There is a five-alarm fire burning at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And in this emergency situation, Spurs have done what crisis clubs in Italy have been doing for years – they have called in Igor Tudor. Only now, after his first game in charge ended in a bruising 4-1 home defeat to Arsenal, the fire is burning hotter than ever. Tottenham find themselves sitting 16th in the Premier League table, just four points
above the relegation zone, with 11 games remaining.
They are the only team in the division yet to win a match in 2026 – a stat that is as damning as it is alarming. After sacking Thomas Frank following a dismal run of eight winless games, the club turned to
the Croatian coach to prevent a catastrophic relegation. Tudor’s first test in English football, a north London derby against an Arsenal side chasing the title, was always going to be a baptism of fire. And so it proved.
Table of Contents
The Situation: Tottenham in Crisis
Five Points From Relegation
There’s a fire at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And in this emergency situation, Spurs have turned to one of the best firefighters around.
They find themselves 16th in the Premier League and sacked Thomas Frank last week following a dismal spell in charge. Now, Igor Tudor has been tasked with not only rescuing Tottenham’s season, but saving them from relegation, too.
| Context | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position | 16th in Premier League |
| Gap to relegation | 5 points |
| Winless run | 8 games (first since 2008 under Juande Ramos) |
| Injury crisis | Squad decimated |
| Threat below | Nottingham Forest and West Ham hitting form |
Recent Managerial Chaos
Spurs have made plenty of mid-season managerial changes in the last few years. Since 2019, Mauricio Pochettino, José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo, Antonio Conte and now Frank have all been sacked in the middle of a campaign.
However, this is the first time that any incoming manager has faced the genuine possibility of relegation.
The Club in Mess
The club is in a complete mess, arguably of its own making:
- Held out far too long to sack Frank in blind hope everything would correct itself
- Hired the man former director of football Fabio Paratici championed in summer (wanted ahead of Frank)
- Lack of forward planning: John Heitinga left as defensive coach when Frank departed, just 33 days after joining
Tudor’s Debut: A Sobering Reality Check
Igor Tudor’s Premier League bow on Sunday 22 February could hardly have been more difficult – or more revealing. Facing an Arsenal side that sits top of the Premier League and had already put four past Spurs in the reverse fixture, Tudor’s men went into half- time level, with Randal Kolo Muani cancelling out Eberechi Eze’s opener with a composed, powerful finish.
But the second half told the real story. Arsenal, with Viktor Gyokeres particularly devastating, pulled away to win 4-1 – the exact same scoreline as the earlier meeting at the Emirates. Spurs looked physically outmatched, mentally fragile, and lacking the tactical discipline Tudor demands. The new manager did not shy away from what he had witnessed.
“I know the truth about this team, now I saw the truth. It’s not nice, but it is how it is.”
Tudor was blunt in his post-match assessment, calling on his players to shed their bad habits and look in the mirror. He acknowledged the gulf between the two sides, describing Arsenal as the best team in the world at this moment, while making clear that fundamental habits – in running, pressing, duelling and defending – must change immediately. There was frustration, but also calm conviction that survival remains achievable.
The sheer scale of the injury crisis made the defeat even more understandable. A staggering 12 players missed the Arsenal game through injury or suspension, including captain Cristian Romero, who is serving a four-game ban. Tudor acknowledged this was unlike any injury situation he had encountered in his entire managerial career, and yet he still fielded a side capable of competing for 45 minutes against the league’s best team.
Why Tudor? The Track Record of Improvement
Curious Appointment to English Fans
To those in England and specifically Spurs fans, Tudor appeared at first like a curious appointment. Someone with no Premier League experience — either as a player or manager — and therefore with no reputation to lean on, was not what many of the fans wanted.
They wanted a known quantity who they immediately felt they could get behind. Someone who gave them confidence that this sinking ship could be saved.
Known in Italy as THE Firefighter
In Italy, however, Tudor is known precisely as the guy to call in this kind of situation. He may not have managed in England before, but he has lots of experience of changing a club’s fortunes in not very much time at all.
This is his 12th managerial position, and he has been appointed before the start of the season for only three of them.
