Tottenham stars warned by Igor Tudor as interim boss lays down ‘first priority’ among other objectives

Igor Tudor has laid down the objectives for the Tottenham players ahead of the North London derby vs. Arsenal.

Tottenham Hotspur appointed Igor Tudor as interim boss for the rest of the 2025/26 season following the sacking of Thomas Frank last week.

The 47-year-old’s role at White Hart Lane is clear – to improve the team’s performances, avoid relegation, provide stability and see how deep he can get them in the UEFA Champions League. Igor Tudor is an experienced tactician, having started his managerial career back in 2012. He has managed Juventus, Lazio, Marseille, Galatasaray, and Hajduk Split, among others.

The Croat was mostly recently associated with Juventus. He was brought in midway through the last season when Thiago Motta was sacked, and Tudor delivered Champions League football for Juventus on the final day of the campaign. However, an eight-game winless run into the 2025/26 campaign led to the Turin giants severing ties with him.

Igor Tudor makes strong demands of Tottenham players ahead of the North London derby

Several fans and pundits alike have been critical of Igor’s appointment as the interim head coach of Spurs. TalkSPORT pundit Ally McCoist thinks Tudor could be in for a rude awakening at N17 following the tough first few fixtures, whereas former boss Tim Sherwood has laid down the outrageous expectations he must fulfil to land the permanent role at the club.

The 47-year-old certainly must not be thinking that far as it is crucial for him to start delivering positive results in the Premier League immediately. His start to life in N17 could not get much harder, with his first fixture set to be the North London Derby with Arsenal at home on Sunday. The new Spurs gaffer took his first training session with the players on Monday and gave his first official interview to the club ahead of the derby.

In his first interview with SPURSPLAY (h/t Tottenham official website), Tudor has told his new Spurs players to keep excuses away and “give something more” to not get embroiled in a relegation battle.

“The first priority is to give everything the team needs in these moments,” Tudor explained (video here).

“The team needs, I believe, first of all, to get some confidence, to get some courage, but also, in the same way, the concrete things in the pitch.

“Of course, I’m coming here knowing the situation. There is no time to find excuses. What I said from the first day here, each of us, each of the players, needs to give something, something more, something extra, because the position of the Club in this moment is not (one) that anybody can accept – every fan of Tottenham (Hotspur) cannot accept the situation. We are aware of that, but it’s not enough to just be aware of that.”

“The situation is not easy because, as you know better than me, 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, (it is) a very particular moment.