Tottenham Hotspur’s Croatian manager Igor Tudor is pictured before the start of the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on February 22, 2026. (Photo by Glyn KIRK/AFP)
LONDON: Igor Tudor believes his Tottenham Hotspur team still has plenty of time to avoid relegation from the Premier League as long as they “remain humble”.
Spurs dominated league leaders and arch-rivals Arsenal 4-1 at home in a lopsided North London derby, and Sunday’s defeat leaves them 16th in the table, just four points adrift of the bottom three.
The Dane was sacked as Spurs manager earlier this month after a dismal run of just two wins from 17 league games under manager Thomas Frank, with Tudor brought in to replicate his mid-season recovery with Italian teams Juventus and Lazio.
Tottenham last played outside England’s top flight in 1977-78, and Tudor insisted after his first game in charge that they could avoid dropping to the second tier this term.
“Of course we have plenty of time,” Tudor said.
“I saw the passion and the will. So I wasn’t mad, because they wanted to do it. But they couldn’t do what they needed to do in this moment.”
“I have been speaking at the club since day one and I am here to resolve the issue.”
The 47-year-old Croatian added: “That’s the key for each of us, to stay humble and try to be what I said before: a team, a team, a hard-working team. That’s the only goal we have at the moment.”