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Roberto De Zerbi has agreed to become Tottenham Hotspur’s new head coach after a breakthrough in talks.

The former Brighton head coach will sign a five-year deal to replace Igor Tudor, who left on Sunday after just 44 turbulent days in charge.

De Zerbi’s appointment has already proven a controversial choice among supporters, with fan groups including Women of the Lane endorsing a “No to De Zerbi” campaign due to his public support of Mason Greenwood during their time together at Marseille.

Greenwood was charged with rape, assault and coercive control in October 2022 while a Manchester United player but the charges were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

De Zerbi called him a “good guy” who had paid a “heavy price” and said he planned to treat him like one of his “sons”.

Spurs have nevertheless opted to make the Italian one of the highest-paid managers in English football. His first game sees Tottenham travel to Sunderland on 12 April as they bid to win a first league match of the calendar year. They sit 17th in the table, one point above the relegation zone.

As the odds plummet on the club’s first relegation since 1977, De Zerbi will then face his old employers Brighton in his first home match.

While he was initially reluctant to take the job for the final seven fixtures of the season, preferring to wait until the summer, Tottenham’s board were adamant they did not want another interim option following Tudor’s chaotic reign, which did not produce a single league win.

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Sean Dyche was also considered as a survival specialist but De Zerbi is closer to the vision Spurs have for the future, provided they stay up. However, he also has a reputation within the game for volatility and on average, stays in managerial jobs for less than 18 months.

That mirrors Tottenham’s own recent instability. De Zerbi will become their fourth manager in 10 months, with Ange Postecoglou sacked last June, weeks after winning the Europa League. His successor Thomas Frank was then axed in February amid a dire run of results and a fan revolt over his style of play.

De Zerbi is renowned for his progressive entertaining football, but his first priority will be to ensure Spurs are playing it in the top flight next season.

Brian Clough was typically acerbic on the subject of off-field decision-makers in football clubs and a chain of command that allows most to avoid scrutiny: “If a chairman sacks a manager then he should go too”.

Clough was from an age without middle managers. You had one bloke (and it was always a bloke) managing the budget and another – with their assistant – managing the team. The manager would tell the chairman who he wanted to buy and, in the case of Clough, it was probably best to listen. Then the manager was the club’s personality and the mouthpiece; few more spectacularly than Clough.

The layers of middle management and delegated responsibilities have increased to match football clubs’ growing size, capitalism and complexity: sporting director, technical director, director of football, head of football, chief executive etc. But the mouthpiece has not. All those above typically stay out of sight and certainly out of earshot. Managers do their pre and post-match duties, questioned about issues beyond their remit. That is the same; everything else has changed.

These people are not untouchable; that is not the argument. At most clubs they become appropriate, eventual fall guys for failure, lack of cohesive relationships or change in structure. Edu Gaspar may well lose his job at Nottingham Forest soon. Newcastle United have cycled through a few sporting directors. Sebastian Kehl left Borussia Dortmund this month; James Ellis left Arsenal last month.

At Tottenham Hotspur, Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham are in the firing line from supporters and their club is the most spectacular example of chronic leadership failings in the Premier League. Maybe the Spurs duo will fall upon their sword soon (and could have few complaints). They have at least taken the pressure off Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart at Chelsea, two architects of the great West London wastage.

But we are talking about a culture shift. These people are the kingmakers within football clubs. They guide its direction and have the closest relationship with the owners.

They make the hiring and firing calls and have strong sway in recruitment. They are the reason for nudging against financial limits. They are the reason that we are forever paying more for tickets because everybody must help out to generate revenue, apparently, and yet it always seems like supporters have to do the most.

And yet the only time we infrequently hear from them is through pre-planned – and often deeply predictable – words on the official website or manicured interviews. Even then, it is usually when things have gone south quickly and the masses must be pandered to, thus making it a face-saving protocol and entirely counterproductive because those masses are already angry. Go get the club statement.

Football supporters are not stupid. They care enough to learn about the issues facing their clubs and they care enough to seek explanations and answers. They have been told in welcoming statements the responsibilities that these people hold and they are sick of that being roughly the end of their meaningful interaction.

We are not asking for trade secrets here, nor a view deep within the mainframe and the inner sanctum. Nobody is expecting a sporting director to field questions on specific transfer targets and this need not be a witch hunt. We are not asking to wheel out the sporting director or chief executive after every match.

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But supporters do have a right to detail about the processes, logic and relationships within the club, because they pay plenty enough money for them and because the club repeatedly insists, with little evidence to support it, that those fans are not merely customers. And if some of the processes or relationships are in a state that makes those questions unpleasant, they are not working anyway. Accountability thrives where communication meets transparency.

The one way you lose patience most quickly is when the people you are aiming to please or serve are met with a faceless response because it makes it seem like you do not care what they think. Even worse is forcing a rotating cast of managers – that change at least once a year – to field questions on matters that they are subjugated to and will ultimately play a role in their own downfall.

How can Igor Tudor, in the Spurs job 30-odd days at the time, be questioned about the vague culture of the club and the mood behind the scenes? It is the people who appointed him, his predecessor, signed the players and handed out the contracts who should front up. Anything else is cowardice, anti-leadership.

More than anything, it is just dim PR. You create a vacuum into which frustration is only ever going to rush. In the absence of other information, supporters will hypothesise and castigate those who they believe are most responsible and least visible. If those hypotheses are incorrect, it damages relations. If they are correct, only accountability can force change.