The Five Serie A Turnarounds
The good news for Spurs is he tends to improve results, and quickly. The five times he has been appointed mid-season in a big-five European league have all come in Serie A, and every time he has had a positive impact, increasing his new team’s points-per-game rate on all five occasions.
| Club | Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Udinese (1st stint) | Relegation concern | Guided to safety; increased PPG |
| Udinese (2nd stint) | Relegation concern | Guided to safety; increased PPG |
| Hellas Verona | Bottom, pointless in September | Top-half finish; increased PPG |
| Lazio | European positions target | Achieved; increased PPG |
| Juventus | European positions target | Achieved; increased PPG |
Verona: The Dramatic Rescue
His most dramatic rescue came at Hellas Verona, where he was brought in with relegation a real concern. He took them from bottom and pointless in September to a top-half finish.
At both Udinese (twice, in successive seasons) and Verona, he was brought in with relegation a real concern, and guided them to safety.
Marseille Success
In more recent years, his job has been to take bigger clubs back into the European positions, succeeding with both Lazio and Juventus.
He did last a full season at Marseille in 2022-23, guiding them to third place in Ligue 1 with the club’s second-highest points tally in the 15 seasons since they last won the title in 2010. But it proved too hostile an environment for him, with fans turning against him early on, and he chose to leave.
Kolo Muani: A Ready-Made Tudor Forward
One of the most intriguing early signals from Tudor’s tenure is his immediate trust in Randal Kolo Muani, the France international who joined on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. Tudor handed the forward a start against Arsenal and was rewarded with exactly the kind of energetic, direct performance his system demands. Kolo Muani scored Tottenham’s only goal of the match – his first in the Premier League – and had a second controversially ruled out by VAR for a marginal push on Gabriel.
The connection between manager and player runs deeper than this week alone. When Tudor was in charge of Juventus in the second half of last season, Kolo Muani was loaned to the Italian club and flourished spectacularly under him – scoring 10 goals and providing three assists in just 22 appearances. He arrived at Juventus written off and left having revived his career. Tudor knows exactly what Kolo Muani can do when trusted and deployed correctly.
“He made a good game today. It’s a good start and I’m happy for him.”
Kolo Muani’s profile – pace, directness, pressing intensity and a willingness to run in behind – is precisely the type of forward Tudor builds his systems around. While Tottenham’s injury crisis has forced the manager’s hand in terms of personnel, the Frenchman looks like a player who will be central to the survival bid over the remaining 11 games.
The Longevity Question
Longest Stint: 78 Games
He hasn’t, however, stuck around for very long in any of his roles. His 78-game stint in charge of Hajduk Split, his first managerial role between April 2013 and February 2015, is the longest of his career, and by some distance.
That makes one year the longest he has stayed with a club in a major European league.
Short-Term Appointment?
He doesn’t, on the face of it, appear to be an appointment with the long-term in mind, which is quite the jump from Spurs choosing Frank and insisting for months on end that they would be sticking by him through thick and thin.
However, if Tudor impresses as head coach between now and the end of the season, he will surely be a candidate for the permanent role. He will hope to quickly put some distance between Spurs and the relegation zone and get the club back to thinking about the upper part of the table.
Tactical Revolution: From Frank’s Defense to Tudor’s Attack
“I Like to Play Offensive Football”
Tudor represents a significant shift in footballing style from the defensive football that Frank, whether by design or not, had his team play.
“I like to be positive,” Tudor said in an interview with the Tottenham website this week. “I like to play offensive football.”
| Context | Detail |
|---|---|
| Spurs under Frank | 27.4 xG total (only 3 teams lower in PL this season) |
| Tudor’s philosophy | Offensive, front-footed, high-pressing |
Formation Flexibility
Tudor hinted this week that in this “not easy” situation, he may choose to use a different shape to his favoured 3-4-2-1 formation.
He has used a back three to start off with in 120 of his 124 matches as a manager in Europe’s top five leagues, but he may consider alternative formations at Spurs.
“We need to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment,” he said.
The High-Pressing Identity
Marseille and Juventus: Top-3 for High Turnovers
He is less likely to compromise on his style of play, always promoting a front-footed game based around high pressing that will be a departure from Frank’s football.
| Club | Season | High turnovers per game | Rank in league |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juventus | 2025-26 (before Tudor left) | 7.3 | 2nd in Serie A |
| Marseille | 2022-23 | 9.1 | 3rd in Ligue 1 |
| Tottenham under Frank | 2025-26 | 6.3 | 11th in Premier League |
High turnovers = winning the ball within 40 metres of the opposition’s goal line
Tottenham’s Pressing Issues Under Frank
Under Frank, Tottenham:
- Ranked 11th for high turnovers (6.3 per game)
- Ranked 13th for pressures applied in final third
In short, they didn’t press consistently or effectively under their former manager.
