What the table suggested; a strong start under Thomas Frank, Champions League calm and a top-four berth, masked a growing unease that exploded into full view on Saturday.
A 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea left the stadium simmering with anger, players hurriedly slipping away down the tunnel and supporters making their displeasure impossible to ignore.
A ritual turned awkward
Frank’s post-match lap of appreciation, a staple after every home game, felt oddly tone-deaf this time. As the manager bowed to the stands, sections of the crowd booed, and cameras caught Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence bypassing the ritual, heading straight for the dressing room.
The image, players visibly snubbing their boss while fans jeered, crystallised a fractured mood that has been building for weeks.
Players fed up, fans louder
Frank tried to defuse the drama, describing the reaction as frustration rather than disloyalty and insisting Van de Ven and Spence remain committed. But the bigger story is the atmosphere: a squad that has not yet found the consistent bite expected at home and supporters who are no longer willing to applaud tepid displays.
Even pundits sympathised with players who wanted to escape a painful walk of shame and repair things behind closed doors.
Home form betrays the promise
The statistics undercut the optimism. Despite an encouraging start to Frank’s reign, Spurs have struggled on their own patch, winning just one of five home games under him and continuing a troubling trend inherited from last season.
Across the last 19 Premier League home fixtures, Tottenham’s record reads like a warning sign — and has attracted criticism about mentality, organisation and cutting edge.
Performance, not just results, is the worry
This was not merely a loss: it was a performance labelled "abject" by former pros. Spurs created virtually nothing; an xG of 0.05 tells the story and were repeatedly outplayed on the ball.
Defensively, mistakes have also cost them; only a handful of clubs have handed opponents goals via errors more often this season. For a manager preaching a fortress at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, that fortress is proving porous.
Frank asks for time; critics demand answers
Frank urged patience, pointing to new attacking relationships that need bedding in and promising improvement. He stressed the developmental pathway and the short turnarounds that make cohesion tricky.
Yet with vocal fans, pointed punditry, and the optics of players rushing off the pitch, patience is running thin in north London
A chance to right the ship
Spurs have two home fixtures coming up, Copenhagen in the Champions League and Manchester United in the Premier League; opportunities to calm the crowd and rebuild belief.
For now, however, the image of a manager applauding a chorus of boos while some of his players avoid him will linger.
Improvement is visible on paper compared with last season, but until Spurs translate that into fuller performances and firmer results at home, disquiet will keep bubbling under