Football clubs are too complex, and there is now too much money at stake, to hide behind a wall of silence. Otherwise the risk is too great: a “Trust us, bro” culture while everybody can increasingly see how obvious it is that we should not.

Igor Tudor will go down as one of the most catastrophic managerial appointments of all time.

And yet in the rogues’ gallery of Tottenham Hotspur’s wretched season, the part the Croatian played was ultimately minimal – 43 days, seven games, one Champions League exit, 20 goals conceded and a microdose of false hope.

Tudor will be remembered then as an odd stooge in the melodrama but never the real villain. He was a symptom rather than the cause of Spurs’ staggering incompetence, which now has the chance to manifest itself again.

Why should anybody believe that the current board are capable of choosing a third head coach of the season? The majority-owning Lewis family will once more put their trust in chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange to make a decision, less than six weeks after getting the last one so horrifically wrong.

The names up for consideration say much about the coherence with which the board are operating. There is Adi Hutter, who like Tudor has no experience of the Premier League. There is Roberto De Zerbi, who would be a divisive choice; some fan groups are organising a “No to De Zerbi” campaign, roused by his support for Mason Greenwood at Marseille. And there is Sean Dyche, polar opposite to De Zerbi stylistically but with a decent record of keeping teams up.

None of this suggests a lucidity of mind which ought to inspire any confidence. The second problem for Spurs’ next boss is that the inheritance has not materially changed. If anything, it has got worse – the injuries, the poor recruitment, the playing squad bereft of confidence.

Tudor tried to find various ways to stop the rot but none of them worked. His three at the back was unshakeable and the only players who came out of his five league games in charge with any real credit were Archie Gray and Kevin Danso.

The line-ups for the defeats to Arsenal, Fulham and Nottingham Forest he got hopelessly wrong, moving Conor Gallagher to the right, Joao Palhinha to centre-back and Pedro Porro onto the wing. Nevertheless it showed some innovation and an acknowledgement that standing still was getting Tottenham nowhere.

The only positive results came in the draw with an abject Liverpool side and in the home win over Atletico Madrid, when the tie was already dead. Players were left bewildered by his handling of Antonin Kinsky in the Champions League last-16 first leg, substituting the young goalkeeper after 15 howler-strewn minutes.

It was never entirely clear why Spurs believed Tudor was the right man in the first place. The move had all the hallmarks of one last Fabio Paratici powerplay before his departure to Fiorentina, given Tudor’s own history at Paratici’s old home of Juventus. It is a mystery why Tottenham should be governed by the whims of people who no longer work for them – but it is indicative of a board who now operate with too many cooks.

Whatever the downsides of Daniel Levy’s reign, the club was essentially run on a one-man, one-vote system – he called the shots. The malaise started on his watch and still his successors have pioneered new ways to fail and embarrass the club.

Without Levy, nobody could decide whether to keep Thomas Frank or not, or what the plan should be when he was eventually sacked. Tudor’s new manager bounce was subsequently wasted on a catastrophic 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.

The new incoming coach will have 10 days left of the international break to work with the players, Tudor having rightly been given a few days’ space as he mourned the death of his father.

His was the fourth shortest managerial reign in Premier League history but it is no coincidence that one of the few to surpass that record was another Spurs interim coach in Cristian Stellini. Throughout Enic’s quarter of a century at the helm, there has been a common theme of bungling and panicking which has led them to the brink of relegation.

If Spurs get this next one wrong, they are down. There will be nowhere to hide for Venkatesham and Lange if that happens.

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked interim head coach Igor Tudor with the club just one point above the Premier League relegation zone.

Tottenham have taken drastic action with seven league games to go after picking up one point from five league games under the Croatian’s watch.

Tudor was only appointed on 14 February after Spurs dismissed Thomas Frank, and his short 43-day reign – which also included a Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid – ends a week after they lost to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home.

West Ham are currently 18th one point below Tottenham, who were last relegated from the top tier in 1977.

A statement said: “We can confirm that it has been mutually agreed for head coach Igor Tudor to leave the club with immediate effect.

“Tomislav Rogic and Riccardo Ragnacci have also left their respective roles of goalkeeping coach and physical Coach.

“We thank Igor, Tomislav and Riccardo for their efforts during the past six weeks, in which they worked tirelessly.

“We also acknowledge the bereavement that Igor has recently suffered and send our support to him and his family at this difficult time.

“An update on a new head coach will be provided in due course.”

To-do list

Spurs do not play again until 12 April when they travel to Sunderland.

Here, The i Paper looks at the to-do list of the next head coach in place in N17.

Raise morale

Confidence was already an issue when Tudor arrived after a poor run of form, but belief will presumably be at an all-time low after a recent club-record six-match losing streak and a winless run in the Premier League which now stands at 13 fixtures.

The sight of Tottenham players collapsing to the floor at full-time has been all too frequent in recent months and Tudor’s harsh appraisal that they lacked in attack, midfield and defence at the start of March will not have helped matters.

Spurs will only get out of their precarious situation with renewed belief, and an arm-around-the-shoulder of certain key players could help boost morale.

No more square pegs in round holes

A particular issue during Tudor’s reign was his tendency to put players out of position in an effort to stick to his favoured three-at-the-back formation.

Joao Palhinha and Pedro Porro were both used as centre-backs, while Conor Gallagher, Xavi Simons and Lucas Bergvall have all had stints as wide midfielders when they are better suited centrally.

Poor Archie Gray played as a right wing-back and left-back before he finally got the chance in central midfield where he has unsurprisingly flourished. Even Dominic Solanke was deployed as an attacking midfielder. For the next seven games, Spurs’ players need simplicity and to play in their correct positions.

