Tottenham analysis: Why Igor Tudor is Spurs’ ideal short-term solution

Tottenham have confirmed the appointment of Igor Tudor as their interim head coach on a deal until the end of the season.

The former Juventus and Lazio boss replaces Thomas Frank, who was sacked on Wednesday after just eight months in charge.

With just two wins from 17 Premier League games, Spurs have been dragged into a relegation battle in 16th place and just five points above the bottom three.

The board have opted for a short-term fix in Tudor, but what will the Croatian bring to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?

‘Making an immediate impact’

Tottenham expressed their desire to appoint an experienced coach with a track record of going into clubs and making immediate impact.

Well, here’s a man who took charge of a Juventus side reeling from successive eliminations from the Champions League and Coppa Italia in March 2025. He then oversaw just one defeat in 11 matches over the remainder of the season, guiding the Bianconeri to fourth place and Champions League qualification.

The previous season, Lazio had suffered five defeats from six matches under predecessor Maurizio Sarri. Tudor stepped in and won five of his nine matches to secure a seventh-place finish for the Biancocelesti, as well as qualification for the Europa League.

Hellas Verona were struggling when he replaced Eusebio Di Francesco in September 2021, but led them away from danger to a highly respectable ninth-place finish.

Spurs will be desperate for something similar to avoid getting dragged further into a relegation battle.

Firefighting with Udinese

Should it come to the worst for Tottenham, though, Tudor does have experience of prevailing from such battles.

When he replaced Massimo Oddo at Udinese in April 2018, the Friulani had suffered a club-record 11 successive Serie A defeats.

Safe to say, they were very much on the trajectory to fall through the trapdoor.

Yet, Tudor managed to stop the rot, collecting seven points from Udinese’s final four games to steer them to a 14th-place finish.

Winning mentality

Still just 47 years of age, Tudor is already approaching 13 years as a manager, after injury problems forced him to retire from playing at 30.

Despite a curtailed playing career, though, the former defender still managed to rack up some impressive achievements.

Indeed, Tudor was part of a Juventus side that won back-to-back Scudetti in 2001-02 and 2002-03, while also helped them reach the Champions League final during the latter season.

On the international front, the Croatian played at three major tournaments including the 1998 World Cup, at which his nation recorded an impressive third-place finish.

Those experiences will definitely serve him well when the chips are down for Tottenham.

Short but sweet

Appointing Tudor on a short-term basis is a shrewd move by Spurs as, one way or another, he doesn’t tend to stick around for very long.

He began his managerial career with a 22-month spell at Hajduk Split between 2013 and 2015, but his subsequent tenures have never lasted longer than a year.

Tudor spent the 2022-23 season with Marseille, guiding the Ligue 1 side to a third-place finish and Champions League qualification, but resigned due to ‘tiredness’ with the club.

Meanwhile, his positive start at Juventus tailed off, and he was sacked last October following an eight-game winless run.

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