'I don't want to run away' Thomas Frank makes plea to Tottenham Hotspur fans as boss admits painful Arsenal truth

Spurs were left humbled in the North London derby as Arsenal, inspired by the brilliance of Eberechi Eze, ran riot at the Emirates.

Aside from Richarlison’s audacious long-range lob of David Raya, the visitors created few chances, and were largely on the back foot throughout.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are threatening to pull clear at the top of the Premier League table, now six points ahead of second-placed Chelsea.

Thomas Frank admits Spurs need to be better

Spurs had enjoyed a strong start to the season away from home, winning four of their five matches on the road prior to their short trip across London.

But Thomas Frank’s side are now winless in three league games, and the manager was candid in his assessment of the derby defeat.

“I think there's definitely a lot to work on still,” he said in his post-match press conference. “I think it's fair to say that we are very disappointed and unhappy with the performance today. I don't want to run away from that. As I said, I apologise to the fans.

"I think it's also fair to say where we're coming from. We finished 17th last year. And we've tried to build something, which today didn't look like we tried to build something.”

Frank was keen to highlight that Arsenal are by now a well-oiled machine under Mikel Arteta, while Spurs remain at the beginning of a transitional period.

"We tried to come here and be aggressive and press high and in spells go after them,” he said. “We didn’t succeed with that bit. We didn’t manage to get near enough them in the situations we could.

"It means we got pushed back and got a little too passive. It looks like we are running after them. When we finally got on the ball we were not good enough to get out of those situations.

"No matter how painful it is to admit, they are definitely six years down the line and we are four months down the line but even with that I was still expecting much more from us today. Not that we could dominate over 90 minutes but that we could be as competitive as we were against Man City and PSG."

Spurs currently sit ninth in the Premier League standings, though they could be leapfrogged by Manchester United, who play Everton on Monday night.

Frank’s side travel to European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday night, before another London clash against Fulham on Saturday evening.

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