Win at home

Most teams which survive a relegation battle can rely on picking points up at home and turning their ground into a fortress, but Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been the opposite.

Spurs have won only two home league games all season and managed only two in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign too. Even though European nights have produced memorable occasions, domestically they are without a win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since 6 December.

There are a multitude of reasons why Tottenham have struggled at home, but one area where a quick win would be possible is to instruct the team to start on the front-foot and not be passive. On too many occasions under Thomas Frank and Tudor, the hosts have sat off opponents and struggled to claw back momentum.

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Achieve safety

Two wins may be enough or even a tally of eight points, but if that sounds simple, it is not for a team hopelessly out of form.

Tottenham have won only two of their last 22 league fixtures and taken a grand total of one point from their last seven games. If they are to stay up and avoid a seismic relegation, that tally must improve significantly.

With big-money forwards in Richarlison and Solanke along with talented young players like Gray, Xavi and Lucas Bergvall plus Europa League-winning centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, Spurs should have the required quality to avoid the bottom three, but they need to remember how to win in the Premier League and fast.

Additional reporting by Press Association

Dejan Kulusevski last played for Tottenham Hotspur on 11 May, 2025. In the 10 months since Spurs have won the Europa League, finished 17th, mired themselves in a relegation battle and appointed two new managers, neither of whom he has featured under yet.

Nobody in the medical team expected him to be sidelined for so long. Ange Postecoglou initially described it as a “knock” over which the club were “not too concerned”.

Kulusevski had further keyhole surgery earlier in March, in his words to “take out what was not supposed to be there – knee is great now”.

There are different ways a player can damage the patella, or kneecap, from cartilage injuries to the extensor mechanism. Whether it is cartilage or the extension mechanism will dictate the prognosis of how long he will be unable to play for.

There is still no date being put on his return after he was seen limping while visiting the Sweden squad as they prepare for a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine which is taking place in Spain. Updates have been minimal as he has travelled between England and Barcelona, where he has been undergoing rehab.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of his absence. At his peak in the 2024-25 season, Spurs were putting more successful crosses into the opposition box than any other side in the top flight. Only Pedro Porro played more minutes (2,608) than Kulusevski (2,391) and without the forward, Spurs’ xG (expected goals) is down from 59.7 a season to 32.5.

Kulusevski’s injury – the full timeline

August 2025 – It is expected he will not return until the New Year

October 2025 – There is some optimism he is edging closer to playing on grass again

December 2025 – Kulusevski is given injections to manage the pain

March 2026 – Igor Tudor says there is no update

Goals per game is down from 1.7 to 1.3, with Kulusevski having created around 14 per cent of their big chances.

The reasons for Tottenham’s collapse in form are complex and can’t be attributed to any one injury, not least because they have had so many – interim boss Igor Tudor was recently without 13 senior players.

Kulusevski’s absence has been compounded by James Maddison’s ACL tear which has ruled him out of the entire campaign so far; in attack they are currently without Wilson Odobert and Mohammed Kudus too, with Dominic Solanke and Richarlison having also missed long spells.

Kulusevski, 25, had previously had very few serious fitness concerns, prior to his stress fracture and a thigh problem in 2022-23 that ruled him out for 10 games.

He went on to play some of his best football under Postecoglou in a more central role, but has never played alongside summer additions Kudus and Xavi Simons. None of the current attack have matched his 19 goal contributions for last term in all competitions.

A comeback this season has not been ruled out – in time for the remaining seven games which will dictate Spurs’ Premier League survival.

Roberto De Zerbi is ready to “get his hands dirty” and take on the Tottenham Hotspur job, as club chiefs consider moving to appoint him immediately in an attempt to re-energise their relegation fight.

Tottenham are giving serious thought to replacing interim boss Igor Tudor, who has lost four of his five Premier League games in charge. His attempt at short, sharp shock therapy has failed and De Zerbi’s willingness to take on the role now gives Spurs a serious decision to make.

The Italian has been out of work since leaving Marseille earlier this year but is keen to return to English football. He was on Manchester United’s shortlist but it is believed interest from Old Trafford has cooled and the De Zerbi camp are under the impression that he is no longer a candidate.

De Zerbi would relish the opportunity at Spurs. Others are understandably cautious about moving to the club. The i Paper was told by one prominent figure in football, who has been in touch with Tottenham over another role, that there is confusion about their vision and the skewed powerlines on the board.

Yet De Zerbi is not intimidated by the size of the task of keeping Spurs in the Premier League and reports he had wanted a break until the end of the season were wide of the mark. He is refreshed and ready to get stuck into his next job.

Mauricio Pochettino and Andoni Iraola are alternative candidates but neither would be available until the summer at the earliest. Bournemouth are attempting to convince Iraola that they can match his ambition and, as The i Paper revealed earlier this month, are set to reopen talks with him over a possible new deal.

The i Paper understands that Tudor would be due sizeable compensation if he were relieved of his duties before his initial short-term contract, which could have been a factor in holding off a big decision after he oversaw a much-improved performance and result at Liverpool.

Tudor is mourning the death of his father Mario and Spurs will be mindful of giving him time and space this week. But it appears as if discussions have been held behind the scenes and things could move quickly.

