Will Igor Tudor improve Spurs players in FPL?

In danger of Premier League relegation, Tottenham Hotspur have brought in Igor Tudor as head coach until the end of this season.

This follows the dismissal of Thomas Frank, who lasted less than eight months in North London.

Let’s see what the 47-year-old Croatian’s arrival could mean for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.

SPURS IN TROUBLE

Things started well for Frank, as the opening day 3-0 win was followed by a 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium versus Manchester City. Conceding just once in their first four outings, Spurs were up in third place after Gameweek 9.

However, the next 17 have brought an abysmal two wins and 12 points, a tally worsened only by Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

It means there are genuine relegation fears for the side that finished 17th last time. In fact, those 22 defeats of 2024/25 are the most recorded by any 38-game Premier League team without going down.

Leeds United have overtaken Spurs, meaning it’s just Nottingham Forest between them and the bottom three. In-form West Ham United are closing the gap, too.

And this is while being the league’s biggest expected goals (xG) overachievers. They should have scored a mere 27.35 times, rather than 36.

“Igor [Tudor] brings clarity, intensity and experience of stepping into challenging moments and producing impact. Our objective is straightforward – to stabilise performances, maximise the quality within the squad and compete strongly in the Premier League and Champions League.” – Spurs’ Sporting Director Johan Lange

Ultimately, finishing fourth in the UCL league phase – automatically reaching the final 16 – couldn’t save Frank from the chop. Tudor has a big job on his hands.

IGOR TUDOR: COACHING HISTORY

Mostly a defender, Tudor played in two World Cups and the 2002/03 Champions League final. After much time spent as a Juventus squad player, ankle problems forced him to retire aged 30. Therefore, he didn’t rack up too many career appearances.

Early coaching roles at hometown club Hajduk Split, PAOK and Karabükspor preceded a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray.

A very brief stint at Udinese – fresh from losing 11 in a row – kept them away from Serie A relegation. Then, a year later, Le Zebrette asked him to do the same again.

Since then, he’s mostly been a firefighter. Someone hired mid-season to clean up the mess, then gracefully say goodbye.

Tudor left a second Hajduk spell to join Andrea Pirlo’s backroom at Juventus in 2020. This boosted his profile for relatively stable stints at Verona (finishing ninth) and Marseille (third), though neither reached a full year.

Because of these back-to-back roles, the typical ‘mess’ quickly evolved from relegation fights to preventing giants from missing out on European qualification. He successfully got Lazio and Juventus there on both occasions.

Beyond this, when Tudor does indeed hang around into the next season (Udinese 2019/20, Juventus 2025/26), he soon gets dismissed. An eight-game winless run ended his Turin tenure last October.

This job at Spurs will be a return to his previous trick: battling to stay up.

Above: A Premier League article breaks down Igor Tudor’s first 10 matches at clubs (except 2018 Udinese)

Regardless of the reason, at the sides where he’s managed at least 10 matches, Tudor has always won four or more of those opening 10.

HIS PREFERRED TACTICS

A Gian Piero Gasperini enthusiast, Tudor likes front-foot, aggressive, entertaining football that involves intense – but risky – pressing. For example, at Marseille, he dropped fan favourite Dimitri Payet because he wasn’t running enough.

“In modern football, physicality cancels out quality so much. Quality is always important, of course, but without physicality, it doesn’t exist.” – Igor Tudor, when in charge of Juventus

As for a formation, he prefers using a back three, usually 3-4-2-1. But it sounds like he won’t be as stubborn about this system as Ruben Amorim was, should the players be uncomfortable with it.

“He doesn’t tend to play with too much width to begin with. 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.” – Italian football commentator Patrick Kendrick, speaking to Sky Sports.

Above: How Spurs could line up in Gameweek 27

Of course, Tudor’s immediate problem upon arrival is the injury crisis that robs him of hamstring victims Mohammed Kudus (£6.4m), Destiny Udogie (£4.3m) and Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.3m), plus Lucas Bergvall (£5.2m, ankle) and newest casualty Wilson Odobert (£5.3m, ruptured ACL).

Oh, and suspended captain Cristian Romero (£5.0m) is missing another three league matches, while long-term absentees James Maddison (£6.8m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m) remain out.

“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, for sure, you need to give organisation in defence, give a clear structure of what you want to play. 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.” – Igor Tudor

In promising news, at least Pedro Porro (£5.1m) and Kevin Danso (£4.2m) could be about to return.

PLAYERS TO MONITOR

Four-goal Micky van de Ven (£4.5m) is the sole Spurs player to exceed 10% overall ownership, though it’s a popularity unseen amongst still-active managers. After all, Kudus hasn’t featured since December and is still on 9.7%.

Wing-back options are currently limited, but Porro is now at a potentially interesting price (£5.1m). He’s the league leader for crossing (163) and the best defender at creating chances (32), boasting 28 attacking returns over three years at the club.

Xavi Simons (£6.5m) could excel, having accumulated 16 shots and set up a further 16 over the last five matches. He’s on both the Goals and Assists Imminent tables.

Up front, Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) is finally up and running. Perhaps Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m) will be rejuvenated by playing alongside him. The Frenchman is still without any FPL attacking return, but excelled under Tudor at Juventus, scoring five in 11 appearances.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So it seems like Tudor is ideal for this quick in-and-out job, where maybe he puts himself in the shop window for a permanent Premier League position.

But Tottenham are near the bottom of our Fixture Ticker over these next few Gameweeks, soon facing Arsenal and Liverpool. Fulham have also been strong on home soil this season.

That will initially keep FPL managers away.

Should anyone catch the eye in the next month, then Gameweek 31 is a possible time to pounce in FPL:

Given his reputation as a short-term fixer, it could be an ideal appointment – for both Spurs and FPL managers – as we enter the final 12 Gameweeks.