Igor Tudor had a nightmare start to his spell with Tottenham Hotspur with a 4-1 defeat to fierce rivals Arsenal and Spurs are now very nervously looking over their shoulder
Igor Tudor is still refusing to think about relegation despite quickly realising his Tottenham Hotspur team is 'full of problems'. The North London side sit 16th and just four points clear of the relegation zone following Sunday’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.
That heavy loss extended Spurs’ wait for a league win to nine matches - their last coming in December against Crystal Palace. But Spurs’ interim boss is not yet considering the prospect of the club falling into the Championship.
Speaking after his side’s defeat, the Croatian said: "Difficult start against a team who is now in this moment. A different level of physical state of mind, so congratulations to them.
"They [Arsenal] were much better and they deserve this win. I got the spirit which we wanted to do things, but it was not enough. It is nice to understand where we are in this moment.
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"It showed me on Tuesday that we need to work hard and work hard and seriously. Now in this moment, the team is full of problems. The only key is to work on the training day by day and be humble. We need to be more aggressive - we need to be more compact. These are the keys.
"You understand the gap with the mental sharpness of one team and other teams. This is a thing we need to change. I saw players available to do this, but we need more time to do this. Thinking about relegation doesn't bring you anything to anybody."
Despite Tudor not considering the threat of relegation yet, there are plenty of pundits that are. Asked if Spurs were in a fight to avoid the drop, former Tottenham star Jermain Defoe said: “Of course [they are in a relegation fight]. The games are running out and that’s the reality.
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“No, I don’t think they’ll go down,” he replied when asked if Spurs could end up in the Championship. “They play against Fulham and Crystal Palace, they’re capable of winning those two games.
“Hopefully they’ll get the injured players back. I’ve said before about the injuries… the list is unbelievable and it was the same last season.
“So many key players are missing but there’s some long-term ones as well. That’s the worry but I don’t think they’ll go down.”
Meanwhile, fellow former Spurs star Jamie Redknapp has real concerns that relegation could indeed be the result for the North London side. He said: “They [Arsenal] were so much better than Tottenham, it was like two different leagues.
“If Tottenham aren't careful, they might be in a different league. They cannot keep performing like this. They've not had a win in 2026.”