There has been some feeling that Tudor could move on by mutual consent given the personal circumstances he was in after the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The Croatian was always a left-field choice but some at Tottenham have been impressed with his work in making the players fitter and have acknowledged the mammoth injury list he has had to contend with. The i Paper was told players were focused on getting their heads down though there had been some tension over Tudor’s handling of Antonin Kinsky following his mistakes against Atletico Madrid.

There is still alarm at results, however, with the second leg win over Atletico – once the tie was effectively over – a fillip in mood that proved a false dawn.

Spurs do have players returning to fitness in April, though Mathys Tel is the latest to suffer a setback and Guglielmo Vicario has just undergone surgery on a hernia.

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A number of former players and managers have thrown their hat into the ring, including Harry Redknapp and Tim Sherwood, but if Tudor does depart the focus is on a more current candidate. Adi Hutter, who last worked with Monaco in 2025 but who like Tudor does not have Premier League experience, has also been linked.

Given his reputation for calmness under pressure, Chris Hughton has been mentioned in some quarters as a possible interim solution for Spurs. But he has distanced himself from the prospect.

“I’m keeping out of all conversations around the Tottenham job,” he told The i Paper.

“The only conversation I’ll have is it is disappointing where they are because they’re a big club. It’s the nature of this division though, they’re in real trouble. Because of my Tottenham roots I’m hoping they can get the results that kick them into gear, as such.”

Hughton’s last managerial role in England was at Nottingham Forest in 2021 and he admits the game has changed.

“There’s been a lot changes – more in the last three years for the 10-15 years before that,” he said. “For me to get back in it would have to be the right one. It’s become a game for young managers.”

As much as the Spurs hierarchy were mindful that axing Tudor would not be a good look a little over a month after they appointed him, the threat of relegation and its financial implications is getting more serious by the week.

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An “as you were” weekend in the title race, for what feels like the first time in ages. Manchester City and Arsenal both had tricky assignments that they ultimately dealt with relatively comfortably. After the Molineux mess, Arsenal supporters will certainly feel happiest having brushed aside a wretched Tottenham Hotspur.

The last fumes of Aston Villa’s title race have gone, if they ever really existed, while Leeds, Palace and Brighton all eased any lingering concerns of being dragged into trouble. Forest losing in the last minute to Liverpool means that there are now four points separating them, West Ham and Tottenham. Is it one from three now?

Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

Aston Villa 1-1 Leeds

Brentford 0-2 Brighton

Chelsea 1-1 Burnley

West Ham 0-0 Bournemouth

Man City 2-1 Newcastle

Crystal Palace 1-0 Wolves

Nott’m Forest 0-1 Liverpool

Sunderland 1-3 Fulham

Tottenham 1-4 Arsenal

Wolves endure the worst away day of all

We have all experienced terrible away days and we keep going knowing that more will always follow. God only knows Wolves fans understand more than most after this dire season.

But there was something particularly cruel about a defeat at Selhurst Park that breaks any sense of momentum and confirms what we already knew: Wolves are down and Rob Edwards’ positive impact has been mitigated by his side’s continued tendency to trip themselves up and fall onto their faces.

There was the imperfect hat-trick: the penalty miss that kills your spirit because you thought you were going to see your team take the lead; the needless, brainless sending off that makes a hard job more difficult; the last-second goal that makes the long journey home ten times worse. They deserve better than this.

Burnley’s lingering question

Welcome back to Burnley’s Premier League season, which has been impossible to get a handle on. Whenever you consider it an act of carelessness to leave Scott Parker in charge, he finds a result or two. Whenever you think Parker is justifying his position, something mad happens.

Burnley have now drawn two of their six away games against Big Six clubs, an acceptable return for most promoted clubs. Between those matches they have lost at home to West Ham and shambolically gone 2-0 down at Palace. They then scored three times in six minutes to win away for the first time since October, promptly lost at home to League One Mansfield Town and then rescued a point at Stamford Bridge.

Parker’s point about continued fight, given Burnley’s last two away games, appears perfectly reasonable. His team sat deeper than deep, tried to stay in the game and hoped their opponents would make a foolish mistake; they did exactly that. It all leaves one lingering question: what might have happened if the best defence in the Championship had kept hold of James Trafford and CJ Egan-Riley?

West Ham’s margin for error is narrowing

On Saturday, West Ham recorded an xG of 2.87 and failed to score. It was the highest figure by a scoreless team in a Premier League match since 2022 and the fifth highest since those statistics became available.

That is annoying, but it happens. West Ham had their best chances early on, Djordje Petrovic had an excellent game, a touch too many of the shots were speculative rather than crafted and being the better team throughout didn’t end in victory. Put it down to bad luck.

The point is this: failing to beat Bournemouth at home despite being on top, and extending their run to one defeat in eight games, is not the reason that West Ham are in trouble. Their margins have been reduced because they first appointed Julen Lopetegui, then Graham Potter and stuck with him too long so that the summer transfer business became a mess. It is the lack of effective leadership that may cost West Ham, not Nuno Espirito Santo.

Nottingham Forest’s new problem

Forest have started well under Vitor Pereira. They outplayed Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday and were the better team against Liverpool in the first half on Sunday. Their fatigue in the game’s final 20 minutes was punished by a desperately cruel ending that makes relegation look more likely. Performances definitely matter under a new manager, but in their situation the results are king.

Forest’s new problem? A complete failure to take their chances and score when on top. Over their last two-and-a-bit Premier League matches, Forest have taken 55 shots and failed to score a single one. Do that and you create far greater potential for those cruel moments.

Next weekend’s trip to Brighton is now monumental, coming as it does before Manchester City away. Win there after a full week on the training ground and there is room for optimism. Lose and Pereira is already fighting fires.

