‘Very, very unusual’ Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank breaks silence on Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven fallout

Thomas Frank’s side are in the Premier League’s top six
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Tottenham were defeated at the weekend by Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, losing out on home turf to their close rival by a goal to nil.

Joao Pedro’s first-half strike proved the difference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Frank’s side recorded their second loss in the space of a week.

Thomas Frank reacts to viral Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven moment for Spurs

Thomas Frank sits alongside Dutch defender Micky van de Ven during a press conference (Image credit: Getty Images)Chelsea’s visit to North London gave Spurs the opportunity to get back to winning ways against a local rival, however, that did not transpire as the Blues returned to the west of the city with all three points.

At full-time, defenders Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence were caught on camera expressing their discontent at the outcome of the match as they approached head coach Frank.

The Spurs pair walked past the Tottenham boss, despite Frank’s attempts to console them.

The Dane has since revealed that both players paid a visit to his office the day after the game in order to apologise for having seemingly blanked their manager.

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“Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday unprompted to say sorry. They were just frustrated,” Frank said on Monday.

“Of course I was happy they came in because I knew the questions would come today. We had a good chat but we will keep it internally. It would be very, very, very unusual for me to throw a player under the bus, because we’re all human,” he added.

Spurs face FC Kobenhavn in the Champions League on Tuesday evening and are strong favourites for the match.

Thomas Frank, August 2025 (Image credit: Getty Images)Whether Spence and Van de Ven have a part to play remains to be seen, but it appears Frank bears no ill will towards the pair.

That said, due to the tight turnaround between fixtures, the head coach may rotate his team, which could see members of the back-line rested ahead of the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon against Manchester United.

Joe joined FourFourTwo as senior digital writer in July 2025 after five years covering Leeds United in the Championship and Premier League. Joe’s ‘Mastermind’ specialist subject is 2000s-era Newcastle United having had a season ticket at St. James’ Park for 10 years before relocating to Leeds and later London. Joe takes a keen interest in youth football, covering PL2, U21 Euros, as well as U20 and U17 World Cups in the past, in addition to hosting the industry-leading football recruitment-focused SCOUTED podcast. He is also one of the lucky few to have ‘hit top bins’ as a contestant on Soccer AM. It wasn’t a shin-roller.