In his first press conference as Tottenham Hotspur manager, Igor Tudor said he was 100 per cent confident Spurs would avoid relegation. After 10 days, the atmosphere completely changed.
Tudor’s first two defeats against Fulham and Arsenal forced the Croatian manager to change tack.
“We lack that when we attack. We lack the quality to score goals. We lack the middle to run. We lack the back to stay there and struggle and not concede goals. It’s a great situation,” Tudor said after Spurs’ loss to Fulham.
Apart from defense, attack and running, there is little else you can do on a soccer pitch. Tudor’s reviews paint a bad picture.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spurs’ new head coach was once excited about the challenge ahead, but after two games he has seen the true reality of his team. Here are the numbers to prove it…
“I don’t have enough power when attacking.”
Tottenham are on a 10-game winless streak in the Premier League, with the club lacking any sense of victory.
In fact, Spurs never took the lead in February’s league games. The last time they led at the top was for seven minutes against Burnley on January 24th.
There is a lack of fluency in attack, as Spurs are unable to maintain consistency on the ball.
Tottenham’s poor attacking statistics in 2026
In Spurs’ 10 games since the start of the year, they rank bottom of the Premier League in both ball wins and overall possession lost.
“Look at Fulham’s pattern of play,” former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports. “They had people in the right positions to spread the pitch.
“The players were wide and balanced, with a striker up front and supporting players. It was the exact opposite of the situation at Tottenham.”
So far this year, just 35 per cent of Tottenham’s possession sequences have reached the final third of the pitch, with only the bottom two sides, Wolves and Burnley, having a lower percentage.
Essentially, the Spurs are having a very hard time getting the ball close to the goal, and playing like a bottom three team in the process. So it’s no wonder they can’t take the lead, let alone maintain it.
“What we lack is not conceding goals.”
“Even if we put the players on the pitch, they lack defense and running ability, and we can’t win a duel. So what should we do?”
In his post-match grievance after the game against Fulham, manager Tudor said the team lacked the ability to compete in duels beyond the white line, leaving the coaching staff helpless.
“Football is a sport of running and dueling,” he added. “I feel like the Fulham players always got there first. Even with their brains, they got there before us. We’re always late.”
Fulham raced into the first half with a 2-0 lead, but Spurs won just 40 per cent of the match’s duels. They were overwhelmed by Marco Silva’s team – the story of their season.
Tottenham’s poor defensive statistics
Spurs rank bottom of the Premier League in terms of aerial duels won, but have lost more aerial duels than any other team this year.
But Tottenham’s defense also has a self-inflicted quality. They committed a league-high five errors that led to goals in 2026. On top of that, no Premier League team has made more errors leading to shots this year.
As a result, Spurs have the highest expected number of goals conceded in the Premier League this year, making the prospect of keeping clean sheets extremely difficult.
“We don’t have enough midfield to run.”
Before the weekend was over, Spurs had lost to each of their previous five Premier League opponents.
Against Fulham, Spurs covered more defensive ground than in any Premier League game this season, but it still wasn’t enough for Tudor. After the game, the coach said, “We lack a midfielder that can run.”
“Who runs more is complete nonsense,” Mr Sherwood told Sky. “It’s important when you run, how you run, and when you stop.”
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Tim Sherwood says Spurs cannot blame injuries for their poor form and must make changes to remain in the Premier League.
This is probably not a criticism of the Spurs team, but of the situation they find themselves in. Tudor’s comments about the team’s lack of running ability are not surprising given what he said earlier this week about the Spurs’ poor health.
“Physically, I believe we are not in an amazing situation,” he said. “They played a lot of games last period without a lot of players and that made the team feel bad.
“They are tired. You have to be fit to press high, but everyone is. Because someone comes late, if someone is not fit, there will be problems. And the second thing is that there is another goal to protect.”
“It’s easy to run up there, but you have to run back, so if you don’t run up and run, you’re in trouble.”
Physically, it won’t get any easier for Spurs given the Champions League restarts next week and the added strain on the team’s legs.
