Igor Tudor exclusive: Spurs boss says a new coach won't instantly change club's problems

Igor Tudor has issued a warning that a new coach at Tottenham would not instantly turn around the club’s fortunes.

The pressure ramped up on head coach Tudor after Spurs slipped to a 5-2 loss at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday following a shambolic opening where back-up goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky made two disastrous errors before being replaced after 17 minutes.

Tottenham, who face a trip to Liverpool live on Sky Sports on Super Sunday (kick-off 4.30pm), now have four defeats in a row to start Tudor’s tenure in north London – which is a first in the club’s history – and the six consecutive losses in all competitions they have suffered is also a record.

It has led to calls for Tudor to be replaced, but the under-fire Croatian insists Spurs’ issues, which he claims are bigger than he imagined, will not disappear with someone new at the helm.

“People think a new coach will come in and things will change and the problems will resolve,” Tudor told Sky Sports.

“It makes me laugh.

“When people want a new coach, it’s a new hope. People always want new hope that things will change but the reality is totally diffierent. The reality is not that.

“In this world where everyone has an opinion, you can never win. But as coaches we have to focus on what we can change. We need to stay calm and believe in ourselves.”

‘My job is to help the players’

An 11-match winless run in the Premier League has Tottenham in 16th, just one point above 18th-placed West Ham before Sunday’s daunting trip to Anfield.

With only nine games remaining, a first relegation since 1977 is a very serious proposition for Spurs, who have lost five in a row in the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, but Tudor remains confident he can help the players turn around a difficult situation.

“I don’t feel good because we don’t have results,” Tudor said. “The problems are bigger than I was thinking.

“There are a mix of emotions. I still have a will and a confidence to try and change things, but the problems are always coming back from nowhere like a red card or what happened in the last game [against Atletico Madrid]. Everything you work on and prepare is gone, and it is nothing about you as a coach, which gives you a bit of frustration.

“In other ways, I see the guys and they want to change things. It’s not easy for them, they are young guys who recognise the difficult moment.

“I need to find a strength in what I am doing and my job is to help the players.”

Tudor on Spurs’ injury problems: ‘You have to be inventive’

Defender Micky van de Ven feels the team faced a “doomsday scenario” against Atletico, with the club “taking blow after blow” as mistakes cost them dearly in Spain.

Tudor has also confirmed that captain Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha will miss the trip to Anfield as Spurs’ injury problems continue. Both are following concussion protocols, but it adds to Tudor’s problems with Van de Ven suspended and Yves Bissouma also out.

When asked if he has been unlucky with the problems that have plagued Spurs since his arrival, Tudor said: “I don’t believe in that stuff.

“But there’s too much. Every game, two or three players are out.

“Sometimes it is not easy to understand the reasons. Sometimes you understand the problems and I recognise them, but it’s been difficult.

“It is what it is and we need to accept that. We need to see it as a challenge and not cry.”

Tudor added: “When you have 10 players every game, 12 maximum or maybe even 13 and you don’t have a central defender every game and Archie [Gray] is playing in four different positions. When you don’t have full-backs or four defenders, tell me, how can you manage this situation?

“Every time you have to invent and also, what is more interesting is in two training sessions you have to teach them positions that they have never played before.

“You need to be very, very good to teach all these things in one or two training sessions.”

‘The players are on board’

There have been reports of a rift between Tudor and his players, who have reportedly lost trust in him after such a difficult start to his tenure at Spurs.

However, Tudor played down rumours of a rift and was defiant as he looks to end Spurs’ losing run at Anfield.

“When you are in this moment it is not easy to change things,” Tudor said.

“It is even difficult to try and explain this situation in words because it is very rare and unusual.

“We need to be on board because it is always about being all together,” he added on the reports his players have lost trust with him.

“They are [on board]. They work and they try to do what I say. They believe.”

When asked if he still feels 100 per cent confident in his ability to turn things around, he said: “Would you expect me to sit here and say no”.

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