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Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Igor Tudor was given a brutal introduction to life in the Premier League on Sunday. Spurs lost 4-1 to their bitter rivals Arsenal, for the second time this season, in Tudor’s first game in charge.

After an encouraging first-half performance which saw Randal Kolo Muani equalise 122 seconds after Eberechi Eze had given Arsenal the lead, Spurs struggled to keep up. Viktor Gyokeres scored in the 47th minute and, apart from a goal from Kolo Muani which was contentiously disallowed for a foul on Gabriel, Spurs never looked like mounting a serious comeback.

The same problems which plagued Thomas Frank’s eight-month reign still exist under Tudor.

In his post-match press conference, Tudor said that the teams were in “two totally different worlds” on a “psychological and physical” level. The Croatian then mentioned in an interview that his side displayed a lot of “bad habits”.

Here, The Athletic breaks down what the 47-year-old could have been referring to.

Poor communication

Frank used a back three for most of Tottenham’s games in 2026. It is a system which Tudor had success with at Juventus, Udinese and Lazio and he stuck to it on Sunday.

Bukayo Saka did not score for Arsenal but he was one of the game’s most influential players. The England international capitalised on the uncertainty between left-sided centre-back Micky van de Ven and left wing-back Djed Spence over who was supposed to be marking him. When Van de Ven followed Saka high up the pitch, he vacated a huge pocket of space. If Spence pursued Saka, Jurrien Timber had more time on the ball which is what happened in the build-up to Gyokeres’ first goal.

Saka had an opportunity to score in the first half, which came from a simple through ball from Arsenal’s full-back, Piero Hincapie. Just before Hincapie strikes the ball, you can see Spence point at Saka but he is behind Van de Ven. Spence should take control of the situation because he can see everything. Saka sneaks in between the pair and Guglielmo Vicario makes a drastic save.

The exact same failings happened on the opposite side of the pitch. Joao Palhinha jumps up from his position as the right-sided centre-back to challenge Hincapie. Gyokeres drifts into the space he left, receives the ball and drives at an isolated Radu Dragusin before whipping a shot which flies just past the post. There is no need for Palhinha to step out and overcommit.

It is remarkable that Spurs have played Arsenal twice this season and lined up with a back three on both occasions but conceded eight goals on aggregate.

Sloppiness in possession

Xavi Simons has been one of Tottenham’s best players over the last couple of months but he was anonymous against Arsenal. The Netherlands international was dispossessed seven times — the most of any player in a Premier League game this season.

There were lots of sloppy passes and he was lucky not to be punished in the first half when he gave the ball away to Leandro Trossard on the edge of the box. Simons often found himself crowded out by Arsenal’s defenders because nobody was supporting him.

This was a common theme throughout. Spurs made bad decisions on the ball or lost it cheaply due to a lack of options. Spence was given a warning sign in the 59th minute when he lost the ball to Cristhian Mosquera deep in his own half and the move led to Vicario denying Saka. Spence was surrounded by Mosquera, Saka and Eze and should have passed the ball to Van de Ven but he was put into that difficult situation by a poor pass from Palhinha. Spence found himself in a similar position and lost the ball in the build-up to Arsenal’s fourth goal.

Dragusin’s bizarre header towards Yves Bissouma that led to Eze’s second goal was another scenario where Spurs showed a lack of composure in possession.

Arguably the worst example came just before half-time. Bissouma and Spence stole the ball from Saka, found Xavi and he popped it off to Conor Gallagher. Martin Zubimendi is cutting off a return pass to Simons and no one else is prepared to help Gallagher out. A backwards pass to Pape Matar Sarr is laced with risk because of Timber’s presence. Gallagher ends up spinning in a circle before he is surrounded by Trossard, Saka and Timber. Bissouma and Spence are occupying the same space.

It is no wonder that Tudor said: “Even with the ball, a lack of confidence is very evident in the team,” after the game.

Inability to take control

Tottenham have struggled all season to find a natural rhythm to their Premier League matches. Compared to their Champions League performances, where Spurs have shown levels of control throughout the league phase, against admittedly inferior opposition, Tottenham have inexplicably wavered between turgid and chaotic. Despite the managerial change, the north London derby defeat was another example — adding to a list that includes both fixtures against Newcastle United, defeats by Bournemouth and Fulham, and a home draw against Manchester City — of a heart-in-mouth affair from the first whistle.

Granted, Arsenal are the league leaders, and not every team will be as adept at picking apart Tottenham’s defence, but there were alarming signs in the opening minutes that a lack of structure was there to be exploited. Tudor may have been pleased with the man-to-man approach, with the Croatian detailing his desire to see the team be aggressive and front-footed in his early interviews as Spurs boss, but Arsenal rotated around Spurs’ defence to great effect, with Saka’s running in behind giving David Raya an attractive option to play long.

Vicario rushing out to prevent Saka from breaking through on a one-v-one and heading the ball towards Trossard, causing a scramble in the box, signalled yet another game where Spurs seemed frazzled from the start.

In Tudor’s defence, he’s working with a severely injury-depleted side. Competing against a near-full-strength Arsenal without three-quarters of what you might expect to be his ideal starting line-up is a mountainous challenge for any coach, never mind one taking his first game in charge. Those conditions perhaps lend themselves to chaos, and there were moments in the first half, notably Kolo Muani’s goal and Gabriel’s pull on the French striker on the edge of the box, which was waved away by the referee, where Spurs’ chaotic approach in forward areas granted potential goalscoring opportunities.

Whether it was a tactical decision by Frank or not, Spurs’ willingness to throw players forward late in games has rescued results on several occasions — and it goes some way toward explaining why Cristian Romero has five goals and four assists in the league and the Champions League this term. But while “control” for Premier League clubs is perhaps more difficult to attain now than ever, Spurs must do a better job at limiting their habit of inviting chaos in matches.

Lack of tactical and emotional discipline

Few will dispute Van de Ven’s world-class ability to recover, but occasionally his electric pace cannot compensate for positioning errors or broader structural issues. On the other side, Palhinha’s tackling ability can result in unlikely turnovers, allowing for fast break opportunities — but it can also leave him out of position, with quick forwards running in behind. That’s why a habit of tactical indiscipline, which plagued the latter months of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure in the league and became more prominent from November onwards under Frank, must be ironed out by Tudor.

In the build-up to Arsenal’s first goal, Spurs had an identifiable defensive shape, with all three of the opposition’s attacking bodies in the box accounted for.

Then, when Saka beat Sarr on the right wing and approached the box to cross, Kolo Muani left Eze to drift into danger, with the ball finding the England international to score. If Tottenham are to improve defensively under the new coach, they cannot afford players to take their eye off their assignments.

There is also the wider issue of discipline as a whole, with Spurs leading the league in discipline points (75), 10 more than Brighton & Hove Albion in second. Tottenham added to their total with three yellow cards against Arsenal, slightly above their league-worst average of 2.44 per game. Tudor will no doubt be keen to ensure Spurs do not lose any more players to suspension, with Romero still serving a four-match ban having received his second red card of the season in the 2-0 defeat by Manchester United.

Failure to prevent shots from the edge of the box

Just when we thought long-distance shooting was a thing of the past, shots from outside the box have spiked this season, with a notable increase in their overperformance compared to xG.

Arsenal’s shortest away trip of the season felt, going into the game, like their biggest test so far.

