Under-fire Tottenham manager Thomas Frank insists that West Ham skipper Jarrod Bowen should have been given his marching orders during his side's 2-1 defeat
Thomas Frank has claimed Jarrod Bowen could have seen red for his X-rated tackle on Xavi Simons. The unhappy Tottenham boss claimed the England forward was fortunate not to get sent off after his challenge during Saturday’s defeat to West Ham.
Tottenham midfielder Simons was sent off last month after a VAR check for a challenge on Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Simons is set to start against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night even though he could not train because of an ankle injury suffered in Bowen’s challenge.
Frank said: “Xavi was out there today but didn’t train today because that was a bad tackle from Bowen. Not that Bowen is a bad guy and would do anything intentional.
“A bad tackle from behind which injured his ankle, he has a swollen ankle but because he’s so strong mentally, he will play through pain tomorrow. So that’s big credit of course to Xavi.
“And by the way, while we are there, I can’t understand why that isn’t a red card when a red card is when he accidentally put his foot on Van Dijk. Anyway, that is a bigger discussion.”
Simons insisted that Tottenham can still turn their season around despite the huge doubts over Frank’s future as manager.
Ex-Rb Leipzig star Simons said: “Yeah obviously we want to turn this around. Especially playing in the Champions League, it's the biggest stage. Me playing against Dortmund, I’ve played them already in Germany.
“It’s special but at the same time it’s like every game, every game is a big game for me and the team. We want to pick that moment to bring the three points home.
“At the end, I would say this is the highest level of football, and as we know as a group, we have to stick together. It's not only the coach, it's the whole club, I would say. And that's the most important thing.
“In football, we're playing every two or three days. And we have to stick together and to go on, and tomorrow we have another opportunity to win.”