After Tottenham’s humiliating 5-2 defeat away to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Igor Tudor cut a frosty figure by refusing to tackle the big issues head-on.
Tuesday night’s loss to Atletico Madrid was the latest low point in a disastrous season for Spurs, who found themselves down 4-0 after just 22 minutes. Two of the first three goals came after serious errors by goalkeeper Antonin Kinski, prompting Tudor to make the bold decision to replace the 22-year-old, who had previously started in place of Guglielmo Vicario.
One of Vicario’s first actions off the bench was to pick up the ball from the back of the net as Spurs scored a total of five goals in an unforgettable night in the Spanish capital. The only saving grace was that Spurs scored two goals in their own half. This means Spurs will go into next week’s second leg in style with very little aliveness.
In response to questions from TNT Sports, Tudor said he made the decision to pull Kinski off the pitch, but could not take responsibility for the loss. He said, “Those things rarely happen in my 15 years of coaching, but I’ve never had one like that. It was necessary to keep the players and keep the team.”
“It’s an unbelievable situation. There’s nothing to comment on. You’ll see. Before the game, like us, it was the right choice to make at this moment. The pressure on Vicario, another competition, Toni is a very good goalkeeper. So for me it was the right decision. Of course, after this it’s easy to say it wasn’t the right decision.”
Asked if he had spoken to Kinski, he added: “I also told Toni in my speech afterwards that he is a qualified and good goalkeeper. Unfortunately, these mistakes happened in this important game.”
“We started the game and it was too much for us. In this moment of vulnerability, we are weak. Even in the second half it was 4-2. It was almost 4-2 against Richarlison. We were trying to score 4-2 but we conceded.”
The interviewer said, “Thank you, Igor,” and the exchange ended in a frosty manner, but Tudor had already left. When the report returned to the studio, TNT Sports host Laura Woods looked shocked, and pundits Joe Hart and Steve McManaman both weighed in on the Spurs manager.
Hart said: “We’re talking about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and they don’t have a face. Who’s in charge? Why doesn’t someone who’s responsible for taking Tottenham in a safer direction not want to talk? What message is he sending there? He’s not sending any message to the players.”
