Tottenham Hotspur head coach Igor Tudor says he believes the club will be able to avoid relegation from the Premier League, insisting “the moment will pass” after watching his side lose 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace, a result that leaves them one point above the relegation zone.
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Spurs currently have 11 players sidelined with injuries and Tudor says he will have to repair the confidence of those who are available to him.
“The situation is not easy because we have a lot of injured players,” said the Croat.
“First priority is to give everything the team need in these moments.
“The team need, I believe, first of all, to get some confidence, to get some courage.”
Frank was sacked last Wednesday following a 2-1 defeat by Newcastle, which extended Spurs’ winless run to eight matches.
Tudor’s first game in charge comes against rivals Arsenal at home on 22 February.
Despite Frank’s domestic struggles, he guided Spurs through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, which recommence in March.
Tudor has been out of work since being sacked by Juventus in October 2025 and is set for his first spell in England, after previously taking charge of clubs in Italy, France, Turkey, Croatia and Greece.
He is tasked, first and foremost, with easing Tottenham‘s relegation fears, after a 2-1 loss to Newcastle in Thomas Frank’s final match on Tuesday left them five points above the bottom three.
Having earned a reputation as a no-nonsense defender during a playing career in which he won 55 caps for Croatia and made more than 150 appearances for Italian giants Juventus, there is one certain non-negotiable for Tudor as a manager.
“He asks his players to run a lot. In a previous interview he said ‘If you don’t run, you don’t play’,” says L’Equipe journalist Pierre-Etienne Minonzio.
“In his one season in Marseille it was always the same way of playing – 3-5-2 – and it was great to watch.
“It was not easy because Marseille’s best player was Dimitri Payet, a very gifted player but not well-known for running, and he didn’t play.
“It was a joke in L’Equipe – if Igor Tudor had Lionel Messi in his squad, Messi would not play!”
Tudor’s sole season in France saw Marseille finish third behind Paris St-Germain and Lens, despite surpassing the club’s points total from the previous campaign when they finished second.
“He did pretty well in Ligue 1. What I liked is that he doesn’t try to be liked. He is very direct, says what he thinks and doesn’t try to be attractive. There is no seduction,” says Minonzio.
“It is the same with the players. He keeps his distance and his obsession is to make training intense with a lot of running so they can be physically fit for the game.”