New Tottenham manager Igor Tudor admits he was “sad and very angry” after seeing his team fall to a 4-1 North London derby mauling by Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s second-placed Manchester City troops had piled the pressure on the Gunners with a 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Saturday night.
But Mikel Arteta’s men responded with a resounding win over their London rivals courtesy of braces from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres.
Powerful performance
Randal Kolo Muani gave the home fans and Tudor something to cheer about with a 34th-minute strike for the hosts – but Arsenal banked three important points with a powerful performance.
The win moved the Gunners five points clear of Man City in the top-flight table, although the men from Manchester have a game in hand.
Tudor now knows the size of the task ahead of him after taking the reins from the sacked Thomas Frank, with Spurs just four points above the relegation zone after 27 games.
Disappointed Tudor
The former Lazio and Juventus manager told Sky Sports: “I’m very sad and very angry and everything, but in one way it is also good to understand where our goal is.
“What is the goal of this club? What is the goal of this team? What is the goal of this coach, these players, this staff?
“To become serious – serious, not just a group of 20 players – the medicine is you look in the mirror. Each of us look in the mirror and really try, really start to change the habits.
“We didn’t need this game, for sure. Arsenal are probably the best team now in the world so it was not easy.
“I also played a lot of derbies and as a coach, they give you something more like mentality or motivation, but there are also other things that you cannot change in the three or four training sessions – it’s impossible.”
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Bad habits
Tudor is confident he can draw upon past experience to steer Tottenham away from relegation danger between now and the end of the season.
But he has urged his players to be more “physical”, adding: “Of course, I am confident. I believe these are good players with bad habits.
“Nobody can tell me we don’t have quality. But we need to change a mental switch and have this mental sharpness to be in the game from the first minutes and also the physicality to do this.
“To be physical, you need to work hard, otherwise it’s a problem. Too many players had problems. That’s the result.”
Play better
He continued: “We need 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, wanted to run, but when we pressed high, they don’t arrive or take the ball in a block.
“[Arsenal] are strong – they have more power, more energy and they believe more. That’s the key in the end.”
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SportJustSport writers