Worrying signs for Tottenham

This will not be the fixture that determines whether Igor Tudor is a success or failure at Tottenham, but I think there were some very concerning signs (admittedly against the best team in the league).

The back formation did not work at all. They played a back three but Viktor Gyokeres had about 25 minutes to take a touch and score his first goal. The wing-backs did not work at all because Djed Spence got pinned back by Bukayo Saka and Archie Gray isn’t one. Spurs started with four central midfielders and yet there was loads of space in midfield.

Spurs did score, but that was only from a mistake. Most of the time their attacks were one playing dribbling forward without any support and eventually getting crowded out, or a wing-back or central midfielder begging for a passing option. That is worrying…

Late goals continue to cap Leeds’ ceiling

Without doubt another step towards safety, given the difficulty of the fixture and the inability of West Ham to narrow the gap. Daniel Farke’s shift in style and personnel continues to pay dividends and I can see no obvious way that Leeds get dragged into trouble in this form.

That said, the continued issue of conceding late goals is not allowing Leeds to pull themselves fully clear of trouble. After Saturday, they have now allowed their opponents to score 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches. That’s more than every other team in the division.

There are supporters who label this as a Farke problem, the result of defensive substitutions and a tendency to sit back on what they have. That may well carry some weight, but I actually think it is merely an inevitable symptom of this new style.

Leeds expend so much energy in pressing and physically imposing themselves in central midfield that they simply look knackered late on. It is a wholly acceptable balance as long as they keep picking up unexpected points.

A significant milestone for Brighton’s loyal servant

Firstly, Brighton and Fabian Hurzeler badly needed this. I wrote last week about the club’s desperate form and the danger of drift, but Saturday released the shackles. Despite the evident personal significance of the match to one player, James Milner was at pains to point out that he has always prioritised the team over the individual.

But this was Milner’s day. Given the rise in physical intensity and the continued ability of the Premier League to attract elite young talent, to be still a part of a first-team environment and contributing as an outfielder at the age of 40 is an astonishing achievement.

Milner has not been a regular starter for some years – he last started 20 league games in 2016-17. This creep towards the record owes as much to his faintly ludicrous experience before turning 21 as the longevity aided by a smaller workload. But he is an impeccable professional, a lovely bloke and a phenomenal servant to the division. Milner is uncomfortable in the limelight for sure; he more than deserves it.

Crystal Palace’s civil war is getting worse

A win is a win, however it happens. Crystal Palace are almost certainly now safe from relegation. They were fortunate that Wolves squandered a penalty and fortunate too that they arrived at a point of outright mutiny with the worst team in the division at Selhurst Park.

But confirming their safety only strengthens the argument to get rid of a manager who doesn’t want to be there and is leaving in May anyway. Were Oliver Glasner playing his part as he should, running the show and keeping supporters onside, fine. But he has incited a civil war with his comments.

Having already tried to make peace once after a public tantrum, Glasner should not be allowed to deteriorate relationships further. Palace are a club where each of the stakeholders seem to be ill at ease with each other. If that continues until May, the summer only gets harder.

Sunderland’s wheels are coming off a little

This is absolutely the first time that we have said this all season, but Sunderland look a little shaky. They have lost four of their last five league games and the end to their unbeaten home run has been backed up with their worst performance at the Stadium of Light this season.

I don’t know if it is fatigue or Sunderland’s opponents working them out and not taking them lightly – they have not done the double over anyone yet. But there is something aimless about Sunderland all of a sudden.

They play slow passes that end not with knitted moves through midfield but direct balls down the channels that wingers are struggling to do anything with. Brian Brobbey had two touches of the ball in the penalty area and zero shots.

Newcastle have another goalkeeper issue

Nick Pope has this weird characteristic where, when not at his best, he makes shots look better than they are. I am not sure whether there is something in his footwork that disallows him into full-stretch dives or a tendency for shots to slip past him even when he gets a touch (see Nico O’Reilly’s first goal for details), but it is very much not ideal.

Here is the other thing: another Premier League goalkeeper who I think can sometimes share this characteristic is Aaron Ramsdale, Newcastle’s No 2 who was signed on loan last summer and wholly failed to take Pope’s place.

Newcastle have another goalkeeping problem this summer. I don’t think Pope is good enough for their ultimate goal. Ramsdale’s loan will surely not be made permanent. Odysseas Vlachodimos has had a fine season at Sevilla, but the circumstances of that signing suggest he will not become No 1. Do you go back in for James Trafford and hope that this season has not set him back?

Fulham’s penalty king

I am not a Premier League data analyst and I would make a terrible one I am sure, but there is a little secret that I have picked up along the way: do not give away penalties against Fulham.

On Sunday, Raul Jimenez took his 13th penalty in the Premier League and scored his 13th penalty in the Premier League. Only two players in the history of the division have taken nine or more and scored them all – Dimitar Berbatov with nine and Yaya Toure with 11.

Why is Jimenez so effective? There is the set routine, the two steps to the side and the slight stutter in the runup, although not enough to make him stop near the ball. He has hit seven penalties to one side of the goalkeeper and six to the other, so you cannot really predict where he will go next; he is also prepared to go high and low. Good luck to all goalkeepers; maybe have a word with Mark Crossley.

Everton

Play Manchester United on Monday night.