Reeling after sloppy performances had seen them throw away four points at Brentford and Wolves, Arsenal were under serious pressure and faced a side hoping to benefit from football’s fabled ‘new manager bounce‘.

Part of the problem of facing a side with a new manager, of course, is that you can’t be entirely certain how they will play. But Arsenal seemed well prepared for the new approach of Tottenham Hotspur interim head coach Igor Tudor, which was largely about man-marking in midfield. In fact, Arsenal seemed more comfortable with Spurs’ approach than Spurs did themselves.

Spurs’ basic shape was a 5-3-2 without possession, which featured Xavi Simons roughly playing in a front two with Randal Kolo Muani. Sometimes, formations don’t matter too much when a side is using man-marking, because the formation is essentially dictated by the formation of the opposition.

But Spurs’ problem throughout the game was the situation below: the Arsenal full-backs, particularly right-back Jurrien Timber, had no direct opponents. Everything stemmed from this.

Here’s the first example. Arsenal are playing out from defence, and Timber is free. Djed Spence has to push forward and close him down, but he’s too late to put any pressure on Timber, who plays it on to Bukayo Saka. This then drags Micky van de Ven out from the back, opening up the entire left half of Spurs’ defence. Eberechi Eze looks to run into that space. This set the tone.

Saka had his best game in several months, largely because he was afforded so much space. Here, Arsenal again look to play out to Timber, but Spence pushes up and closes him down. So David Raya instead launches an excellent ball downfield. Saka has drawn Van de Ven wide, then runs in behind him, and Guglielmo Vicario has to sprint off his line and head clear, to prevent Saka reaching the ball first.

Here’s another example. Timber is again free as Arsenal build from the back. Spence is again simply too deep to put serious pressure on him, and is easily bypassed as Timber plays the ball to Saka. Van de Ven is now acting as a left-back, and there’s huge space between him and the other defenders. Eze again looks to run into that space, but Saka can’t quite find the angle to slip him in.

Another typical example here. This is a strange one — Spence essentially presses too wide, and Timber simply takes a touch inside and goes past him. This means Pape Matar Sarr has to jump forward and close down Timber. Again, Eze is free to run into space, and if Timber had passed right, Saka and Eze would be overloading Van de Ven, who looked uncomfortable throughout the game with how much space he had to cover.

Tottenham’s sluggish press was the main reason Viktor Gyokeres suddenly looked like a world-beater, as the same was happening on the other flank. Piero Hincapie was free for a pass from Declan Rice, Joao Palhinha had to jump forward and close him down — inevitably, too late to prevent being bypassed — and this left Gyokeres able to find space on the outside.

He looked very sharp here, but look at the amount of space he has when cutting past Radu Dragusin — there’s no other defender close to the Romanian.

Then came Arsenal’s opener. Timber is again free. Spence shuts him down, but Saka is free out wide. Van de Ven doesn’t want to venture out there, so tells Sarr to move out and close down Saka. Sarr looks reluctant, and checks over his shoulder to note the situation in his midfield position. He half-tackles Saka, but Saka emerges with the ball, and this drags Yves Bissouma over to help out. Two central midfielders are almost at left-back, leaving various Arsenal players free for a cut-back. Eventually, Eze is the player to turn the ball home and give Arsenal the lead.

Spurs seemed to change their press at points. Here, Timber receives possession and it’s Sarr who moves out from midfield to shut him down. Van de Van is now the one tracking Eze, and Spence is on Saka. This probably made more sense, although it’s worth looking at how empty the centre of the pitch is, and how much space there is to get the ball directly into Gyokeres.

A few minutes later, Spurs went back to the previous approach. Spence was consistently too far away to put pressure on Timber, and this move was so easy for Arsenal — Van de Ven was too far from Eze to prevent him poking the ball in behind for Saka, although the pass slightly spun away from him, and Sarr was able to recover.

Throughout all this, it was never entirely clear what Simons was offering without the ball — one possible solution would have been for him to shift left into a 5-4-1, and focus on nullifying his compatriot Timber.

Saka, meanwhile, was causing all sorts of problems — here’s a second direct pass from deep, this time from the eternally unmarked Hincapie. Vicario has to save.

Into the second half, and the same old problems.

Here, Timber is free. Spence moves out towards him, but simply gets bypassed and Saka gets the ball on the outside. Van de Ven goes across, but so do Sarr and Bissouma. Spurs end up with four players primarily concerned with Saka, and — just like in the reverse fixture — Eze is free on the edge. Rice nods down the cross towards him, but Kolo Muani — the centre-forward — nips in to intervene.

Then came the second goal, which felt incredibly simple. No intricate build-up needed here — it was just Timber free, and able to play the ball directly into a zone where both Eze and Gyokeres were positioned. Eze got in the way of Dragusin, and Gyokeres was free to curl the ball home.

Spurs’ problems continued throughout the second half — Eze’s next goal came when Arsenal won the ball high, and the game was over by the time Gyokeres added a late fourth.

It was clearly a hugely impressive performance from Arsenal, with the individual displays from Saka and Gyokeres particularly encouraging.

One reason for caution, however, is that no other Premier League side will afford them this much space. Spurs didn’t really understand how to play Tudor’s system. They were never going to be fluent, in his first game in charge, against the league leaders — but in their current situation, they can’t afford any more matches like this.

Tottenham Hotspur knew it was going to be difficult to beat Arsenal on Sunday. Head coach Igor Tudor had only five days to work with the squad after replacing Thomas Frank on an interim basis until the end of the season. Tudor achieved success in previous short-term roles at Lazio, Juventus and Udinese by employing a 3-4-2-1 formation, but how would he implement it at Spurs with so many key players unavailable through injury or suspension?

To make matters worse, club-record signing Dominic Solanke struggled to train during the week due to a sore throat, while league leaders Arsenal were desperate to respond after dropping points at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Wednesday.

So, with everything that has happened over the past two weeks, Spurs deserve a lot of praise for their first-half performance against Arsenal.

However, it is still embarrassing to lose 4-1 to your bitter rivals.

Many fans will find it unforgivable that it has happened twice in the same season. For Eberechi Eze to be the architect of their misery again, after he rejected a move to Spurs last summer to rejoin his boyhood club, makes it even more infuriating.

The atmosphere at the stadium has been toxic for months, but Frank’s dismissal seems to have temporarily solved that issue, which is one positive. Stadium announcer Paul Coyte gave a rousing speech before kick-off, a tifo was unveiled in the South Stand, and the crowd roared when a pre-match video described Spurs as “north London originals”.

When Micky van de Ven disrupted an Arsenal attack by smashing the ball into the stands in the opening minute, all of the fans jumped to their feet. If they were disinterested in Frank’s final game, which was a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United less than two weeks ago, they looked and sounded reenergised. Tudor’s side have to capitalise on this connection in their remaining 11 league games.

Spurs started slowly but grew into the game. Frank repeatedly praised their resilience and ability to respond to setbacks during his reign, but that mainly happened in away matches. Spurs have only won two of their 14 fixtures at home in the league this season. They tend to wilt under the pressure, but Randal Kolo Muani equalised 122 seconds after Eze gave Arsenal a first-half lead. There is a long way to go until the squad and the fans have repaired their relationship, but on Sunday they were both fired up and brought the best out of each other.

