In his first press conference as Tottenham Hotspur manager Igor Tudor said he was 100 per cent confident Spurs would avoid relegation. Ten days later, after back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Arsenal, his tone has shifted.
“We lack when we attack. We are lacking the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run. We are lacking behind to stay there and suffer and not concede the goal. An amazing situation,” Tudor said after the loss to Fulham. He added: “You put the players [on the pitch], but then you lack defending, running and winning the duels. So what to do?” and: “Football is a sport of running and duels… I have a sensation that Fulham players always arrived before. Even with the brain, they arrived before us. We are always late.”
The numbers underline Tudor’s bleak read. Tottenham are on a run of 10 Premier League games without a victory and did not take the lead in any league match in February. The last time they led in the top flight was a seven-minute spell at Burnley on January 24. Across their 10 matches since the turn of the year, Spurs rank bottom in the Premier League for being dispossessed and for overall losses of possession.
Since January, only 35 per cent of Tottenham’s possession sequences reach the final third — only Wolves and Burnley are lower — illustrating a struggle to get the ball close to goal and create sustained attacking positions. As former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood observed: “Look at the patterns of play Fulham had… it was the opposite of what Tottenham had.”
Defensively and in duels Spurs have also been poor. In the first half at Fulham, which saw a 2-0 deficit, Tottenham won just 40 per cent of duels and were overrun. They rank bottom in the Premier League for aerial duels won and, since the turn of the year, have lost more duels than any other team. Spurs have made a league-high five errors leading to a goal in 2026 and have committed more errors leading to shots than any other side this calendar year. That has contributed to Tottenham conceding the highest expected-goals total in the division this year, making clean sheets much harder to achieve.
Tudor’s critique of fitness is also supported by the data. Before the Fulham game, Spurs had been outrun by each of their previous five Premier League opponents. Even when they covered more ground than in any other league match this season at Fulham, Tudor felt it was insufficient: “We are lacking in the middle to run.” Sherwood pushed back on raw distance stats, saying: “It’s about when you run, how you run and when you stand still.”
Tudor has previously pointed to the fixture congestion and injuries affecting physical condition: “Physically, I believe, we are not in an amazing situation… They have played lots of games in the last period without lots of players available and it made the physical condition of the team drop down. They are fatigued. To press high you need to be fit… if one person is not in the right shape there is a problem because someone is coming late.”
The immediate outlook is difficult. Spurs face a congested schedule with the Champions League returning next week, increasing the strain on a squad already showing signs of fatigue, low pressing intensity, defensive errors and limited penetration into the final third. Until those core issues — ball retention, duels, defensive concentration and physical freshness — are addressed, Tudor’s critical assessment is likely to remain apt.