Igor Tudor is tasked with keeping Tottenham in the Premier League - his toughest firefighting mission yet.
The 47-year-old, a former centre-back for Hajduk Split, Juventus and Croatia, has agreed to become Spurs' interim head coach until the end of the season after Thomas Frank was sacked with the club five points above the bottom three.
Spurs wanted to appoint an experienced head coach who has a track record of making an immediate impact and Tudor fits that bill.
Igor Tudor agrees to become Tottenham interim head coach
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He was appointed at Juventus and Lazio in March of each of the last two seasons and stabilised results in the short term.
"If you look back over Tudor's recent career, he's been quite happy stepping into these short-term roles. I think he sees himself as a bit of a firefighter," Italian football commentator Patrick Kendrick told Sky Sports.
At Juventus, Tudor inherited a team from Thiago Motta that sat fifth in Serie A after back-to-back defeats that capped a disastrous February in which the club were knocked out of the Champions League and the Coppa Italia.
Tudor guided Juve to fourth in Serie A and sealed Champions League qualification after losing just one of his 11 games in charge. This earned the Croatian a two-year contract, although Juventus sacked him just four months later after results deteriorated.
At Lazio, Tudor took over from Marizio Sarri in March 2024 on an 18-month contract after the former Chelsea boss had resigned after a fifth defeat in six games with Lazio in ninth.
Tudor won five of his nine games as Lazio boss, losing just once, to secure a seventh-placed finish and Europa League qualification. He resigned at the end of the season after three months in charge.
Tottenham is Tudor's 10th different club in the last 13 years, having managed the likes of Galatasaray, Udinese, Hellas Verona and Marseille, having also worked under Andrea Pirlo at Juventus.
Tudor is synonymous with Serie A, which benefited him in making an immediate impact at Juve and Lazio, but his man-management and tactical skills will be tested in his first job in England and Spurs supporters should not expect free-flowing football straight away.
"His typical formation is a 3-4-2-1," said Kendrick. "He doesn't tend to play with too much width to begin with. It's a very similar formation to what Ivan Juric used to have, the former Southampton manager.
"It was very successful with Verona, which was probably where he's been the biggest success. He had a free-scoring team with two number 10s playing behind a lone striker, but the back three is pretty in vogue in Italy, and it's looked at as a way of making sure you're solid first and foremost."
The language barrier won't be an issue for Tudor, who has worked in five different countries and he also knows Spurs players Randal Kolo Muani and the injured Rodrigo Bentancur.
"His English is very good, it's vastly superior to Antonio Conte, so I don't think there's going to be any issue with that," added Kendrick.
"He's got a lot of belief in his ability. He's a very forthright character. He tends to speak his mind.
"Rather than looking at any sort of tactical revolution, I think he's first and foremost going to be focusing on trying to get the players' morale up."
Tottenham's next six games
February 22: Arsenal (h), Premier League - kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
March 1: Fulham (a), Premier League - kick-off 2pm, live on Sky Sports
March 5: Crystal Palace (h), Premier League - kick-off 8pm
March 15: Liverpool (a), Premier League - kick-off 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports
March 17/18: Champions League last 16, first leg (opponent TBC)