The Athletic predicted Kolo Muani could benefit from Tudor’s arrival, as they worked together at Juventus, and he looked rejuvenated. The France international scored his first goal in what was his 19th appearance in the Premier League. Kolo Muani’s speed is his biggest asset and there were multiple occasions in the first half where Gabriel had to take extreme measures to slow him down.

Tudor refused to give a detailed answer on Kolo Muani’s disallowed goal in the second half, but at the time, he made a motion on the touchline which suggested he thought Gabriel had gone down softly. Spurs should feel aggrieved because it was a similar situation to the goal Hugo Ekitike scored for Liverpool against Tottenham in December. It happened at a crucial moment and Spurs could have capitalised on Arsenal’s nervousness around letting another lead slip.

However, what took place during the rest of the game will have made Tudor realise the scale of the challenge he faces. Viktor Gyokeres gained the upper hand in his battle with Radu Dragusin, while Eze ran through the midfield unopposed every time he received the ball.

Bukayo Saka weaved past his international team-mate Djed Spence and also Micky van de Ven. When Spence moved over to right-back towards the end of the game, he tried to dribble past multiple players and was dispossessed in the build-up to Gyokeres’ second goal.

Xavi Simons has been Tottenham’s most consistent performer over the past couple of months, but he had barely any impact along with Conor Gallagher and Pape Matar Sarr. Spurs were set up in a 5-3-2 formation out of possession, but looked vulnerable defensively throughout. Dragusin blocked a header from Gyokeres that was bouncing into the bottom corner in the third minute.

Frank never trusted Yves Bissouma and he played like he had a point to prove against Arsenal. He played with a tenacity and focus that have been missing too often throughout his time with Spurs, but he was caught out in the build-up to Arsenal’s third goal as Eze pinched the ball off his toes. Tudor said there is a “big gap in this specific moment between the two teams” and “a lack of confidence is very evident”.

“I’m very sad and very angry and everything, but in one way it is also good to understand where is our goal,” Tudor added. “What is the goal of this club. What is the goal of this team. What is the goal of this coach, these players, this staff. To become serious. Serious, not just a group of 20 players, and the medicine is you look in the mirror. Each of us look in the mirror and really try, really start to change the habits. Working hard is the only way.”

Spurs have only had a few training sessions with Tudor. He has a track record of making an immediate impact, but this was the worst possible game to start with. The north London derby will never be a free hit, but it is difficult to recall any time in the past decade when expectations were so low heading into this fixture.

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.

This was the round where Arsenal answered a few critics with another 4-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool boosted their Champions League prospects with a smash-and-grab win at Nottingham Forest, moving them level on points with Chelsea, who stuttered at home to Burnley.

We will ask whether talk over Arsenal’s supposed fragile mentality is valid, question just how much trouble Spurs are in and ponder what on earth has happened to Crystal Palace.

Will Arsenal’s ability or mentality decide the title?

Questions keep being asked of Mikel Arteta’s team and, in their own time, they just about keep answering them.

One month ago, after losing at home against Manchester United and going three league games without a win, their title challenge had hit the rocks, they looked mentally weak and were playing football in treacle.

How did they respond? With emphatic victories over two tough opponents in Sunderland and Leeds United.

In recent days, they have been barracked — not without cause — from all quarters after letting a two-goal lead slip against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team on track to be one of the worst in Premier League history.

This time, Arsenal’s answer was to dish out yet another north London derby hiding to Spurs, repeating their 4-1 victory from earlier in the season.

There is definitely an element of ‘it’s only Spurs’, given how dreadful Igor Tudor’s new team were. As Declan Rice had correctly suggested in the build-up, a derby against struggling opponents was the ideal follow-up match after the midweek slump at Wolves.

But given how another individual mistake from an Arsenal player, this time Rice, gifted Randal Kolo Muani the opportunity to equalise in the first half, Arsenal deserve credit for showing the mental fortitude to overcome adversity and reclaim their five-point lead at the top.

They have not been in imperious form this year — four wins, four draws and one defeat from nine league matches in 2026 — but evidence is starting to stack up that mentality is less the question that Arsenal have to answer this season. It’s just about whether they’re good enough to stave off Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s mind games have started in earnest. His call for City’s players to have a few days of cocktails and “enjoy life” could not be more at odds with Mikel Arteta’s “go and do something else” rallying cry on Friday, when stating that if his players couldn’t handle the “noise”, they should play for a different club.

Life feels intense at Arsenal right now, what with team meetings and firm chats after the Wolves debacle, but that’s the course Arteta has plotted.

Even the Tottenham stadium announcer played the mentality card, shouting that Arsenal were “worried” and “nervous as hell” before kick-off, but it increasingly feels that Arsenal’s fluidity from open play, for example, is far more relevant than how much bottle they’ve got.

Was it really mentality that saw them put in such a stodgy performance at Wolves? Or were they just very poor from open play? Conversely, at Spurs, was it a sudden newfound winning mentality that led to them winning so comfortably, or was is Bukayo Saka being back in his best position on the pitch to set up the opener, or Viktor Gyokeres finding his shooting boots (with help from flat-footed defenders) with probably his best performance and certainly his best day in an Arsenal shirt?

And then Eberechi Eze, with, remarkably, his first shots on target in the league since his hat-trick in the reverse fixture, produced his best form in months and cut through a desperately fragile Spurs midfield.

It all came together on one of Arsenal’s best days of the season. Finding that rhythm and flow in attacking positions is the key to them winning the Premier League.

Are Spurs the worst team in the league right now?

“Thinking about relegation doesn’t bring you anything to anybody.”

Tudor may not want to think about it, but Tottenham fans may be thinking about little else until their team starts winning again.

Spurs actually had a better weekend than many of their long-suffering supporters will have probably expected. Sure, they lost the derby, no surprise there, but Forest losing in stoppage time against Liverpool and West Ham United failing to beat Bournemouth were two very good results for Tottenham, who faced being in 17th and only two points above relegation had everything gone against them this weekend.

Relegation remains a distinct possibility and while we can’t judge the ‘Croatian Sam Allardyce’ on this performance alone, there will be concerns Spurs have not shown an instant improvement simply because Thomas Frank has left.

“The team is full of problems,” Tudor added, in the understatement of the weekend.

His usual approach of ranting, raving and generally firing rockets at players to get them to perform may have to be quelled a touch here, given how utterly bereft of confidence his new team look.

You also have to question whether his preferred three-at-the-back formation is necessary, seeing as Spurs don’t have enough defenders or wing-backs to play that system. Joao Palhinha at centre-back and Archie Gray at wing-back don’t feel like solutions to the squad’s injury problems.

A rare glimpse of positivity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the atmosphere was briefly flavoured by hope and optimism before kick-off, soon dissipated and when the clock turned to 90 minutes, the stands were almost empty.

Nine league games in 2026, no wins, four draws, 18 goals conceded… is there a team playing worse in the league? The form table says no (their nine-game record is three points worse than anyone else, with Burnley and Wolves on seven points). Spurs’ trajectory is heading towards the Championship.

They were inept in the second half against Arsenal, second in every facet of the game. Home games against Forest and Crystal Palace in March loom large. If Tudor can’t inspire improvements by then, the relegation question could become unavoidable.

How sad is Glasner’s fallout with fans?

“The biggest success is not lifting a trophy, it’s that we could give tens of thousands of our fans, south Londoners, a moment for their life — we could give them great times.”

