Igor Tudor will look to pile on the misery at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon, but Mikel Arteta has done his homework
Igor Tudor has a history of making an immediate impact at new clubs, and, while this puts Tottenham Hotspur in good standing ahead of the North London Derby, he appears to have shown Mikel Arteta his cards.
The interim Lilywhites head coach has won the first match in charge in each of his last five spells in the dugout, starting with his second stint at Hajduk Split in February 2020. Tudor got off to the perfect start with the Croatian outfit, putting three past NK Varazdin in their own backyard.
About 18 months or so later, after a spell as assistant to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, the 47-year-old extended his streak with a 3-2 victory against Roma. Then, in August 2022, Tudor took the reins at Marseille, and he led the French giants to a 4-1 win over Stade Reims in his first game.
After a season in the dugout at the Orange Vélodrome and a nine-month break, the interim Spurs boss returned to management, this time at Lazio. Tudor only had three months at the helm, but he made a good first impression with a 1-0 victory against the Old Lady.
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Nearly a year to the day later, in March 2025, he returned to Juventus as head coach and led them to a 1-0 win over Genoa on his debut. Interestingly, nine of the 12 goals that Tudor's sides scored during his first game in charge came in the second half, with four of them coming in the final quarter of an hour.
Speaking to reporters at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon, the interim Tottenham boss was asked how he managed to have such an immediate impact. Keeping his cards close to his chest, Tudor said: " I do my job. Nothing special.
"I do the things that I believe are important. Nothing more, nothing less. Each coach has his own style to achieve the results. I have my style, which I believe is the best.
"It’s never the same because there are always different characteristics, different clubs and different cultures, not even of the league but the club. Some clubs like this kind of football, some like this.
"You need to resolve the problems. Everywhere there are problems; if you go to the best clubs in the world, you believe there are not problems there, but there are problems there, like in the third division.
"It’s all about how you resolve the problems in a very quick time. It’s not easy but it’s okay."
History suggests that Tudor will plan to keep Tottenham in the North London Derby until midway through the second half before taking the handbrake off and throwing the kitchen sink at Arsenal. Arteta has already done his homework, though.
"We have analysed everything that he's done in his career," the Gunners boss said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon. "In different clubs, different formations, the players that they have available.
"From there, of course, we will have the capacity to adapt in relation to what the game requires. But the main focus is also on what we have to do to win."