Tottenham Hotspur supporters who booed goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario were told afterwards “they can’t be true Tottenham fans” by boss Thomas Frank.
Spurs conceded twice in the opening six minutes to lose 2-1 to Fulham, their 10th Premier League home defeat of 2025.
But the main talking point was Fulham’s second goal when Vicario lost possession well outside of his box.
He came out to deal with a long ball and took the ball towards the touchline.
However, instead of booting it out of play, the Italian turned and tried to clear, but slipped as the ball skimmed off Harry Wilson and was controlled by Josh King
King laid the ball off to Wales midfielder WIlson, who curled a shot into the goal from the touchline measured at 36.6 metres.
Moments later when the ball came to Vicario again, some Spurs fans booed him.
The team were booed off at half-time, with the club 2-0 down, and again at full-time.
One of those booing sessions really irritated Frank.
“I heard some of our fans apparently booed the incident and booed after, which, in my opinion is completely unacceptable,” the Dane told BBC Sport of the fans’ reaction to his goalkeeper.
“[They] can’t be true Tottenham fans that do that. Fair enough booing after the game, no problem, but when we are playing, we are supporting each other, we are behind each other going forward.”
Kenny Tete had given Fulham a fourth-minute lead before Wilson’s strike – with Mohammed Kudus netting for Spurs in an improved second-half showing.
‘It’s part of football, I’m a big man’
Italy international Vicario is in his third season with Tottenham.
The 29-year-old told Sky Sports after this game that he had to accept the criticism.
“The second goal was a mistake of mine, I take responsibility for that,” he said.
“The intent was to clear the ball long and I just hit the ball in a bad way. It was an even bigger mountain to climb.”
He said being booed “is part of football”.
“I’m a big man, what can I say?” he continued. “We cannot be influenced by the situation in the stands. The fans have the right to do what they think.
“It’s on us to stay more calm, to focus on ourselves. We are lacking in composure and calmness to overturn results. Today is a bad defeat and it’s tough to accept.”
‘I was surprised nobody went back to the line’
Despite Vicario’s mistake, it was not an easy goal for Wilson to score.
In fact it was the second longest-range Premier League goal of the season – after Tyler Adams’ 43.3m goal for Bournemouth against Sunderland, which incidentally also came on Saturday.
Wilson said he was a “little bit surprised” that he still had an empty goal to aim for.
Ten seconds passed between Vicario coming out of his box and Wilson shooting – which was five seconds after the clearance.
“I felt like the goalkeeper was out of the box for ages,” Wilson said.
“I was surprised none of the back four went back to the line. When none of them defended the goal, my eyes lit up a bit.
“[Destiny] Udogie slipped too, which gave me a bit of extra time. Then it was all about trying to make the right contact and get it on target. I had a good feeling, as soon as it left my foot, that it was on the right line.”
‘When you’re in a bad spell, everything seems to go against you’
While Vicario’s mistake dominated headlines, this was an all-round bad day for Spurs to continue their home woes.
This was their 10th home defeat of 2025 in the league, a joint club record along with 1994 and 2003.
They still have home games against Frank’s old side Brentford and champions Liverpool to come before the end of the year.
Only one of those wins have come since Frank replaced Ange Postecoglou in the summer.
Spurs have lost four consecutive home London derbies for the first time in the Premier League.
And they are averaging 9.5 shots and 3.2 shots on target per game in the Premier League – their lowest averages on record in a single campaign (since at least 2003-04).
“When you’re down 2-0 after six minutes, there is a mountain to climb,” said Frank.
“When you’re in a bad spell, everything seems to go against you as well – the first was a deflected shot, the second is a mistake from Vic.
“This result leaves us in a place where we have lost another game. Every game has a single story, this game we lost in the first six minutes.
“We just need to keep working. The second half was much better and hopefully something we can use to learn.”