That was Oliver Glasner after guiding Crystal Palace to FA Cup glory last year. It was an emotional press conference on an incredible day. Glasner spoke warmly of giving their supporters a break from the troubles and woes of regular life, giving them joy and happiness for a couple of hours a week. Yep, honestly, Crystal Palace.

Eight months later, a banner unfurled at Selhurst Park on Sunday read: “Fans disrespected — Glasner finished.”

A fortuitous 1-0 win over Wolves, aided by the visitors missing a penalty and having a man sent off, ended Palace’s long wait for a first home win since November, but did nothing to improve relations between Glasner and Palace fans.

They called for him to be sacked last week, he told them to stay humble. It’s all got a bit ugly.

There can still be a happy ending here if, say, Palace win the Conference League, but that looks increasingly less likely. The disintegration of Palace and the relationship between Glasner and the club’s supporters is one of the saddest stories of the season.

Coming up this week

For Arsenal, it was the perfect way to breathe fresh life into their Premier League title charge. For Tottenham Hotspur, a damaging defeat against their north London rivals leaves them worryingly close to the drop zone.

Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze both scored twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to send Mikel Arteta’s side five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

Arsenal started the brighter side, but their momentum was punctured after communication problems with the match officials led to a six-minute delay.

Eze eventually put Arsenal in front in the 32nd minute, with a right-footed finish after the ball sat up nicely for him following good work by Bukayo Saka. Declan Rice immediately called an on-pitch team meeting to encourage his side to keep their heads, but the England midfielder’s error in possession led to Randal Kolo Muani equalising just two minutes after that opener. It was the Frenchman’s first Premier League goal since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

But Spurs were second-best in Igor Tudor’s first game in charge since replacing Thomas Frank. Arsenal responded in style in the second half, with Gyokeres arrowing home a shot from the edge of the area in the 47th minute. Spurs were frustrated in the 53rd minute when Kolo Muani had the ball in the back of the net for a second time, but he was judged to have pushed Gabriel. Eze gave Arsenal further breathing space in the 61st minute as he made it eight goals in five games against Spurs, the side who tried to sign him last summer.

Gyokeres made sure of the win by running onto a ball and finishing past Guglielmo Vicario in the 94th minute.

Here, Jay Harris, Elias Burke, Art de Roche and Conor O’Neill analyse the key talking points.

How did Eze make his mark again?

For this season at least, the north London derby belongs to Eze. The 27-year-old scored five goals from these two matches.

There seemed to be an element of fate hanging over the match — Eze was named in a starting line-up for just the second league game this calendar year, and his first shot on target since November’s meeting between the sides opened the scoring.

This was a massive chance for Eze. He has not always looked his confident self, but that conviction grew during the game.

For the first time in months in the Premier League, he displayed the feints, nutmegs and quick passes around the corner that make him such a joy to watch.

That confidence seemed to be contagious, as those across the front line were equally impressive throughout.

Gyokeres’ powerful first strike was jaw-dropping, but his all-round performance was much improved even before the goal.

Early in the match, he attacked the left channel to unsettle Spurs’ back line and brought others into play nicely as his side gained control. In the second half, a quick one-two created the opening for Arsenal’s third goal. He returned to the same area to score his second of the game, rounding off his performance nicely.

This might be the blueprint for a true centre-forward display from Gyokeres (illustrated below in his player dashboard). Arteta will also be pleased that his front four functioned well as a whole, not just because of his two scorers.

Saka always performs well against Spurs, with direct goal involvements against them in each of the past five seasons, but he needed to be sharp from the off. Djed Spence was touch-tight within minutes of the kick-off, and Saka was fouled four times inside the opening half-hour, but Arsenal’s captain for the day kept going and was the reason Eze had a chance to open the scoring.

With Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz on their way back from injury, Arteta's options going forward will be a great source of encouragement.

The Arsenal manager got the make-up of his front four right this evening, and will hope the injury that forced Saka off late on will not prevent him from maximising those options in the final 10 league matches of the season.

Art de Roche

What was Rice's mistake for Spurs' equaliser?

Arteta said Arsenal only had themselves to blame after their 2-2 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and that was the case again with Spurs’ equaliser, which came just 24 seconds after the restart from Eze’s opener.

Rice could be seen imploring his team-mates to focus as they celebrated, but his involvement in Kolo Muani’s goal highlighted how actions speak louder than words.

The England midfielder did well to intercept the initial pass…

… but just outside his own penalty box with two Spurs players bearing down on him, the 27-year-old should have known it was no place to take on an opponent.

Kolo Muani robbed Rice of the ball and drove into the area before firing into the net.

Rice could be seen apologising to his team-mates afterwards.

That was Arsenal’s fifth error leading to a Premier League goal this season. Four of those have been in 2026 — joint-most with Aston Villa since the turn of the year.

Of those five errors, both against Spurs came from staying on the ball too long, two were from loose passes, and the other from a misjudged cross. Most of these seem to come from players not being aware of their surroundings, which brings their overall concentration into question.

Rice was not the only player guilty of making an error that provided Spurs with an opening.

Arsenal started the game well, having five shots to Spurs' zero in the opening 20 minutes. In the 10 minutes between then and Eze’s goal, however, each member of their back line gifted possession to Tottenham and helped them back into the game.

These issues have been holding Arsenal back for weeks. The longer those mistakes occur after they go ahead, the harder it will be for Arteta's side to maintain their lead in the title race against Manchester City.

Thankfully for Arsenal, it did not matter on Sunday. Arteta will be pleased by their reaction after the break. Before the game, he spoke of the need for his team to keep the ball for extended periods to help kill games off, and they did that well.

David Raya also showed that, even after his mistake in midweek, his contributions will be vital. Earlier in the season, Raya made many saves at vital moments to either keep Arsenal level or ahead. This time, it helped them extend their lead.

Art de Roche

What was Spurs' post-Frank atmosphere like?

Frank never connected with the Spurs fan base and boos became a regular sound at home and away games. Spurs only won two of their 13 home league games during the former Brentford coach's brief time in charge.

The atmosphere felt completely different on Sunday. Former Spurs winger David Ginola was a guest on television for foreign media and he was warmly applauded before kick-off, before stadium announcer Paul Coyte gave a rousing speech. A pre-match video on the big screens was greeted with a roar when Spurs were described as "north London originals", while there was an impressive tifo (banner) in the South Stand.

Spurs fans roared when Micky van de Ven clattered the ball into the stands in the opening minute and booed every time Eze, who they unsuccessfully tried to sign in the summer, touched the ball. They chanted Dele Alli’s name and gave their former midfielder a moving reception at half-time when he was interviewed on the pitch.

In the 23rd minute, Yves Bissouma charged down Eze and Leandro Trossard from an Arsenal free kick, which was cleared. He did something similar 60 seconds later, won a foul from Piero Hincapie and the crowd went wild. It felt like the fans had been liberated following Frank’s dismissal and were full of enthusiasm and energy again.

Crucially, they did not drop their heads after Eze opened the scoring, and the reaction to Kolo Muani’s equaliser was stirring.

The fans were slightly more subdued in the second half, especially as Arsenal went ahead so early, but the exodus only began when Gyokeres scored their rivals' fourth.

Jay Harris

Did Tudor change anything for Spurs?

With only 12 games to make his mark, Tudor has little time to implement sweeping tactical changes in an injury-depleted squad.

