Tottenham boss Igor Tudor delivers home truths after Arsenal thrashing: ‘Become serious’ and shed ‘bad habits’ | Football News

Igor Tudor has called on relegation-threatened Tottenham to shed their “bad habits” and get “serious” after being beaten 4-1 at home to Arsenal in his first game in charge.

Spurs’ latest hammering in north London has plunged them further into trouble as they sit four points above the bottom three and remain the only Premier League team to have not won a game in 2026.

Tudor, who was parachuted in to save Spurs’ season, remains confident they will stay upright, but has delivered some truths about the team he inherited from Thomas Frank.

“I know the truth (about this team), now I have seen the truth. It’s not pleasant, but it is what it is,” Tudor said Aerial sports.

“Of course I have confidence (in my survival). I think they are good players with bad habits.

“No one can tell me that we don’t have quality. But we have to make a mental shift and have that mental acuity to be in the game from the first minutes and also the physicality to do it.

“To be physical you have to work hard, otherwise it’s a problem. Too many players had problems. That’s the result.”

When asked what he learned about his team, Tudor said: “We have to work. Too many bad habits in the past. We have to look at ourselves, grow and be humble.”

“We need to run more, play better, defend better, win duels, second balls.

“The players wanted it, they showed passion, they wanted to run, but when we pressed high, they didn’t arrive and didn’t take the ball on the counterattack.

“(Arsenal) are strong, they have more power, more energy and they believe more. That’s the key in the end.”

“What is Spurs’ goal? Get serious’

With 11 matches remaining to maintain their Premier League status, Tudor believes Tottenham must “get serious” and change their ways.

“We need more time to be in a physical moment and a physical situation where we can be strong and take the ball. Now we are not in that moment,” he said.

“Even with the ball, the lack of confidence is very evident in the team.

“We wanted and we are prepared to do things but there is an opponent, there is a reality today. I am very sad and very angry and everything, but in a way it is also good to understand where our objective is. What is the objective of this club? What is the objective of this team? What is the objective of this coach, of these players, of this staff?

“To get serious. Serious, not just a group of 20 players, and the cure is to look in the mirror. Every one of us looks in the mirror and really tries, really starts to change our habits.

“We definitely didn’t need this game. Arsenal are probably the best team in the world right now, so it wasn’t easy.

“I also played a lot of derbies and as a coach they give you more something like mentality or motivation, but there are also other things that you can’t change in three or four training sessions. It’s impossible.”