Football writer Ben Bloom examines Tottenham Hotspur's new head coach Igor Tudor, his track record in stabilising clubs and how his tactics could shape Spurs' run-in.
Following the departure of Thomas Frank, Tottenham Hotspur have entrusted Igor Tudor with holding the managerial reins until the end of the season.
But who is the Croat, what do Spurs see in him and how might he impact the struggling north London club?
Playing career
A no-nonsense centre-back also capable of featuring in defensive midfield, Tudor spent the bulk of his playing career at Italian club Juventus, having emerged from Hajduk Split in his home country.
Although he often struggled with injuries, he formed an important part of an iconic Juventus team that included the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Edgar Davids, which won back-to-back Serie A titles in 2001/02 and 2002/03.
He also started the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League final, which Juventus lost on penalties to AC Milan.
Back row (left to right): Gianluigi Buffon, Ciro Ferrara, Lilian Thuram, Igor Tudor, Alessio Tacchinardi, Paolo Montero
Front row (left to right): Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Pavel Nedved, Edgar Davids, Alessandro Del Piero
During the first of those title-winning seasons, Tudor was named Croatian Player of the Year. He represented his country 55 times, including at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where they finished third, as well as the 2006 World Cup, and the 2004 UEFA European Championships.
Persistent ankle problems prompted his playing retirement in 2008 at the age of 30.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player, Tudor began his coaching career with Hajduk Split’s youth teams. He spent nine months as Croatia assistant coach in 2012/13, before taking up his first senior managerial role back at Hajduk Split.
The 20 months he spent at the helm remains the longest he has stayed at any one club. Since then he has taken charge of PAOK, Karabukspor, Galatasaray, Udinese, Hajduk Split (again), Hellas Verona, Marseille, Lazio, Juventus and now Spurs, during a nomadic managerial career spanning six countries.
He departed Marseille after guiding them to third place in Ligue 1 during his only season in charge.
Following that French sojourn, he spent three months at Lazio, where he lost just two of his 11 games in charge, and then lasted seven months at Juventus in a stint that straddled two seasons.
Notably, from a Spurs perspective, in both of those last two roles he achieved success when stabilising clubs in crisis as they looked to remain in qualification for Europe at the back end of the season. He also twice kept relegation-threatened Udinese in Serie A when parachuted in over consecutive seasons.
At the clubs where he has managed at least 10 matches (his first spell with Udinese in 2018 only lasted four matches), he has always won at least four of those opening 10 games, and in his last three jobs he has won six of them.
Tudor's record in first 10 matches at each club
Team W D L Hajduk Split (2013) 4 3 3 PAOK 4 4 2 Karabukspor 4 0 6 Galatasaray 4 5 1 Udinese (2019) 4 3 3 Hajduk Split (2020) 5 4 1 Verona 5 4 1 Marseille 6 2 2 Lazio 6 2 2 Juventus 6 3 1
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
Tactical style
Tudor arrives at Spurs with a defined philosophy that hinges on aggressive football, extremely high intensity and a demand for his players to run. When in charge of Marseille, he dropped the club’s most gifted player, Dimitri Payet, because the Frenchman was not known for his running work.
“In modern football, physicality cancels out quality so much,” he said when in charge of Juventus last year. “Quality is always important, of course, but without physicality, it doesn’t exist.”
Tudor also strongly prefers a 3-4-2-1 formation. He has used a back three in 120 of his 124 league matches in Europe's top five leagues.
How Spurs could line up this weekend under Tudor