Emmanuel Adebayor has admitted that Tottenham’s players are struggling with the pressure of a negative atmosphere at White Hart Lane while they strain to get the message from their new manager, Mauricio Pochettino. “Instead of booing people, which will make it even worse, I think it is sometimes better to support them and give them what they need to perform on the pitch,” said the striker. “Right now, to tell you the truth, I think a lot of players, when they put on the shirt and go out on to the pitch, are finding it hard in the head.”

Tottenham fans are understandably airing their frustrations – they have seen their team lose four of their past five Premier League games at home – and it was telling to hear the PA system blaring out music with conspicuously sharp timing the very second the referee blew the final whistle in the weekend’s loss to Stoke City. It seemed like the club were conscious of the possibility of an outpouring of disapproval and did their bit to drown it out.

Adebayor says the players are feeling the heat. “It’s kind of hard when you know the first bad ball you make the fans are going to boo you,” he said. “When you are playing in front of your own crowd you want them to support you. But now it is like going through a sad moment and your family not welcoming you home. That’s the worst thing ever because you have nowhere to go. At the moment I don’t know whether we should play at home or whether we should play away.

“Obviously I was on the bench against Stoke and, though I could not see everything as clear as night, I could see that nobody wanted the ball. It’s hard for the players. It’s not their fault and it’s not the fans’ fault either because the fans want to see a result, the fans want to see a response and things are not going our way at the moment. We just have to fight as a team and as a club to find a solution. The quicker the better.”

The former Spurs striker and current USA coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, was in the stands on Sunday but believes the crowd tried to impart “positive energy” on to the pitch in search of a Tottenham equaliser.

He said: “You always want to have the crowd on your side. That comes and leads from the field. If a game doesn’t go well then it’s normal that the crowd has every right to be a bit pessimistic. That’s normal. I actually thought the crowd tried to give positive energy to give them a push. The 2-1 came and I had the feeling that the equaliser would be right there. But it wasn’t meant that way.”

Adebayor added that Tottenham are struggling to adapt to Pochettino’s methods: “He’s a good manager and we just have to find a way so that we can try to understand what he wants to tell us and how he wants us to play and put that on the pitch. If every player could do what the manager wants then we would win the Champions League. But at the moment we are not getting the message. To me, he is a good manager and a good man – we just have to get what he is telling us.

“We have to get used to him. He is the new manager and it is tough. Tactically, he is working hard, he is trying to make us understand what the opponents will try to do and what we have to do to score goals and win the games. But at the moment there is a blockage somewhere. Hopefully we can overcome that. Football is a funny game. You play one game and score one goal and everybody says: ‘Hey, things have changed for you.’

“Maybe we can go out and win the next game 3-0 or 4-0 and that will be it – the fans will be back enjoying Tottenham again and we will have it like it was when I first came here on loan. Then, every weekend I was happy to come in and play for the club because I knew I was going to have fun and enjoy it. Now it is not fun anymore. The critics are there and I welcome them – I take them in a good way and hopefully I will do my talking on the pitch. At the moment things are not going our way, but it cannot go any lower than this. Things can only get better.

“Obviously all managers bring their own philosophies, the way they see football, the way they see games and everything. But come on, this the third or fourth manager in two or three years so we just have to stop it now being about the manager.”

After the international break, Tottenham travel to Hull City and, according to Adebayor, it will be a relief to be away from home. “To be honest, I think so,” he admitted. “At least you know I am going to be having the majority of opposition fans booing me rather than our own fans booing me. And I am not just talking about me, I am speaking on behalf of all the players.

“I think it might be better to play away from home at the moment because at least we know beforehand we are guaranteed to be booed because they want their home club to win. But when you are playing at home and your own fans start booing you after a few minutes then it is harder.”