edge.”
Andrews: Spurs respected us.
Brentford manager Keith Andrews:
“Obviously, we caught up in the second half. We felt like if anyone was going to win the game, it was us. We gained momentum, sustained the attack and felt like we were in good territory.”
“The way they played, they slowed the game down and didn’t want us to gain any momentum, so it was always difficult to keep it going. I felt we accomplished that and created some decent chances. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convert them.”
“Thomas knows his club better than I do, so he knows what can happen here. And when the electricity starts flowing inside the stadium, the fans and the players feed off of that and vice versa, making it a very dangerous place to come and play.”
“I thought he had a lot of respect for the environment and what we can produce here as a team, and he did his best to counteract that.”