Petrovic proves his worth to Bournemouth

It is not Djordje Petrovic’s fault that he was signed for £25m, but it is certainly true that he has struggled a little at Bournemouth this season. Petrovic has underperformed his shot numbers and, in December, Andoni Iraola admitted that he was still waiting for a standout performance from his goalkeeper. That came at West Ham on Saturday.

At which point, it is probably worth pointing out how difficult it is for a new keeper when there is so much change in front of them. Join a club with a settled defence and that continuity makes it far easier to focus on your individual tasks with communication and positioning largely taking care of itself.

Bournemouth lost two central defenders and a left-back last summer. That made Petrovic’s job doubly hard and we should probably have cut him a little more slack earlier this season.

An odd pattern is emerging at Brentford

An annoying rather than angering home performance. Brentford started brightly against Brighton, but as soon as their visitors scored they managed the game effectively. In the second half, Brentford had more of the ball, territory and shots but couldn’t make the breakthrough and were mostly limited to half chances.

The reason to mention all that? It is becoming a pattern. Six of Brentford’s last seven league defeats have been 2-0 (the exception was 2-1, when Igor Thiago scored a penalty). In four of those 2-0 defeats, Brentford have recorded 65, 54, 66 and 52 per cent of the ball, all significantly higher than their season average of 46.6 per cent.

In the last three 2-0s, Brentford have had 38 shots without scoring and conceded in the first 30 minutes before slightly labouring to create clear chances despite having lots of the ball. Shifting this type of match will be the puzzle for Keith Andrews to work on over the summer.

Ngumoha deserves more of a chance at Liverpool

When Mohamed Salah saw his number displayed to bring him off the pitch with Liverpool needing a goal, he gave a laugh as to suggest either disbelief at the decision or frustration at his own performance. Let’s be generous and call it the latter, because the former makes no sense at all.

In 20 minutes on the pitch, Rio Ngumoha did more than Salah and Cody Gakpo did in their 154 combined minutes. He dribbles directly, crossed excellently and essentially changed the game in Liverpool’s favour. Yes he was running against tired defenders who played in Turkey on Thursday evening, but it was still a stark contrast.

If Arne Slot wants to keep his job beyond this summer, he should make this forward line a meritocracy. Right now that means leaving Salah (soon surely to be the past) on the bench in favour of Ngumoha, who may well be the future.

Man Utd

Play Everton on Monday night.

Chelsea’s same old problems return

The two standout issues of Chelsea’s season: 1) They have had eight players sent off in all competitions, the most of any Premier League club in a season for a decade; 2) they have dropped 17 points from winning positions at Stamford Bridge in the league this season.

Both combined against Burnley, Chelsea coasting before Wesley Fofana’s silly challenge gave the opposition hope and then Liam Rosenior’s late changes – most notably bringing off captain Reece James off for a teenager with two minutes of normal time left – invited pressure that they could not fend off.

Rosenior was visibly angry at full-time: he said his side had “set fire” to four points in recent home games against Burnley and Leeds. But this is a problem that neither of Chelsea’s managers has got to grips with this season. There is still a chance that it costs them a Champions League place.

Aston Villa are now out of this title race

Aston Villa were probably never going to win the title anyway, but those faint hopes have evaporated at Villa Park over the last month. Villa have won only one of their past four Premier League home games, each of them containing reasons to be frustrated having built up such strong momentum previously.

There is a pattern to this performance too: sluggish, lethargic first halves. Their last four half-time scores in the league at home are a messy binary message: 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1. The last time that Villa scored in the first 30 minutes of a league game at home was 9 November.

The lack of intensity, as if Villa are waiting to see how a match unfolds, is in complete contrast to the manner in which Unai Emery’s side seized the initiative in the first half of matches for several matches before that and have continued to do away from home. They are now the 13th best team in the Premier League over the first half of their matches; you struggle to maintain a title challenge with that imbalance.

Man City’s World Cup certainty

Left-back is England’s most obvious problem position. In their World Cup qualifiers and 2025 friendlies, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, Reece James and Nico O’Reilly all started in that position.

O’Reilly is the most in-form and most regular in that position of all the options. Lewis Hall and Luke Shaw come into the mix, but neither have the positional flexibility of O’Reilly and international managers usually crave that.

The bigger question, after O’Reilly’s excellence against Newcastle, is where O’Reilly plays. Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford are both liked by Thomas Tuchel on the left, but O’Reilly offers something different as he provides cover and thus could effectively cover an entire flank and allow the advanced central midfielder to stay high up the pitch. Get him on the plane.

Gyokeres’ coming of age for Arsenal

I would struggle to believe that Viktor Gyokeres will ever play against three central defenders who give him more space on the edge of the box or allow him to run the channels with such abandon, but this might be the day that he finally made his mark on Arsenal’s team.

Gyokeres’ first goal was reminiscent of his Sporting Lisbon goals, finding space and hitting a powerful shot almost without thinking. But the link-up play was there too. The first goal was his first from open play in the Premier League that changed draw into lead or deficit into draw. That is why he was signed.

Credit to Mikel Arteta, for there were calls to start Gabriel Jesus in the derby. Instead, Gyokeres now has eight goals in his last 12 games and Arsenal have their lead again.

“Oh Tottenham, can’t you go five seconds without humiliating yourself?” To say it has been a season for Tottenham Hotspur would be an understatement and then some.

Like Abe Simpson’s slacks dropping to reveal a fetching pair of pants, Tottenham have, despairingly, become accustomed to having theirs pulled down. John the Pragmatist – more commonly referred to as Thomas Frank – set the lowest of bars from the outset. “One thing is for sure, we will 100 per cent lose football matches,” Frank enthused at his unveiling. Way to hype up the Europa League champions, Thomas. To Meh is To Do.

