Tottenham: Igor Tudor says Spurs Premier League relegation battle is the biggest rescue-job of his career
Igor Tudor has turned around the fortunes of Juventus, Lazio and Udinese in the past but says Tottenham's Premier League relegation battle is his biggest challenge yet, with Spurs four points above the drop; Watch Fulham vs Tottenham, live on Sky Sports from 1pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
Thursday 26 February 2026 15:26, UK
Igor Tudor says his task at Tottenham is the biggest rescue-job of his career.
The Spurs head coach arrived in the Premier League with a reputation for instant-impact turnarounds at previous clubs he's managed, having helped Juventus and Lazio secure European football and Udinese avoid relegation.
However, following the 4-1 thrashing at home to Arsenal last weekend in his first game in charge, which ramped up the relegation pressure on Spurs, Tudor admitted the scale of his challenge now is the greatest of his career.
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Spurs are just four points above the relegation zone and haven't won a league game in 2026.
"If I recognised the difficulties there are, probably yes [it is the biggest]," he said in his press conference ahead of Sunday's trip to Fulham, which is live on Sky Sports.
"It's an even bigger motivation that we do it," he added.
Tudor also said it is now all about results for Tottenham, regardless of style of play ,such is the severity of their situation.
"There's not too much time to think about performance or style," he said.
"Every game needs to be prepared in that way: How are we going to take the points? One way or the other way.
"Unfortunately, it's for me very clear. I'm not that kind of coach who doesn't want to cure style, how we perform - but in this moment it's not possible to think about those kind of things."
He later said: "The style is second because it's a question of life and death, if I can say that sportingly."
And on the mentality required, he suggested Spurs should see themselves like an underdog.
"In Italy they use the term, 'have the mentality of a small team'," he explained.
"That's the key always, to have the willingness and motivation like you play against bigger teams."
Champions League 'not ideal' with 'hard work' key
Tudor was keen not to dwell on the defeat to Arsenal - "The less we speak the better it is" - and admitted Spurs' Champions League involvement is "not an ideal situation" given their relegation battle in the Premier League.
"It's a beautiful competition to play, everyone wants to play. The problem is the lack of numbers we have in the team. There's the problem. If you need to play every three days with 10,12, 13... Also it's not only about spending physical energy but also mental energy when every game for us in the league is a final."
But he insisted his players were in no doubt about the situation they are in - and how they will have to fight their way out of it.
"The mentality changes by training. Doing the right things there and to have enough training sessions that you can transmit these things to the team so that on Sunday this can be seen from the fans in the stadium.
"Hard work. There is no other possibility."
Tudor confirmed Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso will be in contention to play at Fulham on Sunday after returning to training from injury and that Micky van de Ven should also be fine to feature, despite an issue with one of his little toes.
He also said he remains hopeful Dejan Kulusevski can return to the field before the end of the season.
Tudor dismisses suggestion Van de Ven ignored him during derby
Following Spurs' defeat to Arsenal, fan footage emerged appearing to show centre-back Micky van de Ven ignoring Tudor's encouragement to push up and then the head coach becoming frustrated.
However, Tudor insisted that was not the case.
"It was not an instruction to Micky, it was an instruction to the team to go up," he explained. "It was not about Micky. It was about the team coming up. We want to go up because we want to have this style that we press high but maybe in this moment it's too much for them. That's why there is a little frustration of that. Nothing special happened."
Pressed on whether Van de Ven had disrespected him, Tudor said: "If you watch carefully. You see I don't speak with him. After, I say to him come closer and he comes closer. At that moment I say this, it was for all the defence to go up.
"We didn't even speak about this because there's nothing to speak about. He's a fantastic guy, very good professional. He'd never do [those] things."
O'Hara: No stomach for a relegation fight
Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara has slammed the attitude and mentality of the Spurs squad and believes they "haven't got the stomach for a relegation fight".
He told Sky Sports News' Fan Club: "I was expecting a bit of a manager bounce. Arsenal had a couple of sticky performances against Wolves and Brentford, so I was expecting the team to go into this game with a high attitude, a bit of passion, fight, relentless pressing, and not letting easy crosses in the box.
"[It was the] complete opposite. It was miles away from where I thought it was. I know there's injuries, but the attitude of the players is my biggest concern. The attitude to defend, to run, to compete, to not concede goals. That for me is basic 101, and then you can talk about creativity, whether we're good enough, whether we've got the players, the formation, but the basic defending, basic mentality of a football club."
