Tottenham players are becoming increasingly frustrated by Thomas Frank’s tactical adjustments, with several players struggling to understand their roles as plans are altered shortly before kick-off or abandoned early in matches.
Spurs have endured a difficult campaign so far and, ahead of tonight's match with Newcastle, sit 12th in the table.
According to dressing-room sources who spoke to The Sun, the level of tactical flux has sparked growing concern within the squad as results continue to falter.
Frank, who insisted yesterday that he retains the backing of the board despite a disjointed 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday evening, travels to Newcastle on Tuesday under mounting scrutiny.
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Players are said to have been left bewildered by late changes to match strategies, with last week’s Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain cited as a key example.
Tottenham twice went ahead against the European champions but conceded five, leaving Paris empty-handed and highlighting vulnerabilities that have become more pronounced in recent weeks.
While a number of players are said to enjoy working with Frank, the broader mood is described as fragile.
Five things to know about Tottenham boss Thomas Frank | PA
Tottenham players are becoming increasingly frustrated by Thomas Frank’s tactical adjustments, with several players struggling to understand their roles as plans are altered shortly before kick-off or abandoned early in matches
|PA
There are private fears that he could lose control of the dressing room if results and clarity of instruction do not improve quickly.
Spurs sit 12th in the Premier League and have won only one of their past seven fixtures in all competitions.
Defensively, the team has struggled badly, conceding 11 times in their last three matches and allowing Fulham to score twice inside the opening six minutes on Saturday.
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Tottenham are a club engulfed by doom and gloom as Tuesday night's match with Newcastle looms
| GETTYFrank has also found himself entangled in tensions between the squad and sections of the fanbase.
He criticised the “unacceptable” booing of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after the Italian’s error led to Fulham’s second goal.
During an animated exchange at the weekend, he described those who jeered as “not true Tottenham fans”, though he adopted a more conciliatory tone when reflecting on the remarks ahead of the trip to St James’ Park.
“I completely understand the frustration,” Frank said.
“If we don’t win, there will always be a frustration, so that is normal. We are nothing without the fans. No club is anything without the fans. Tottenham Hotspur, we are nothing without our fantastic fans. Nothing.
"We need each other. There is nothing we want more than making them happy in every way. My point was during matches that’s where we need each other.
Tottenham have won just one home game under Thomas Frank, with woes worsening via their 2-1 defeat to Fulham on Saturday
| REUTERS"After, fair with the booing, but during, that is when I want to create a fortress. If any club wants to be successful, you need to create a fortress.
"If you want to create a fortress, it can only be together. Fans and team.”
Full-back Pedro Porro added a further twist to the fallout by posting on Instagram with a message addressed “to the true Spurs fans”.
In his caption he wrote: “What I will not tolerate is hearing disrespect from the fans to my teammates, hence my frustration at the end of the game.”
Frank, however, downplayed any sense of internal division.
“The players, they are individual people that can have their own opinions,” he said. “I think what he put out there was fair in every aspect.”