Unsurprisingly, the Dane didn’t see out the season, this despite the best efforts of the Gruesome Twosome, Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange. Two wins from the 17 league matches, five points above the relegation zone, and early exits in the Carabao and FA Cup; supporters are more shocked than anything that the reign of terror lasted this long.

Ultimately a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle was the straw that broke the camel’s back. An injury-hit Spurs side losing in front of a half-empty stadium on a wet and windy Tuesday night. The football gods had this season’s metaphor spot on.

And so, Spurs have turned their attention to Igor Tudor. The Croatian returns to management following his Juventus exit in October with the sole aim of keeping Spurs in the Premier League. Forget the Champions League, survival is the priority. Tudor is To Do. To Dare is Tudor. Take your pick.

But just who is the 47-year-old, and how can we expect Spurs to look under Tudor?

A master firefighter

Well, first things first, Tudor is one of the game’s best interim coaches. He has signed a five-month deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a bid to clean up this mess.

Think Troy in Community walking into a burning room. That will be Tudor on day one at Hotspur Way, because, to be frank – pun intended – Spurs are a state.

These situations are where Tudor thrives, however. He walked into Juventus in March 2025 with nine games to play as Thiago Motta failed to tame the Old Lady.

The Italian giants won five, drew three and finished in the Champions League spots. He signed a two-year deal in Turin as a result, though that ended after a matter of months.

Rewind 12 months, and it was similar with Lazio. Again, Tudor won five and drew three of nine games before riding off into the Rome sunset.

The former defender twice kept Udinese up, so he is as well versed in European qualification as he is consolidation. He is a master firefighter, albeit one now armed with a water pistol running head first into a raging inferno.

‘Threegor’

In terms of setup, expect the three-man backline to take up temporary residence in the capital. Frank experimented with the system, and it worked well in Spurs’ 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt last month, before reverting to a four-man defence for the second half of the eventual 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

Tudor, though, is wedded to a three-at-the-back system, so much so he should be renamed “Threegor”.

This does suit the players at his disposal. Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro – two attack-minded defenders with ample experience at wing-back – will thrive… when fit, of course.

Pape Matar Sarr, Joao Palhinha and Archie Gary, Spurs’ three available central midfielders at present, provide energy and tenacity in the middle of the park.

That said one of the latter two are likely to deputise in defence, at least until captain Cristian Romero has served out his four-match ban.

Kolo Muani

Further forward, and in all likelihood Xavi Simons and Conor Gallagher will operate in the No 10 roles, and potentially in support of Randal Kolo Muani in a 3-4-2-1 setup. The latter in particular may enjoy a new lease of life with Tudor at the helm.

This season, Kolo Muani has proven anything but too hot to handle. Some wanted him sent back to Paris Saint-Germain in the January transfer window.

Yet the on-loan forward excelled under Tudor during their respective time together at Juventus, scoring five times and providing one assist in 11 competitive appearances.

Aggressive pressing

Off the ball, Tudor sides are aggressive. They press, and they press hard.

“If you don’t run, you don’t play,” Tudor once said during his time at Marseille. Dimitri Payet didn’t run, so Payet didn’t play.

This is not alien to Tottenham. They rank second for ball recoveries (1322) in England’s top tier this term, even if they reportedly endured lax training sessions under Frank.

The issue has not necessarily been winning the ball back, but rather what Spurs do when in possession. They have been too pedestrian this season, evident in that they rank 12th for forward passes (3,632), 13th for big chances created (35), 18th for shots following a counter-attack (13) and dead last for through balls (15) in the Premier League this season.

All four metrics should increase under Tudor, who relies heavily on quick transitions. Expect a more forward-thinking, vertical-passing Spurs team with Tudor at the helm.

On paper, he is arguably the best interim coach the club could have hoped for. No wonder Fabio Paratici wanted to hire the 47-year-old as a Frank replacement.

Injury risk

Conversely, the appointment does not come without risk. Tudor has largely worked in Serie A. The Premier League is a different beast entirely.

Already in the midst of an injury crisis, the running Tudor demands increases the probability of muscle issues. A threadbare squad could drop like flies over the coming weeks.

What is clear is that Spurs have taken a huge gamble even if Tudor’s track record is sound. Keep them in the top flight, though, and it could be his greatest managerial accomplishment yet.

Shortly after the gong sounded at 7pm on deadline day, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero appeared to aim another dig at the club’s board.

Romero praised his teammates for coping with “only 11 players available – unbelievable but true and disgraceful”, weeks after seemingly accusing the hierarchy of “lies” on social media. Despite Spurs sitting 14th in the table it has been a relatively quiet winter window, with Conor Gallagher and Brazilian left-back Souza the two arrivals.

That can be explained by a major shift in thinking behind the scenes over the past 18 months. In fact the ball began rolling with the departure of Harry Kane in the summer of 2023, but has been hastened along by the departures of other leading figures in the dressing room like Hugo Lloris and Son Heung-min.

A new strategy

Having prioritised younger, affordable players with potential – Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert – Spurs moved into a phase of targeting experienced big names who would improve the squad but also have an influence off the pitch.

Players with Champions League football on their CV ticked an immediate box – that has been seen with the addition of Gallagher from Atletico Madrid. Talks were held to sign Andy Robertson but Liverpool ultimately blocked that move, believing they did not have enough cover at left-back.

