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Tottenham are desperate for a spark as their miserable run stretches on, and Igor Tudor has now addressed both the pressure and the importance of a win against Crystal Palace on Thursday evening.
Securing all three points against Crystal Palace would be a welcome boost for Tottenham Hotspur, who have been starved of victories.
Spurs have yet to win in 2026, have managed just two wins in their last 19 league games and are winless in their last ten.
The club are searching for a bounce and has since appointed Igor Tudor to provide some much-needed spark, but that in itself has yet to bring any results.
Tudor now heads into the Palace game in search of his first win as Tottenham boss after suffering two defeats in his opening two matches.
Tottenham boss Igor Tudor addresses pressure and Palace test
Speaking to the official Tottenham channels, Igor Tudor was first asked whether the clash with Crystal Palace should be viewed as a must-win game, and his response focused on performance, mentality and doing things the right way rather than labelling any fixture as decisive.
He said, “No, there is no must-win game. All the games need to be won, need to be, first of all, done in the right way, doing the best thing you can do.
“Thinking about the… I always say this, don’t bring nothing in the way that… You need to prepare, think about you, you, to understand who you are as a team, understand what the players need, what the players can give, to be better as a team, preparing in this way, and then that will be good.”
Igor Tudor was then asked how he felt in the aftermath of Tottenham’s defeat to Fulham, and whether the disappointment had eased in the days since.
“Better now, I feel better. Of course, after the game, there are emotions, there are disappointments because you work, you want, and the players also work hard and wanted to do.
“But the result didn’t come, so of course it was a little bit disappointing, but it’s how it should be after the games. You need to be angry and disappointed. You don’t need to be the guy who comes there and says everything is perfect, smiles and nothing happens.
“Also, to send a message to everyone, me personally and everyone, to not accept this situation. But we go on, we move on. We have a good, short period to prepare for this game, but I saw the guys reacted well.
“We need to be optimistic for tomorrow’s game, play at home against a good team, but still our stadium with our fans, so we want to do tomorrow one good game.”
Spurs must show progress under Tudor against Crystal Palace
Continuing his press duties on the official Tottenham channels, Tudor was asked why he shows anger after defeat, and he made clear it is about refusing to accept failure as normal.
“To not accept defeat as something normal. The first reason and last reason, that’s why the reason. When you play, it’s about mentality. When you play with your friend, you can have mentality, OK, we go to play tennis and then we lose.
“OK, it’s the same for me, or you can be different. For sure, in this moment, we need to recognise this, but also to have belief that we have quality to do it. So my point is to give both things to the team, and that’s how it works, this job, this sport.
“So I’m trying to touch them in all kinds of things I can touch. As I said, I saw the good will from the side to change things. We need something, we need small details, we need something to change, of course.
“But I saw small progress. So tomorrow we need to keep going in the direction that I believe we will take and make one good performance as a team.”
He was also asked about alleviating the pressure on the squad, and the Spurs head coach acknowledged the weight of expectation while stressing perspective.
“Of course, everyone understands the situation that we are in. We are working hard to change this, otherwise there will be something wrong in that if you don’t understand.
“And, of course, my job is to put the pressure away, but my job is also to accept this pressure as a part of the job. So the pressure is everywhere, but you need to love this job, you need to enjoy this job, like you did when you started at 10 years old, to do this sport.
“So you don’t need to forget that this is, in the end, only a sport. So the real pressures are other jobs. That’s the real pressure, you know, for the families to earn the money and work in jobs, like doctors who are making operations.
“They are dealing by, you know, they decide about life and death. So that’s the real pressure. So this is a sport. The club has always been a club that has a big pressure, so you need to be ready to accept this and stand up. You can use this, you know.
“Don’t stay behind, take responsibility, have the courage to confront these things. When something comes to you, you go in the direction of that, don’t go back, don’t step back.
“So this is the best way to do, only way to do. So I hope, I hope we have, and I’m sure, because I saw in the training that we have these men to step up, take responsibility and make us start doing, first of all, good performance and after also winning points.”
Finally, Tudor addressed the importance of the supporters ahead of the Palace fixture, underlining the impact fans can have on the players.
“Very important, very important. The players feel everything. Every small rumour you recognise immediately. Every applause, every encouragement.
“So, you know, sometimes I like that each of the fans can feel that in the pitch, you know, so they will understand how the energy is spreading, how energy can contain the players. So I’m sure they will stand with us tomorrow and we’ll show what we need to show.”
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