Fulham Vs Tottenham: Tudor fury at 'home referee' as Spurs in 'serious emergency'

In the fulham vs tottenham match, interim manager Igor Tudor left nobody in any doubt about his feelings after a 2-1 defeat that deepened Tottenham's relegation fears. Tudor repeatedly attacked the referee, accused Raúl Jiménez of "cheating" and described his side's situation as a "big emergency. "

Referee criticism and accusations

Tudor said the official was "a home team referee" and added that he "doesn't understand football. " He repeated the accusation of Thomas Bramall being a "home referee" twice and called the decision around Fulham's opening goal an "incredible mistake. " Tudor complained that the first goal "changes the situation on the pitch" and called it "a big refereeing mistake. " He argued there was "no consistency" after a similar incident last week and said: "It's about consistency of the decision, they need to understand even if it is a soft touch but he is not watching the ball, it is a foul. He [Jimenez] gained an advantage and they scored. You need to give these fouls. "

What Tudor said about Jimenez

On Raúl Jiménez's involvement in the opener, Tudor accused him of "cheating" by pushing Radu Dragusin before Harry Wilson swept home. He said Jiménez "was not thinking about the ball, he was thinking how to cheat, he cheated the player, was pushing, it was cheating and it's a foul. " Tudor added: "Ninety-nine of 100 people will say it's a foul, it's so obvious. " He described the referee's decision to allow the goal as "madness" and said he "didn't like the referee today, too much of a home team referee. "

Team problems and blunt assessment

Tudor called the club's situation "amazing" in the sense of being alarming and listed three major problems: the attack, the midfield and the defence. "I cannot tell you anything new, " he said. "We need to find the forces inside each of us. I said to the players: 'It's always what you're going to do, what you want to do with yourself, ' you know? More personality, more wish to do before reacting, plenty of things … We are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation. Amazing. "

Attacking, midfield, defence and 'brain'

Insisting his 4-4-2 selection was not the core issue — "It's not about systems at the moment" — Tudor also accused his players of lacking "brain. " "They arrive before us, " he said. "They predict and we are always late on everything. That's the problem. " He said he was too upset to speak to the referee about the opening incident and described the small contact as an easy way to gain an advantage, saying: "It's ridiculous to not give the foul, because the consequences are so big. It's not a small foul in the middle of the pitch - it's a goal because he takes advantage not thinking about the football but about how to cheat. It's logic: he's cheating so it's a foul. "

Match sequence and result

Fulham opened the scoring after seven minutes when Harry Wilson volleyed in following contact that involved Raúl Jiménez and Radu Dragusin. Spurs replied with a header from Richarlison, which was their only effort on target, but Fulham added a second to win 2-1. The result was described in one match line as Fulham sinking struggling Spurs with an "incredible Iwobi goal. "

Broader context and reactions

Tudor, a 47-year-old Croatian, pointed to a recent pattern: last week Randal Kolo Muani thought he had made it 2-2 against Arsenal but the goal was ruled out for a push on Gabriel. Tottenham are 16th in the Premier League and four points above the relegation zone. The defeat at Fulham was Spurs' fourth league loss in a row and leaves them four points clear of danger; it also extended a run to 10 league games without a win, their worst run in 32 years since a similar streak under Ossie Ardiles in 1994.

Yves Bissouma summed up the mood for Tottenham: "We lost again. It is not easy, especially for us, for the club. It is not good for everyone. We know this is a big emergency. We need to change a lot of things, we need to put effort into the game to try and win games. At the moment, it is just hard. " Former player Chris Sutton reacted to that interview by warning: "If you're a Spurs fan and listening to that Bissouma interview, there are alarm bells ringing. They are in real danger of going down. "