Tottenham’s miserable run of form under manager Thomas Frank continues after a lackluster 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham on Saturday night, with the hosts being met with a chorus of boos at the final whistle.
Tottenham 1-2 Fulham, lukewarm Spurs put pressure on Frank
The visitors delivered a devastating double whammy early on, extending the north London club’s frenetic run and raising fresh questions about Frank’s ability to halt their alarming slide.
Fulham seized a commanding two-goal advantage within the first six minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, relentlessly exploiting the defensive vulnerabilities that continue to plague Spurs despite their manager’s persistent tactical changes.
Kenny Tete scored the opening goal just four minutes later. His speculative shot hit Destiny Udogui’s leg and deflected wide, completely missing goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and into the bottom corner. The Italian stopper was helpless against the deflection, but had little time to recover before Fulham doubled their advantage.
Harry Wilson took advantage of Vicari’s devastating goalkeeping just two minutes later, making Tottenham’s defensive nightmare even worse.
The Welshman caught Vicario in no-man’s land with a long-range chip, but with no defender on the line to clear it, the ball ended up in a completely empty net.
Although Tottenham had dominant possession throughout the opening half, they were virtually unable to create anything, with just two shots and an expected goals tally of just 0.01 in the first half.
Frank introduced attacking reinforcements in the second half, removing Joao Parinha, Richarlison and Archie Gray after the hour, replacing them with Wilson Odbert, Xavi Simons and Rodrigo Bentancur.
The change provided short-lived encouragement in the 59th minute when Mohamed Kudus scored a powerful half-volley for the first time in a Spurs shirt at home, closing the gap and briefly offering hope of a comeback.
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Spurs need more creativity.
However, Fulham managed the remaining 30 minutes deftly, bringing on Sasa Lukic and Emile Smith Rowe to strengthen their midfield and nullify Tottenham’s increasingly desperate attack.
Despite introducing forward Matthijs Tell and other creative players, Spurs lacked the quality and belief they needed to take something back from another disappointing performance at home.
The defeat was Tottenham’s fourth in six games in all competitions, following humiliating defeats against Arsenal (4-1) and PSG (5-3) last week.
Frank is currently under intense pressure, with critics questioning whether he is truly suitable for the Spurs job.
Jamie O’Hara loses against Xavi Simmons in Tottenham vs Fulham
On X, formerly known as Twitter, pundit Jamie O’Hara singled out stand-in Simons for criticism alongside Frank, despite having only 30 minutes to make an impact.
The former Spurs midfielder was furious at Simmons for repeatedly attempting and failing to flick the ball as the North Londoners trailed at 2-1, with O’Hara expressing his anger at the wasteful attacking play.
After the disastrous goal, keeper Vicario was also booed by supporters almost every time he touched the ball, and fans are on edge as Spurs’ results continue to decline.
Simmons could end up costing the club £125m on a seven-year deal after wages, agent fees and additional options are taken into account, but he needs to break into England soon or risk being seen as a big miss.
The Dutchman has been given few chances by Frank lately, but the fact that he’s only been given a few minutes here and there should send a pretty clear message.
Symonds was often bullied off the ball against Fulham and despite all his efforts to get into dangerous positions, he was unable to make the desired impact.
For Spurs, the home curse continues, with no other Premier League team having a worse record on their home soil in 2025 than Tottenham.