But he did instigate a change in shape here, with Tottenham lining up in the Croatian’s preferred 3-5-2 formation. As in the reverse fixture, however, the gap in quality meant they ceded almost total control and struggled to impose any on-ball identity. They had just 28 per cent possession in the first half, their lowest in any game this season.

The share was more balanced in the second half (illustrated by the game-end stats above) but Spurs remained narrow and compact, intent on limiting Arsenal through the middle. Despite Arsenal’s dominance, Spurs showed aggression without the ball. This was most evident in their attempts to lock down Saka, with Tottenham’s players sprinting out to swarm him whenever he received possession out wide.

A player of Saka’s quality can only be shackled for so long, though. His persistence down the right eventually paid off when he wriggled past Pape Matar Sarr and teed up Eze for the opener.

Tottenham’s tenacity was not just confined to their defenders, as shown when Kolo Muani picked Rice’s pocket for the equaliser.

There is no secret tactical formula capable of bridging the gulf between an injury-hit side fighting relegation and a title contender, and that showed in the emphatic scoreline. But Tudor will take some encouragement from Spurs' improved intensity. Their previous passivity ultimately cost Frank his job.

Tottenham fans will hope that, if that effort can be sustained for their remaining 11 games, it helps steer them clear of relegation trouble.

Conor O'Neill

What does this mean for the title race and relegation fight?

A trip to their north London rivals with a buoyant crowd and a new manager in charge was a potential banana skin for Arsenal.

But their quality shone through in what was their fifth successive win against Spurs. With another London derby coming up — they host Chelsea next Sunday — their performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium took them five points clear of Manchester City and provided a timely confidence booster.

At the opposite end of the table, the defeat leaves Tottenham just four points above West Ham United in 18th. Spurs are yet to win a league game in 2026 and have lost three on the bounce. Next Sunday, they are away to Fulham, who impressed with a 3-1 win over Sunderland today, a week before hosting Crystal Palace, the last team to lose against Spurs in the league.

Perhaps Tudor will take some encouragement from Kolo Muani finally opening his Premier League account for Spurs, but relegation remains a real prospect for a club that has not played second-tier football since the 1970s.

Elias Burke

What did Tudor say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Spurs interim head coach admitted morale was low. “We need to come out from this moment,” Tudor said. “The only way is work, stay quiet, stay humble, stay where we are now and look at the future. Growing day by day, week by week.

“I'm sad because it was not good enough. Arsenal was much better. There is too much of a gap between the two teams. It's good to see this kind of team at the start — to show us where we need to be. It's about work, to work hard because we struggle in a lot of things.

“We need to run more, we need to play better, we need to defend better, we need to win duels, second duels, second balls.

“We prepared these four, five days but they were faster, even I can say that the players showed the passion, they wanted to run, but we pressed high. They (Arsenal) believe more, that is the key in the end. And that's it, so take the lessons.”

What did Arteta say?

In contrast, the Arsenal manager was unsurprisingly full of praise, claiming he always expected his players to respond positively to the 2-2 draw against Wolves. “I saw the reaction and what it means,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “When it’s a job, you don’t react like this — but when it’s your passion, and you love the game so much, that’s something else and it hurts you in a different way. I know what it means to them and how much they want it.

“You rewatch the game against Wolves (and think), ‘How the hell do you drop two points there?’. Nobody can explain it. But this is the beauty of it. It looks like it's the end of the world — but the attitude, the desire and dominance we showed today was really impressive. I’m really happy.

Arteta also thought it was Gyokeres' best performance since joining in the summer, adding that “his overall play was incredible”.

What next for Spurs?

Sunday, March 1: Fulham (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

What next for Arsenal?

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are level at half time in the north London derby in the Premier League.

An Eberechi Eze volley on 32 minutes put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead, before Randal Kolo Muani equalised after stealing the ball off Declan Rice just two minutes later.

Mikel Arteta’s league leaders are looking for a response to their disappointing midweek draw at bottom side Wolves. Tottenham, under newly appointed interim manager Igor Tudor, are fighting to avoid relegation after a disastrous season so far.

How to watch: Sky Sports (UK), USA Network (U.S.)

Share your thoughts: live@theathletic.com

Subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here.

Little hiding how much Arsenal had of that first half, but Tottenham won’t feel like they are out of the hunt for a win here. They’ll just need to be much more efficient than their visitors.

HT: Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal

Possession %: 27 — 73

Shots: 2 — 12

On target: 1 — 3

XG: 0.29 — 1.00

Big chances: 0 — 3

Blocked shots: 1 — 5

Touches in opposition box: 1 — 29

Duels won: 27 — 31

Dispossessed: 7 — 8

Getting into the Arsenal box would help too, of course.

There have been some interesting battles out there but the bright start from Bukayo Saka was something to behold.

He has been on some mazy runs and has caused problems today — can he be the difference in the second half?

Declan Rice, in particular, will not want to see that Spurs goal again.

His error in dallying on the ball allowed Kolo Muani to steal in and slam the ball home for the equaliser.

And that was just moments after the midfielder had called his team mates together to call for calm heads following Eze’s opener. Jinxed.

Gabriel is a touch fortunate to get away with that incident on Randal Kolo Muani.

The French striker was chasing down an Archie Gray lofted pass behind the Arsenal defender, which would have put him in on goal, when Gabriel — focused on Kolo Muani’s run — pulled his arm across the Spurs striker, forcing him down.

Had the referee decided it was a foul, it would have almost certainly been a red card for the Arsenal No 6.

A lengthy amount of added time here after those issues with the officials’ technology earlier. Eight minutes in total.

Meanwhile, it appears Declan Rice was the one pointing to his head and shouting at his team-mates immediately after Eberechi Eze scored — trying to remind his colleagues to not do anything stupid now they were ahead.

A few seconds later, Rice was the one losing the ball in his own defensive third as Spurs equalised.

The hands went up in apology pretty quickly after that.

Credit again to Radu Dragusin here, who’s had an impressive first half.

After recovering from an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for almost a year, the Romania international centre-back has played more minutes than anyone expected with injury and suspension issues across the backline.

Since returning to the team, he’s proven he can be relied upon.

It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.

But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.

A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.

It’s been a good response from Arsenal since the equaliser, and Leandro Trossard was within a few inches of rolling the ball the right side of the far post.

But Conor Gallagher’s involvement in the game is growing too, and this match is bubbling away very nicely right now.

A little bit of admin too. Archie Gray was booked in the aftermath of Spurs’ goal for kicking the ball away.

Arsenal had control of the first 20 minutes of this match, but errors from each player in their backline and now Declan Rice have given Spurs a way back into the game.

That has been a theme of too many of their matches since the turn of the year, and when so many come in one half, punishment will come as a result.

They worked their opener well, but that work has been undermined.

Bukayo Saka makes it by his change of pace on the right, beating Pape Matar Sarr and pulling the ball back.

The first touch from Eze loops the ball up, and the second volleys home from about eight yards.

Lovely composed finish, that.

The north London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal was delayed for six minutes on Sunday due a technical issue with one of the match officials’ communication devices.

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres fired a shot wide of Guglielmo Vicario’s post in the seventh minute of the game before referee Peter Bankes brought a halt to proceedings. The assistant referee on the far side of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium appeared to have issues with his communication and the game was paused for several minutes.

Bankes went over to explain the situation to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose side had started brighter and were in control of the game through the opening phases.

