Spurs Manager Igor Tudor faces relegation battle and must change approach

Igor Tudor has taken over as head coach ahead of Sunday’s north London derby with Arsenal, and the spurs manager must show rapid changes while coping with a stretched squad and alarming league form. The first press conference came on Fri 20 February 2026, 16: 10 ET, and the match kicks off at 4. 30pm ET.

Spurs Manager Johan Lange offers conditional vote of confidence

Sporting director Johan Lange defended Tottenham’s lack of activity late in the winter transfer window and said Tudor could be given the job permanently if results and relationships follow. Lange faced the media on Friday and explained why the club turned to Tudor after sacking Thomas Frank despite Tudor not having Premier League experience. Lange said the club interviewed a few interim candidates and that "Igor impressed us very, very much in the interview, " stressing the need to build immediate relationships when you arrive on a Monday and play at the weekend. He noted Tudor has come into difficult mid-season positions before and "has shown that with great success, not only once but a few times, " which is one reason the club view him as the best candidate now; Lange added that if things go well "he could be here for a long time. "

Tudor’s first press conference: training with 13 and a focus on mentality

Tudor spoke to the media for the first time as Head Coach on Fri 20 February 2026, 16: 10 ET, looking ahead to his first game in charge against Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. He said he is "not here to enjoy, I’m here to work, " called it a privilege to be at the club and said he is "very focused" on doing the right things the club, the team and the fans need. Tudor described the situation as "very particular" and "very rare, " saying the squad has had 10 players injured and that the team had made training with 13 players. He added "13 we will have for sure and it’s quite enough to achieve what we want on Sunday. "

Small training window: three or four sessions and concrete exercises

Tudor said he went straight to "very concrete things" in the "three, four sessions" since his arrival, choosing exercises that can deliver short-term improvement rather than trying for big changes. He stressed the priority is mentality — becoming a team that can "suffer, fight, run" — while also working on specific actions with the ball and without it, when pressing and when defending low. Tudor acknowledged it is more difficult without players but argued that can make it easier to choose a system: "the system... is always after the style, after the mentality. " He said he saw the players "very available, very motivated. "

Transfer inactivity, squad strain and Champions League registration limits

Lange set out the club’s rationale for limited January business: after Conor Gallagher arrived in a £34. 7million deal on January 14 the only other addition was 19-year-old left-back Souza to a threadbare squad. Tottenham lost nine players through injury last month, and Lange argued the new European format — "playing two very competitive matches (in January)" — changed the dynamics and left "very few players who could make a difference for us now or in the future" available. He warned the squad remains short and that the club also has players it is unable to register for the Champions League last 16, noting it would not make sense to bring in players who cannot help now or who lack future potential.

Form collapse, mounting injuries and wider club upheaval

Tottenham’s league position is precarious: the club had won just two of their previous 17 league games and only five home matches since November 2024. One account of the season’s slide points to a late-January moment — when West Ham led Chelsea 2-0 at the end of January — or to West Ham taking the lead against Manchester United 10 days later; West Ham won neither fixture, but had they done so they would have picked up five more points and been level with Tottenham going into the weekend. That sequence underlines a reality many fear: Tottenham’s proximity to relegation cannot be denied. If Spurs were to beat Arsenal on Sunday they would move to 32, yet the assessment offered was that nobody would feel secure.

Fan unrest, Frank’s exit and a changed boardroom landscape

The season has also seen wider unrest. At one point Tottenham were described as "injury-ravaged, " with other coverage noting 12 players out injured, and fans were said to be in "almost open revolt. " The decision to change the manager followed a run in which observers judged Frank to have withered in the job and to have lost faith in himself and his players. The article linked that managerial instability back to boardroom changes: Daniel Levy was ousted as club chair in September; Frank was Levy’s appointment, and every signing up to Xavi Simons was attributed to Levy. Since the Lewis family took greater control there has been a sense of waiting about the club, heightening pressure on Tudor to produce immediate improvement.

Captaincy tensions and the call to unite

Off the field, Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has twice already in 2026 expressed his frustration on social media. Lange reiterated that "Romero is here, he is our captain, he is here on a long-term contract with the club, " saying the club has dealt with the matter internally and that "now it is about being together. "