Three Talking Points As Tottenham Close on Surprise Interim Manager

Tottenham Hotspur have seemingly decided that Igor Tudor is the manager they want leading the team until the end of the season, having dismissed Thomas Frank this week.

It quickly became apparent that Spurs intended to go down a similar route to Manchester United when Ruben Amorim was given the boot, choosing a short-term hire for the next few months, before settling on a permanent candidate in the summer.

Spurs legend Robbie Keane was a name in the frame until it was made clear the Irishman, who has enjoyed success during spells with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencváros in his fledgling managerial career, would only leave the latter for something more than an interim role.

Ex-Borussia Dortmund managers Marco Rose and Edin Terzić have also been considered, though it’s unclear at this stage whether or not they could be in the running long-term.

But Tudor, a former Juventus and Croatia centre back who started the 2003 Champions League final and finished third at the World Cup in 1998, is set to have the reins for the next 15 weeks.

Sat 16th in the Premier League, if Spurs get this wrong they could be relegated for the first time since 1978.

Igor Tudor and His Risky Style of Play

Since starting his managerial career with hometown club Hajduk Split in 2013, Tudor has developed a brand of physically-demanding football characterised by intense pressing.

Whether Spurs have the players to do that—and stay healthy—is a point of debate. The squad is already 12 players light because of injuries, with five of those hamstring and thigh problems. They cannot afford to lose more players in the final stretch and clearly something—both this season and last—has been leading to such problems. An intense approach may not be the right fit.

Still, it’s a tactical style that favours attacking—perhaps ironic for a former defender.

Tottenham’s defensive record in the Premier League this season is the same as fourth-place Manchester United (37 goals conceded), but their output in front of goal is consistent with the bottom-half teams around them. They have scored the same number of goals (36) as 15th-place Leeds United, have scored only two more than Brighton & Hove Albion in 14th and just four more than West Ham United behind them in the relegation zone.

If Tudor can pull more goals out of the squad at his disposal, it would go a long way.

Lack of Direct Experience

This is not to say that Spurs should have looked up Sean Dyche’s number—although there could have been some merit to such a short-term deal in the circumstances—but bringing in a manager with zero track record in English football is a gamble.

Tudor spent his entire playing career in Croatia and Italy, primarily a backup during his peak years at Juventus. He’s managed clubs in Croatia, Greece, Türkiye, Italy and France, with most of his 11 prior appointments over before reaching 50 games and not extending into a second calendar year.

His jobs haven’t lasted long, but joining a club midseason is at least something he’s used to, having done it. He’s actually done that more often than starting a new job off-season and the initial results have tended to be good, notably securing Champions League qualification for Juve in 2024–25.

The connection that made Tudor an option was his work alongside former Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici at Juventus in 2020–21, when he was assistant to Andrea Pirlo.

Door Left Open for Mauricio Pochettino’s Return

It’s not so much relevant to Tudor specifically, but taking the interim route until summer fits a convenient timeline that would allow for the second coming of Mauricio Pochettino.

Even though it was Ange Postecoglou who finally broke the trophy drought last season, the Argentine has been the best Spurs boss of the Premier League era, delivering results more consistently and over a longer period than Harry Redknapp or Martin Jol.

To get him now would be expensive, perhaps almost £22 million ($30 million) to break him out of his contract with as United States men’s national team boss mere months out from the World Cup.

But that contract ends once the World Cup is over, leaving Pochettino free to go back to north London should he, and the club, so wish. Since a shock dismissal in 2019, within six months of the Champions League final, he’s made no secret on several occasions of his desire to return.

“I still feel in my heart that, yes, I would like one day to come back,” he said most recently.

Igor Tudor and His Risky Style of Play

Lack of Direct Experience

Door Left Open for Mauricio Pochettino’s Return

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