Tudor’s Tottenham in trouble!: Is the Croatian running out of time in North London after just four games in-charge?

Things are going from bad to worse in every game for Tottenham Hotspur. (Image credits – Heute; licence details).

Igor Tudor replaced Thomas Frank at Tottenham Hotspur, but the start of his career in North London has been nothing short of a living nightmare. Four matches under his belt, and Spurs have shown no signs of improvement. Instead, the performances have worsened, and the club is just one point off the relegation zone. The defending Europa League champions also got thrashed in the Champions League RO 16 clash against Atletico Madrid by 5-2, which has left Igor Tudor's future at the club in doubt. 

The Croatian had been appointed to bring some stability to the team, and his resume was appreciated within the club. He had done a phenomenal job at Olympique Marseille and Hellas Verona in the Serie A. He had also been the former manager of Juventus, but he was removed from his services after a poor run of results. After just four games in charge of the first team, fans have already started to blame him for being too pragmatic as compared to other managers. Tudor's tactics require aggressive zonal pressing and defending as a unit with coordinated counter-attacking. However, Tottenham have failed to showcase any of that so far.

Tudor's first few games have been turbulent, and it already feels that the club has made a wrong appointment. It seems that the Croatian and the club are not the perfect fit with each other, especially because of the tactical mismatch with the players he has got in his hands. He tried to implement a 3-4-2-1 system on the ball with intense pressing from the wingbacks and create chaos by engaging man-to-man duels in the middle of the park. Without the ball, Tudor's side shifts into a back five, which seems quite conservative amongst the other sides which are usually progressive tactically.

Tottenham do not have the players to implement Tudor's tactics. The biggest problem is the defensive line of Christian Romero and Mickey Van de Ven. Both the players thrive in high-line tactics when they are guarded by an anchorman in the midfield. However, Tudor's system is defensively deep and exposes the backline to quick transitions, which leaves large spaces behind them. This is the reason why teams have found it quite easy to score goals past Tottenham. In the midfield, the Lilywhites have not been able to assert any dominance, and their pressing has been too easy to break.

Tottenham are not compact enough, which Tudor's system demands, but also they are not skilled enough to be playing fluid attacking football like their rivals Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. Spurs have regularly failed to progress the ball from the midfield, due to which their build-ups look repetitive and easily predictable. Due to the lack of control in the middle of the park, Spurs have almost no possession and chase behind the opposition players throughout the game, wearing themselves out. This hands a huge disadvantage to Igor Tudor's side.

The question remains whether Tottenham Hotspur will continue to back Igor Tudor if the results keep deteriorating in the future. Despite the poor start to the season, it makes no sense to sack the Croatian now, as it won't solve any of their problems and will only add to their never-ending cycle of managerial problems. Tudor's plans at the club will take time to implement, as he will need his players as per his requirements, but the real question is whether Tottenham are willing to give him that time to prove himself and turn things around.

Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid tactically outclass Igor Tudor's Tottenham in the Champions League

As the final whistle blew in Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur were thrashed 5-2 by Atletico Madrid, and things went from bad to worse for Igor Tudor's side. Tottenham had finished fifth in the league stage, conceding just seven goals in eight games, but they ended up conceding five in a single game against Simeone's side. Debut goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky made a debut to forget as he made two costly errors that saw them concede three goals in just fifteen minutes. The 22-year-old made two errors and was immediately subbed off two minutes later.

However, despite changing the goalkeeper, there was no respite for the Lilywhites. Just seven minutes later, Robin le Normand headed in their fourth goal, which fairly ended the tie right then between the two sides. Spurs responded with Pedro Porro’s brilliant goal, and skipper Cristian Romero came close to scoring another from the corner in the first half. Alvarez restored their four-goal lead after just ten minutes into the second half. Dominic Solanke added another consolation goal late in the second half, which would at least give them some belief before the second leg after eight days in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Julian Alvarez led the way for Atletico Madrid yet again with a sensational brace on the night. The Spanish giants have progressed from their last three RO16 clashes against English sides, and after this performance they will be aiming to do the same against Tottenham this season. Alvarez has been leading the scoring charts for the Rojiblancos this season and is among the only players to record 30-plus goal involvements after Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Vinicius Junior, and Harry Kane. 

Meanwhile, Tottenham have faced a sixth consecutive defeat in all competitions for the first time in their history. Tudor's side were completely outclassed by Simeone in Madrid as Atletico dominated with the ball, keeping 58% possession, and had accumulated an xG of 3.12 from 11 shots, while Spurs had an xG of 1.41 from 11 shots. Spurs are set to face Liverpool next on Sunday, which is a must-win game for them, and failure to do so will result in them dropping down to the relegation zone in the Premier League. The team which was top of the table after eight matchdays – everything has fallen apart, and the club management is the only one to be blamed for sacking Ange Postecoglou, after which everything started to fall apart for Tottenham.