Thomas Frank explains Arsenal-branded coffee cup incident before Spurs defeat

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has defended himself after a picture emerged of him holding an Arsenal-branded coffee cup before Spurs’ defeat by Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Frank walked around the pitch before kick-off holding the cup, which displayed the club crest of Tottenham’s bitter north London rivals.

League-leaders Arsenal were the previous visitors to the Vitality Stadium, having celebrated a 3-2 success at the ground on Saturday.

Thomas Frank manager / head coach of Tottenham Hotspur holding a cup with the Arsenal club badge on ahead of their Premier League match against Bournemouth. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

“I definitely didn’t notice it,” Frank said of the cup. “I think it’s fair to say we’re not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal’s (emblem on).

“They have been in the changing room the game before us. It’s normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, I do that before every game, so I think actually it’s a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that.

“We’re definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to be worried about me having a cup with a logo of another club. Of course I would never do that. That’s extremely stupid.”

Frank’s tenure at Tottenham faced more scrutiny as Antoine Semenyo’s late strike ensured Bournemouth won all three points.

The loss left Tottenham with just two wins from their last 12 top-flight games and prompted heated exchanges between travelling fans and players at full-time.

“I think it’s fair to say everyone involved in Tottenham, it’s a tough one to take today,” said Frank. “Hopefully everyone can see how hard we worked to get everything in the right direction.

“Overall the performance was good, especially the second half, in a game where we deserved to get more. That is extremely painful to be part of, so of course people are frustrated – that’s natural. It’s very tough to sit here right now and we haven’t got anything out of overall a good performance.”