Physical Demands: The 115km Benchmark
“Better Than 105”
Tudor values physical exertion and may well demand more from his players in this regard.
“If you can run 115 kilometres as a team, it’s better than 105,” he told the Spurs website this week.
| Context | Distance covered per game |
|---|---|
| Tudor’s benchmark | 115km |
| Spurs under Frank | 108.6km (only 4 teams covered less) |
He may have meant nothing by it, but it is intriguing that he chose 115km as the distance to focus on here. There have been 89 instances of a team covering 115km in a Premier League game this season, and Spurs don’t account for any of them.
Balancing Act
Tudor will, however, need to balance any extra demands of his players with ensuring nobody else gets injured given the current crisis.
Room For Improvement
There is an enormous amount of room for improvement at Spurs:
- Quality of football they play
- Performances as a team
- Ability of talented and young individuals in squad
But most important right now is results.
What Comes Next: Fulham and a 11-Game Survival Sprint
With the Arsenal defeat behind them, Tudor’s real Premier League audition begins. Tottenham travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham – a winnable game on paper against a mid-table side, and one the squad has been preparing for all week. Van de Ven’s comments about needing to step up against Fulham reflect the mood in the dressing room: this is where the Tudor project truly starts.
Beyond Fulham, Spurs face Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in quick succession – a brutal run that will test Tudor’s ability to generate points quickly. They remain the only Premier League side without a win in 2026, and there are growing concerns both within and outside the club about where the next victory is coming from.
There is, however, cautious optimism. The sporting director Johan Lange has publicly stated that the door is open for Tudor to be given the permanent job if results improve. Tudor appears motivated by that prospect, and the early signs – the press intensity he demands in training, the immediate trust placed in Kolo Muani, the blunt honesty about where the team currently stands – suggest a manager who understands exactly what is required of him.
Can Tudor Save Spurs?
Maybe this should be no surprise for a team like Tottenham. They have jumped around between different styles of play consistently for years through Pochettino, Mourinho, Nuno, Conte and Frank.
The question now is whether Tudor can get this group playing his football effectively quickly enough to start getting points on the board. He is accustomed to having little time to get his ideas across to a team, but his task this time around is made more difficult by Spurs’ injury crisis.
The track record is clear: Tudor has improved points-per-game at all five Serie A mid-season appointments. He specializes in firefighting situations and turning around struggling clubs quickly.
But this is his first Premier League job, his first experience with English football, and potentially the biggest challenge of his managerial career. With Spurs 16th and just five points from relegation, there is no room for error.
The firefighter has been called. Now he must prove he can save Tottenham Hotspur from the unthinkable.
Read More: 41 Touches, 2 Goals: Viktor Gyokeres’ Most Complete Arsenal Performance Yet
FAQs
What is Igor Tudor’s track record at turning clubs around?
Tudor has been appointed mid-season five times in Serie A (Udinese twice, Verona, Lazio, Juventus) and increased his new team’s points-per-game rate on all five occasions, including taking Verona from bottom and pointless to a top-half finish.
What tactical changes will Tudor bring to Tottenham?
Tudor favors offensive, high-pressing football (his Marseille ranked 3rd in Ligue 1 for high turnovers at 9.1/game; Juventus 2nd in Serie A at 7.3/game vs Spurs’ 6.3 under Frank) and typically uses a 3-4-2-1 formation, though he may adapt given the injury crisis.
How long has Tudor typically stayed at clubs?
His longest stint was 78 games at Hajduk Split (2013-2015). He lasted one full season at Marseille (2022-23), making one year the longest he’s stayed with a club in a major European league.
What are Tottenham’s biggest problems Tudor must fix?
Spurs are 16th (5 points from relegation), on an 8-game winless run (first since 2008), decimated by injuries, generating low xG (27.4 total under Frank, 3rd-worst in PL), and covering only 108.6km/game (only 4 teams worse).
