Laura Woods believes former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would be the ideal replacement if Tottenham part ways with Antonio Conte.
Conte's Spurs deal runs until the end of the season, and there is still some uncertainty over his longer-term future. Former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with a return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having left Paris Saint-Germain over the summer, but Tuchel's name has also been mentioned.
The German won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and led them to a third-place finish last season, but was sacked in September after the Blues made a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign. Woods, however, believes the former Dortmund boss would be a good fit, thanks in part to the speed with which he made an impression at Stamford Bridge.
"I just don't know whether it's ever good to go back," Woods said on talkSPORT. "Of course we can look at the ones where they did go back and it did go well - Mourinho going back to Chelsea and that sort of stuff - but I don't know with Mauricio Pochettino whether it would be the best move for him.
"I actually think Thomas Tuchel would be a great shout. Managers who come back into the league and who have something to prove," she added, before acknowledging the same applied to Conte before he took Spurs into the top four last term.
"Seriously, though, I just think with Thomas Tuchel, in the small space of time that he came into Chelsea and arranged that team - they'd already got top four from Frank Lampard so they had a lot of young talent, he made a few changes and won the Champions League. I don't know, I just think that kind of personality that he has, to go into a team like Spurs, who just look like they are devoid of enjoyment at the moment and lacking something.
"Go get the best out of Son, go and put a rocket up them. I honestly think that would be a great fit. I could be wrong, but I love Thomas Tuchel, I think he's amazing."
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Conte's Spurs are going into a potentially critical few days for their season. They face AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg, before hosting Nottingham Forest in the league on Saturday.
Defeat at Wolves last time out, coupled with Liverpool 's 7-0 win over Manchester United, left Tottenham in a perilous position when it comes to Champions League qualification. Fifth-place Liverpool are three points behind with a game in hand, while Newcastle in sixth have a four point gap to make up with two games in hand.
“You know very well that for me this season represents success if we fight, if we fight to be competitive to win something," Conte said ahead of the Milan game. Yeah, I think this has to be our target. Tottenham as a club has to need this target every season, to fight for something important, to fight to win.”