The match was eventually restarted with a goal kick in the 13th minute and eight minutes were added on in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville described the situation as an “absolute shambles” on the broadcast.

“This is ridiculous, the whole game cannot stop just because of an IT issue — this is an absolute nonsense, one of the most important games of the season and the players all now have to reset,” said Neville.

“This is an absolute nonsense. One of the most important games of the season, fantastic start to it, really quick. And we’re now two or three minutes stopped, players having to sort of re-warm up again, reset. Absolute shambles.”

Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with his fourth goal against Spurs this season before Randal Kolo Muani scored the equaliser two minutes later.

Arsenal look to get their title charge back on track on Sunday afternoon when they travel up the Seven Sisters Road to take on north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The gap at the top is now just two points after Manchester City fought their way past Newcastle United on Saturday night.

Spurs may be languishing towards the bottom of the Premier League, but with a new interim manager in the form of Igor Tudor, could they cause an upset?

The Athletic’s Jay Harris and Art de Roche — Spurs and Arsenal correspondents respectively — look ahead to the match…

How is the mood among the fans going in to this derby…?

Harris: Morale has been low as Tottenham’s fanbase struggle to come to terms with the reality that they are in a relegation battle. Last season’s calamitous performances in the Premier League were supposed to be a one-off.

The atmosphere at the stadium has been toxic for months and Arsenal’s arrival on Sunday had been filling supporters with dread. That gloom should be lifted at least slightly following Thomas Frank’s dismissal last week. Frank failed to bond with the fans but they will back interim head coach Tudor.

The Croatian spoke about playing “offensive football” in his first interview with the club and those words have been a welcome tonic for supporters who quickly grew sick of Frank’s pragmatic tactics.

Arsenal’s midweek slip at Wolves will also give hope that Spurs can get something here after all.

De Roche: Morale is similarly low among Arsenal supporters. That midweek draw dented hopes of finally lifting the Premier League, and ultimately, brought back a familiar and foreboding feeling ahead of the run-in.

If ever there was a game to act as a pick-me-up for the fanbase, this would be it. The north London derby is significant no matter the gap between the teams in the league, and the away support will have fond recent memories of these encounters with Arsenal winning their last three at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There is no doubt that the home crowd will take joy from pointing out Arsenal’s midweek hiccup early on, but that could be exactly what Mikel Arteta’s players need to hear to get into gear. Not just this weekend, but for the rest of the season too.

What are the aims for the rest of the season?

Harris: Spurs need to start picking up points quickly to move away from the relegation zone. They are yet to win a league game in 2026 and have only tasted victory twice in their last 17 league fixtures. Spurs are struggling to cope with an injury crisis for the second season in a row and it will be a difficult task for Tudor to arrest their plummeting form. Tudor confirmed in his first press conference on Friday that only 13 senior players took part in training before this match.

Frank managed to guide them to a fourth-placed finish in the initial phase of the Champions League, which means they will face either Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray or Club Brugge in the last 16 next month. Depending upon your outlook, those games are either a welcome distraction from their domestic woes or an extra burden on a squad already stretched to its limit.

De Roche: Arsenal’s aims have not changed despite the disappointment at Wolves. They will still be looking to mount a charge to win the Premier League, and beyond that, at least the Carabao Cup too.

There is a feeling that they could (and maybe should) have had a bigger advantage at the top of the league, but now they know they are in a battle. There is next to no room for error now, which may be a tough task for a team which has won just two of their last seven in the league.

While results in 2026 have been frustrating, Arsenal’s schedule has been relentless. Next week will be the first time this calendar year without a midweek fixture. With Chelsea coming to the Emirates after the short trip to Spurs, this could be a pivotal week if Arsenal use it the right way.

Who has impressed you most in the opposition team this season?

Harris: Jurrien Timber is probably the best right-back in the division. He is an exceptional one-v-one defender, offers a threat going forward and is incredibly robust. It feels like all of Tottenham’s full-backs only offer one of those attributes.

In midfield, Spurs sorely miss someone with the ability of Martin Odegaard to cut opponents open with incisive passes.

De Roche: This feels like very slim pickings. Injuries are a big factor, as Dejan Kulusevski has been a player I’ve enjoyed watching in past seasons, but this year it feels like Micky van de Ven takes this by default. He seems like one of Spurs’ most reliable players, when fit, especially when alongside Cristian Romero. It probably says a lot about both teams that both picks have been defenders, though.

How do you expect your club’s manager to set up for this game?

Harris: During his time in charge of Marseille, Lazio and Juventus, Tudor largely favoured a 3-4-2-1 formation. Two No 10s would roam behind the central striker and it brought him short-term success in all of those roles. Tudor could replicate this with Spurs by putting Xavi Simons and Mathys Tel behind Dominic Solanke or Randal Kolo Muani, who thrived under Tudor at Juventus.

But Tottenham’s squad has been wrecked by injuries. Key players including Pedro Porro, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Destiny Udogie, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are unavailable.

Tudor admitted in his first interview with the club that he needs “to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment”. He has a limited amount of time to come up with the tactical approach at Spurs.

De Roche: This has become a bit more difficult to predict given that Arteta has said that there is a big possibility that Kai Havertz and Odegaard will be available after their respective injuries.

Havertz’s return from injury helped improve Arsenal’s performances towards the end of January and start of February, but he played in the position of Odegaard (and now Saka) in recent games.

Arteta could play all of them by using Odegaard in midfield, Saka on the wing and Havertz up front, or could get more creative depending on how long each can play. That trio would give Arsenal’s attack a much more familiar feel to previous seasons, which could help.

Further down the pitch, who starts at full-back now becomes an interesting decision. Timber is Arsenal’s second-most used player this season in all competitions behind Martin Zubimendi, and has not had the impact he did earlier in the season of late.

Ben White was fatigued towards the end of the FA Cup match against Wigan Athletic, but this could be a timely opportunity to bring him back into the fold to provide more attacking threat on the right. On the left, even though Piero Hincapie scored his first Arsenal goal at Wolves, Riccardo Calafiori has looked better in the role and is back fit.

Those units across the pitch could be key to Arsenal looking like a team in rhythm come Sunday.

Reason to be optimistic?

Harris: All of the pressure is on Arsenal, especially after that draw in midweek. Everybody is expecting Spurs to get rolled over because of their horrendous form, the lack of players available and what happened when these two sides met in November. But if Spurs come out fighting — and benefit from ‘new manager bounce’ — they could give Arsenal a nasty surprise.

De Roche: Arsenal have a few factors in their favour. They usually come away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with three points, they have beaten five of the six new managers they have faced this season and have a better squad than Spurs.

Application from start to finish will be a major factor in the result.

Their last three away wins over Spurs have come in different ways too. Last season was more of a smash-and-grab 1-0 win, but the previous season they were 3-0 up at half-time. There will be uncertain moments, but this particular fixture has shown Arsenal can handle wobbles. They just need to rediscover that ability after sizeable ones against Wolves and Brentford.

Reason to be pessimistic?

Harris: Spurs were embarrassed by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last year. Eberechi Eze, who Spurs tried to sign in the summer, scored a hat-trick for his boyhood club to really rub salt in the wound.

Arsenal have underperformed in the league in 2026 but they have a frightening amount of attacking talent to choose from. Radu Dragusin is still working his way back to full sharpness after missing 11 months out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and he has to contend with Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and more. Captain Romero is only one game into a four-match ban. If Tudor does go for a back three, midfielder Joao Palhinha will probably have to fill in at centre-back again, alongside Dragusin and Van de Ven.

