Is Tudor sinking Tottenham's ship even deeper?

Tomorrow marks exactly one month since Tottenham dismissed Thomas Frank. Unfortunately, successor Igor Tudor, instead of halting the decline, has pushed the North London club closer to the relegation disaster.

Tottenham did not actually choose Tudor randomly. They were impressed by the CV of this Croatian coach.

Tudor has been both poor and unlucky.

This 47-year-old strategist has experienced many clubs in crisis. Most notably are his two spells leading Udinese and his time coaching major Serie A clubs like Lazio and Juventus. Tudor has always won the opening matches at the last five clubs he managed.

The situation at Tottenham is not bringing Tudor a dream life in England. He arrived in North London as interim manager until the end of the season. But patience for the Croatian strategist has dwindled rapidly. This is due to Tottenham losing all three initial matches under Tudor's reign. Even the defeat to Crystal Palace was a disgrace, as Tottenham threw away a lead advantage due to Micky van de Ven's reckless red card.

Tudor's slide with Tottenham to 16th place, just one point above the relegation zone, reveals issues both objective and subjective. Tudor's managerial ability and understanding of Tottenham's squad are under major question. It's easy to point out strange decisions by the former Juventus captain, like using Archie Gray as a wing-back and Pedro Perro as an offset right-sided defender in a three-man backline. Objectively, Tudor currently cannot have the assistance of his familiar right-hand man Ivan Javorcic due to work permit issues. This 47-year-old man is crucial to Tudor because he can communicate and understand four languages: English, Italian, Spanish, and German. Javorcic can assist Tudor in communicating with players, conveying tactical ideas to the team to quickly improve results. Javorcic and Tudor worked together at Juventus and Lazio. Their synergy helped revive Juventus last season to secure a Champions League spot.

But the Tudor-Javorcic duo will not easily resurrect Tottenham again as they did with Lazio and Juventus, even if Javorcic soon gets a work permit in England. Tottenham currently lacks a star, a leader who can pull the crumbling train like Harry Kane or Son Heung-min once did. Tudor's squad under his command is depleted in both energy and fighting spirit. Talking about Tottenham's relegation possibility now is not excessive at all, considering since 1950, this club has only had one season absent from England's top division, the 1977-78 season. Even a tragicomic scenario has been sketched for Tottenham this season: being relegated while winning the Champions League. This stems from last season's story when the North London club won the Europa League and finished 17th, their lowest-ever position in Premier League history.

A Champions League victory is needed.

Ange Postecoglou's decision last season to abandon the Premier League and focus on glory in the Europa League was an understandable calculation. This season's story is very different. The path to the final at Puskas Arena in May is still very long. Immediately, Tudor and his team face a trip to Wanda Metropolitano tonight, where Atletico Madrid wants to prove their Champions League reputation. Tottenham's deepest run in the Champions League was in the 2018-19 season when they reached the final and only lost to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. Regardless, Tudor's Tottenham must find every way to extinguish the crisis of both form and confidence in the dressing room.

The difficulty is that Tottenham is completely devoid of confidence and the necessary character. If the losing streak extends to the continental arena, Tudor could very well lose his job sooner than expected. Tottenham has plenty of options to find another interim manager. Harry Redknapp could certainly reappear despite being 79 and having left coaching for quite some time. Even the familiar interim option Ryan Mason is ready.