Igor Tudor has told his Tottenham players to stand up and fight rather than wallow in the role of victims and hide behind “bullshit” excuses such as the club being cursed by “black magic”.
The interim manager is under intense pressure as he prepares for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool after losing his first four matches. He will be without 12 players, with Cristian Romero and João Palhinha undergoing concussion protocols after their clash of heads in Tuesday’s 5-2 Champions League defeat at Atlético Madrid and Yves Bissouma added to the casualty list with a muscle problem.
Spurs are one point above the relegation zone after losing five games in a row and failing to win in 11 – their worst run since 1975. The confidence of the players is on the floor and some have been bewildered by Tudor’s approach. He has worked them extremely hard in training, believing they are not fit enough, and cracked the whip to try to raise the levels of focus. He has also chopped and changed with his selections, albeit mostly out of necessity.
Tudor’s message in the countdown to Liverpool was clear. It was about the players taking responsibility, realising it was because of them that the club were in such a parlous position and going out to do something about it.
“Like everything in life, you can choose how to see the situation,” he said. “You can stay and cry or you can fight. You can be the victim or you can say: ‘I can change something.’ This is what I told the players.
“In tough moments, it’s always about us. In the last period, [there have been] a lot of things about what is the club, the problems, no one can do nothing … like we were victims. I said this morning to the players the total opposite. It’s all about us. All the other things are bullshit. It’s on us.”
Tudor was asked whether the players were listening to him. “I do this every day – psychological work,” he said. “It is important also to give the courage to the teammates. Some of them, they cannot manage, for sure. [But] somewhere you can help them. My goal is to find if I can help 18 players out of 20. Or 15. I don’t know how many.
“Sometimes you cannot do anything but most of the time you can do [at least] small changes. Again, it’s what I like to say to the players – don’t be a victim. Don’t think it’s not about me. You know that can be the problem more than all these things about Tottenham … you know, like magic on the club, bad black magic and this other bullshit.”
Tudor was heavily criticised for his decision to substitute Antonin Kinsky after 17 minutes against Atlético with Spurs 3-0 down. The goalkeeper, playing his first game since 29 October, was guilty of errors that led to two goals. Tudor said he would play Kinsky again and he was conciliatory at his press conference on Friday. But only up to a point.
“This situation happened and it was very rare,” Tudor said. “But it’s the same message. You can go out from the situation as a victim. ‘Poor me. Everybody sending a message of help. I am with you.’ This is nice, also. Sometimes, this social media life became like it is more important what you say than what you do. For sure in his career there will be other mistakes but he has a strength and quality and in front of him is a very good career.
“There is one point [about being sympathetic]. The other point is it is part of the job to be under stress and choose what you want to do. All good things are not easy. The message in training is the same. Always when we do some difficult things that is the message. The right and the best things are not easy.”
Tudor said at one point that “the bottle is always half empty or half full. Here [at Spurs] there is nothing full … there are a lot of empty things.” He has never experienced a selection crisis quite like the one he is enduring, with players dropping out after every match.
Tudor reported that Conor Gallagher was a doubt because of illness but should be OK and that Archie Gray, who he praised as a “beautiful guy, beautiful player”, would “change position again” – raising the prospect of him going back into defence. Romero and Palhinha would, he said, be back for next Sunday’s crucial home game against Nottingham Forest and possibly even Wednesday’s second leg against Atlético. Destiny Udogie should return from injury against Forest.
Tudor has not held back at times when it has come to criticising the players and it has been difficult to ignore his uncompromising side. He had a slightly different take on it.
“It’s not criticism, I give advice,” he said. “We are together. It’s about you making them understand that this is advice for them to become better players and we become a better team. It’s about accepting this, which is not easy because it’s easy to stay in a comfort zone. When you stay in a comfort zone, you don’t change.”