De Roche: While Arsenal tend to do well at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, this season their away form has not been as strong as it once was.

Five of their seven draws have come away from home. Looking back to their previous title races with Manchester City, they only drew three away matches apiece in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Their two most recent away matches (Brentford and Wolves) have also ended all square despite them taking the lead. That partly comes down to matches being left open, to which Arteta said: “What we can do before that (conceding when ahead) to prevent that happening is still improvable, and in the attacking process, the first half we had very different outcomes. In the second half as well, a very, very open situation. We didn’t even finish with a chance. So, a lot of room to improve.”

How about a prediction…?

Harris: I suspect Spurs might lose but it will certainly be a tighter game than the 4-1 defeat last year. I’m going for 2-1 with Simons scoring for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur’s sporting director Johan Lange sat down with a group of reporters on Friday, including The Athletic, to reflect on a turbulent few weeks.

Spurs have not won a Premier League game in 2026 and are five points above the relegation zone. They have only two victories in their last 17 top-flight fixtures and this alarming form led to the dismissal of head coach Thomas Frank. He was sacked eight months into a three-year contract and has been replaced by former Juventus, Marseille and Lazio head coach Igor Tudor on an interim basis.

At the beginning of February, Fabio Paratici joined Italian side Fiorentina just over three months after being appointed as co-sporting director alongside Lange. Spurs signed Conor Gallagher and Souza in the winter transfer window but have suffered a series of injuries, which means their squad is in a perilous state.

Tudor said he was “100 per cent” certain that Spurs would still be in the Premier League next season but admitted it was an “emergency situation.”

Lange addressed all of those topics, and The Athletic has analysed the key talking points…

On sacking Thomas Frank

“As the leaders, we of course constantly evaluate performances, we evaluate results. And after the Newcastle game, we made the decision. Ultimately, of course, it was a board decision. But we made the decision and that was why we decided it was the right time to change (…)

“Of course, we wanted to give Thomas every opportunity to succeed, but ultimately, it’s our responsibility to make the decisions. And we came to that point where we saw the performances, the results, and then you come to that decision (…)

“I think you saw over a period of time, with the performances and the results, why we came to that conclusion.”

Lange and Frank worked together for the first time around 20 years ago at Danish second-division side B.93. They crossed paths again at Lyngby before they had individual success in English football with Aston Villa and Brentford, respectively. Unfortunately, their reunion at Spurs turned sour. They had a close bond but it was Lange and chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham who informed Frank he was losing his job.

Lange and Venkatesham offered Frank a lot of support. They surrounded him with experienced assistant coaches and gave him time to turn results around after fans became concerned following disappointing defeats by Chelsea and Arsenal in November.

Frank insisted performances were encouraging until the very end. He saw a four-match unbeaten run, which included scraping a draw against Burnley, as a positive. The club’s fans did not agree, and Lange and the rest of the board clearly felt that those results masked disappointing performances. Spurs made a habit of starting games slowly and looking better in the second half but were never convincing.

Back-to-back defeats by Manchester United and Newcastle United were the final straw for Lange, Venkatesham and the board.

On the appointment of Igor Tudor

“When you make the decision (to sack a manager during the season), it’s very important to go into a shorter process than you do if you are changing a head coach over the summer. We interviewed a few candidates, and Igor impressed us very much. Obviously, we also got some references for Igor.

“He comes in with very big experience at the highest level in football. He has shown the capabilities of coming into clubs around this time — February, March — and making an immediate impact. That was of course a very big reason. There is a big difference, if you are a coach, for example, who has only ever started a new job on July 1. You have six or seven weeks to prepare and to get to know the club.

“If you come in here on the Monday and you are playing at the weekend, you need to build relationships with the players and assess the style of the club immediately. He has shown that with great success, not only once but a few times. That is one of the reasons we believe he is the best candidate for (the club’s situation) now. But of course also with his reputation and what he’s done in his career, if things go well, he could be here for a long time.”

Tudor ticks a lot of boxes for Spurs. He has no experience of the Premier League but was an assistant coach to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in the 2020-21 season and had a seven-month spell in charge of the Italian side last year. He is accustomed to working for a club with big expectations.

During his time working with Pirlo, Juventus’ squad included Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini — as well as current Spurs players Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur and Radu Dragusin. The Athletic reported last week that Frank experienced difficulty maintaining discipline in Spurs’ squad, but Tudor has experience managing big egos.

Tudor likes to play a 3-4-2-1 system and, crucially, in previous mid-season roles at Udinese, Juventus and Lazio, it has not taken long for the squad to adapt to his ideas. Spurs considered their former striker Robbie Keane as a replacement for Frank on an interim basis and that option would have appealed to supporters. But in Tudor, they have hired someone with a track record of making an immediate impact.

Lange refused to confirm whether Spurs spoke to Paratici, who previously worked with Tudor at Juventus, during the hiring process.

On the manager position, longer-term

“(Style of play) is definitely something high up on the list. We are very ambitious to create a team that can play dominant football and that can control matches with the ball for a few reasons.

“If you look across almost every league in the world, that is how the top teams normally are successful: being able to dominate possession, create chances, be aggressive without the ball.

“Then we are also a club with a rich history of having some of the best offensive players in the world and having a very particular style of play that resonates with the history, resonates with the fans and I think that combined with having a possession-dominant, aggressive style of play, those two things go hand in hand. Of course that is something that is important for us here at the club.

(Have the club discussed permanent options? Mauricio Pochettino?) “Igor has been here for five days. Our focus right now is to get high up in the table in the league, focusing on the Champions League as well. I am not going to comment on any names that have been linked to the job.”

Lange kept his cards close to his chest, but it was important to acknowledge that hiring a manager who can implement an attractive style of football is crucial for the fans. They became disillusioned during Frank’s reign because Spurs struggled to create chances from open play and only won two of their 13 home games in the league.

Lange, Venkatesham and the rest of the board should identify the club’s preferred style of play. They should then hire a head coach who they believe can fit into that mould. For too long, Spurs have jumped between managers with different ideas, Frank and Ange Postecoglou are the prime example of that, which means there is no consistency across their recruitment. They end up with a squad consisting of players who suit different tactical systems.

Last summer, they were interested in Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Fulham head coach Marco Silva before they appointed Frank. The only thing those three had in common was that they were in charge of ‘smaller’ Premier League sides. It would be encouraging to see Spurs demonstrate a clear vision of who they target to replace Frank instead of assembling a list of talented managers with wildly different ideas.

On whether the club hierarchy deems the current situation unacceptable

“We have just changed the coach. We are very clear that we think we have a team that has the potential to do more, so the focus right now is to get higher up the table and then be super competitive in the Champions League. I am sure you have been to many great nights at the stadium in Europe over the last two seasons and it is our hope that we can create more magic moments in that tournament, but we also know that we need to get higher in the (Premier League) table.

“When you work in sports across football or individual sports, it is about focus on the performance. When you are among players or coaches, the focus is on the next training session, it is on the next game. That is the reality of working in sports. It is not talking about (but) of course we know where we want to go as a club and we can come back to that, but the focus right now is in the moment.

“When you work for a big club like Tottenham, then pressure, or what you want to call it, is part of it. I’m sitting here today because I want to take responsibility for the club, everything that comes into football. Part of being here is expectations. That is part of why it’s fantastic to be here, because if you are working for a big club, there are big expectations, but also big opportunities and big possibilities.

