‘Offensive-minded’ Igor Tudor highlights the one thing Tottenham ‘need to be focused on’ ahead of Arsenal derby

Tottenham boss Igor Tudor talks about attacking football ahead of Arsenal clash.

Igor Tudor has not arrived at Tottenham, talking about survival football. Ahead of the North London Derby, he made it clear that his instinct is to be positive and offensive. He wants goals. He wants front-foot football. But he was equally firm that attacking intent must sit on top of defensive organisation and a clear structure. Here are his words via Sky Sports:

“I like to be positive. I like to play offensive football. That’s my first goal. I like to score goals, but in the same way, you need to give organisation in defence, give the clear structure of what you want to play.”

“The situation is not easy because we have a lot of injured players, so we need first to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment, so a very particular moment.”

“Maybe this can sound strange, but I believe the thing we need to be focused on is the training. So the training from today, that’s the key, because as I always like to say, Sunday and the game is a consequence of the training.”

Tudor‘s most recent spell at Juventus offers a glimpse of what that balance can look like. In his short stint in Turin, Juventus averaged roughly 1.6 goals per game in Serie A under his watch, a noticeable uptick compared to the more conservative output earlier in the campaign.

The team played quicker through the thirds, attacked the box with more numbers and were more direct in transition. It was not reckless football, but it was certainly more vertical and more aggressive in the final third.