Spurs’ chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham has promised to overhaul the wage structure that many have pinpointed as the reason Spurs have struggled to compete for the biggest talent. That takes time.

In the here and now the club is competing with the likes of Manchester City for their most ambitious targets, as seen with Spurs missing out on Antoine Semenyo. The widespread interest in RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande has also slapped a huge price tag on the winger.

The striker market

The market for forwards is particularly inflated. By way of example, Crystal Palace signed Jorgen Strand Larsen – who has scored once for Wolves in the league this season – for £48m. Jean-Philippe Mateta had previously been on Tottenham’s radar but that never felt likely in recent weeks following his public spat with Crystal Palace; his move to AC Milan then fell through due to concerns over a knee injury.

Activity was therefore limited to a loan with an option to buy for James Wilson, the 18-year-old Hearts striker, who will join the U21s. George Abbott goes to Mansfield for another loan after his stints at Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers, academy youngster Herbie James joins Cardiff and Alfie Dorrington moves to Salford City on loan.

An injury crisis

As for the senior squad, it has been difficult for Thomas Frank to assess it properly because of a mounting injury crisis. All season he has been without Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison and has not wanted to overload the squad for when they return.

Spurs offloaded Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace because he was not getting enough minutes following Mohammed Kudus’ arrival. There was a stroke of further bad luck when Kudus was then ruled out through injury just days after that deal went through.

The squad arguably looks weaker than it really is right now, with Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison, Pedro Porro, Lucas Bergvall, Kevin Danso, Djed Spence, Micky van de Ven also on the sidelines.

The knock-on effect

One implication of that is that those who voiced a desire to go on loan – like Mathys Tel, who is determined to get more minutes, especially after being left out of the Champions League squad – have not been able to do so.

The i Paper understands Randal Kolo Muani was unsettled too but there was no real question of ripping up his loan agreement early. There was some talk of back-up goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky heading to West Ham and Mads Hermansen moving he other way, yet that didn’t materialise either.

PSR

Tottenham are operating in a market complicated by profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Even though they have no concerns on that front themselves, plenty of clubs are running close to the wire and that has limited the sales happening across the board. Some agents have never seen January so quiet and some clubs did not make any signings at all.

Much of Spurs’ biggest business was done in the summer – Xavi Simons, Kudus, Tel. Raheem Sterling was linked in the final days of the winter window, but it would have represented a divisive gamble after his struggles at Arsenal and Chelsea.

For all the uncertainty around Frank’s future, and the departure of sporting director Fabio Paratici midway through the month, which left Johan Lange spearheading the operation, Tottenham have largely stuck to their strategy where possible. That leaves one eye on the summer.

Tottenham 2-2 Man City (Solanke 53’, 70’ | Cherki 11’, Semenyo 44’)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – The term “gallows humour” has been described by psychologists as a last indicator of morale amongst oppressed peoples. So who could have blamed Tottenham Hotspur fans for indulging in a little self-deprecation if it might have stopped Arsenal winning the title?

All week it had been suggested that Spurs supporters were willing their own team to lose to Manchester City. Instead, they provided the chorus to a remarkable fightback from two goals down and showed what happens when they are finally given something to get behind.

Before kick-off, stadium announcer Paul Coyte issued a rallying cry against “all those people who think we want to lose”. In the first half, it looked like they had no choice in the matter – this was not so much a moral abstention as a team being totally outplayed as they spiralled deeper into the jaws of a relegation battle.

Even Thomas Frank’s most ardent critics would have been hard-pushed to argue that such domination by Pep Guardiola’s City ought to be a sackable offence. Yet the manner of supine Spurs’ initial self-implosion hinted it might be, Yves Bissouma conceding possession in the build-up to Rayan Cherki’s opener and Guglielmo Vicario once again facing questions over his positioning.

As Radu Dragusin’s botched clearance allowed Antoine Semenyo to score his fourth in five games since joining City, it will have been no consolation that Frank insisted that his own club had “tried” to sign the forward themselves.

So for 45 minutes, there was every reason for the ground to feel submerged in apathy. As the rain poured, it was as if Frank was trying to shout underwater. He said this week that he was operating in real life, “not Football Manager”; at points it had looked like one player had put their controller down.

With Dominic Solanke’s second-half brace, something shifted. In the scheme of Frank’s turbulent reign, these moments might ultimately not mean that much. But in a season like this, they are a rushing lifeblood. Spurs fans merely entertained the prospect of deflating Arsenal’s dreams because they have ceased to harbour any of their own.

It is a gross mischaracterisation nonetheless, the idea that there was not anger, elation and desperation in equal measure on show. The half-time boos are so regular that they have almost stopped having any effect, but what followed should be a lesson for Frank and his cautious pragmatism.

Solanke blew it away with two moments of brilliance, outmuscling Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi for his first before pulling out an outrageous flick for the second. Frank has to engineer this siege mentality more regularly to save his job, particularly as he makes do without nine senior players. Cristian Romero did not last the 90 minutes.

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Tottenham fans have endured an awful lot, not least another underwhelming transfer window. And still their spitting savagery directed at Xavi Simons’ early misjudgements transformed to ecstasy at his superb late runs. The vast majority remained in the ground to applaud their team off and start talk of a late Solanke charge for England’s World Cup squad.

If you were being ungenerous, you might think this was peak, Arsenal-cup-wielding Frank, bursting to life when the fans least wanted him to. But that would be just another dose of humour in this peculiar, puzzling campaign.

Joy is back in fashion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and the roar was so loud it could probably be heard in the other half of north London.