“If you work for a very small club, if you work for a club with fewer fans, then maybe there’s less pressure or expectation. I think we are a big club and we work with high expectations and that is what I, personally, really, really love working here because of the expectations.”

Lange has come under a lot of scrutiny in the last few weeks, so he deserves credit for speaking publicly. Lange and Tudor — who held his first press conference a couple of hours later — both skilfully skipped around the word relegation.

Lange’s desire for more “magic moments” in the Champions League is admirable, but perhaps that should be a longer-term ambition, even with next month’s round-of-16 tie against either Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Juventus or Atletico Madrid.

He is right to acknowledge that the focus has to be on climbing the Premier League table.

On transfers and Postecoglou saying Spurs don’t spend like a big club

“Now we are playing a different (Champions League) format, it means every point counts. You go into matchday eight — correct me if I’m wrong — but almost every team in the Champions League or Europa League had something to play for, whether that was better seeding or top eight. You are playing through December. Not in the beginning of January but the last part of January. You are playing two very competitive matches with the fact that not only us but a lot of teams have what they would say are too many injuries.

“It meant that in January, very few players who could make a difference for us now or in the future were available and then it’s back to the point even though the squad is too short we still have players we are unable to register for the last 16. So to bring in players that cannot help us now or we don’t believe have potential for the future, that unfortunately for me doesn’t make sense. And if you analyse all the transfers in January, I think everyone can see there were very few players available.

“That is reality and then as you say looking towards the summer the message has been clear from the owners of the club, Vinai has been on record saying this as well. I have been saying this as well and very happy to repeat it: that the sole focus of this club is to create on-pitch success. It is to be competitive across different tournaments and, very importantly, one of the ingredients in doing that is if you have a squad capable of competing on multiple fronts and we are not there yet but that is the clear vision.”

Lange refused to directly address criticism from former head coach Postecoglou and he did not give an insight into Tottenham’s long-term recruitment strategy. Spurs signed Gallagher and Souza in January but they sold Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace. At a time when Frank needed help, he was left with a squad filled with holes.

Lange’s comments in the previous section about “big opportunities” at a big club are relevant here. It sounds nice, but all of the momentum from winning last season’s Europa League was thrown away. Spurs wasted an opportunity in the aftermath by failing to land any of their first-choice transfer targets, including Morgan Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze and Antoine Semenyo (Lange also said he understood fans’ frustration with Frank’s apparent satisfaction with how close the club came to signing Semenyo, acknowledging that they wanted to see action and not words).

Lange also referenced comments Venkatesham made in the matchday programme before last month’s defeat by West Ham United about growing the wage bill to be competitive. It is encouraging that Lange and Venkatesham recognise an area where Spurs need to catch up to their rivals, but actions speak louder than words. They need to show they have learned from their mistakes this summer.

This was the first transfer window since former executive chairman Daniel Levy left in September. Paratici’s impending exit will have affected the dynamics, while Carlos Raphael Moersen has been appointed to the newly-created role of director of football operations.

It will be hoped that things will be more settled going forward.

Injuries

“What is very important to say is that on the one hand we have a short squad and on the other hand we also had players who could not be registered for European competitions because we have too many players. It is without a doubt, especially during the month of January, that we had too many injuries. Every time we played, we lost players. It’s something we are constantly reviewing with the greatest level of seriousness.

“I think if you are unpicking the injuries that we had in January, then a few of them were actually contact injuries, or I don’t know if it is the right word in English, but solo injuries. Odobert, the knee goes or Ben Davies or Lucas Bergvall or Kevin Danso — you have four of the injuries that are contact injuries/solo injuries. But of course it has been across the league that all the teams that are playing in European competition are suffering from injuries and that is something we are taking very very seriously to make sure that we, let’s say, optimise everything for less injuries and our new performance director (Dan Lewindon) started last week as well and that is just one step in that direction.”

Lange has avoided directly addressing the real issue, which is the number of soft-tissue muscle injuries that Spurs have suffered in the last couple of months. Destiny Udogie is ruled out for up to five weeks with a hamstring problem, Djed Spence missed two games with a calf issue, and Mohammed Kudus will not return until April due to a quad injury. Pedro Porro, Richarlison and Bentancur have missed a significant number of games too.

Spurs are grappling with an injury crisis for the second season in a row. The expanded Champions League and the Europa League are undoubtedly factors, but Spurs need to identify areas for improvement.

Maybe it is the consequence of a dizzying amount of change in the medical department over the last two years. It is hoped that the appointment of Lewindon will provide stability and leadership to prevent their injury list from being so severe in the future.

On Cristian Romero’s future

“Romero is here; he is our captain. He is here on a long-term contract with the club and that is my comment. We have been clear as a club that we have dealt with (his comments on social media about the club hierarchy) internally and now it is about being together, all of us, and finish the season in the best possible way in the league and in Europe.”

Before Frank was sacked, Romero was the centre of attention for his awful disciplinary record and habit of firing shots at the club hierarchy on social media. He is currently serving a four-match ban after he was sent off in the defeat by Manchester United — his fourth suspension of the season.

Lange’s stance on the club captain was understandably diplomatic. He highlights that Romero has a contract until 2029 but he does not go out of his way to compliment the centre-back. Lange has not mentioned selling the Argentina international, but he does not emphatically state a desire to keep him either. It is still unclear exactly how Romero was punished for his latest outburst on social media after the transfer window closed.

Spurs need Romero back available for the run-in, but this may be a saga that rumbles on in the background over the next few months.

A Swedish politician has compared the government’s handling of the economy to the running of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, saying Sweden is at risk of becoming “Spursy”.

Mikael Damberg, of the opposition Social Democratic Party, took aim at struggling Spurs during a debate on fiscal policy in the Swedish parliament, known as the Riksdag, on Thursday.

“I naturally think of Tottenham Hotspur, also known as Spurs, it is one of England’s most distinguished and rich clubs with an enormous stadium, dedicated and large supporter base – everything to be considered a ‘top team’,” said Damberg, who was the country’s minister for finance from October 2021 to November 2022.

“Despite this, Tottenham find themselves in crisis. They are fighting at the bottom of the table, just a few points above the relegation zone. Not because they lack resources or benefits, but because they have squandered opportunities.

“The club have been given the name ‘Spursy’, (which is) when you have opportunities but get no results. Madame Speaker, that is precisely how the minister of finance is handling the Swedish economy.

“Sweden has the power, ability and resources. We have the companies, workforce and innovation capabilities. Conditions exits for the Swedish economy to prosper.”

He added: “The government risks making Sweden ‘Spursy’. That won’t do. Sweden cannot perform like Tottenham.”

Tottenham were ninth in the latest Deloitte Money League, ranking the highest revenue-generating clubs in world football, with an estimated turnover of $672.6million (£499.3m) in 2025. The club won the Europa League in May, their first trophy in 17 years.

They are, however, currently 16th in the English top-flight, five points from the relegation zone, having finished 17th last season. Spurs host league leaders and rivals Arsenal on Sunday in their first game under interim head coach Igor Tudor, after dismissing Thomas Frank, the Croatian’s predeccessor, following a dismal start to the year.

Spurs’ two Swedish stars, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall, have boosted the club’s popularity in the Scandinavian country in recent years.