Italian media's devastating reaction to Spurs and Igor Tudor after Crystal Palace defeat

Tottenham's nightmare continued under Igor Tudor on Thursday as they suffered yet another defeat in the Premier League

An Italian media outlet has given its grim assessment of Tottenham's situation under Igor Tudor. Thursday’s 3-1 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace marked the Croatian manager’s third loss in as many games since being appointed interim boss last month.

Spurs went from 1-0 up after 34 minutes to 3-1 down at half-time following their stand-in captain Micky van de Wen's sending off. Fans inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium left in their droves at the break before boos rang out after the final whistle, marking the lowest point in a horrendous season domestically.

But the consequences of a fifth defeat in a row and an 11th game without a win were even more severe, given the Lilywhites are now 16th in the table and just one point clear of the relegation zone. There is now a growing feeling that Spurs could potentially drop out of the top flight for the first time in 49 years, with Nottingham Forest and West Ham in better form.

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It appears the gravity of Tottenham's worrying form has even been noticed in Italy. The country's famous pink newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, delivered a damning message after Thursday's defeat by writing about how poor decision-making at the top has led to this point. The report also highlighted the daunting task the under-pressure Tudor faces.

The paper wrote: "The dismissal of Thomas Frank three games ago, likely months late for a manager hired from Brentford who never seemed to have the right mentality for a big club, hasn't changed matters much.

"Igor Tudor, a surprise signing, has come on strong against Spurs just as he did last season at Juventus and the season before at Lazio, but not even his brisk, to-the-point manner has been able to shake up a team adrift, one that seems to have long since lost its way to respectability on the pitch."

The publication went on to call out Tottenham's ongoing catalogue of defensive errors, having conceded a whopping 46 goals in the league this season. It also accused the players and club of no longer doing the bare minimum required to remain in the Premier League.

It added: "Being second in the Forbes ranking of the most profitable football clubs in 2026, with a valuation of €2.84billion, or having the most beautiful stadium in the Premier League, alone won't be enough to avoid Tottenham's nightmare of a first relegation since 1977.

"Even Tudor's charisma, already under scrutiny after their third defeat in three, risks not being enough. The boos, a mixture of fear and disappointment, from the fans who stayed until the end against Palace won't be enough."

The outlet claimed Tottenham must start daring and believing again in order to win games - something they have "stopped doing". Tudor, meanwhile, insisted there were promising signs after the game.

He explained: "I will tell you now, maybe it will sound strange, but I believe more after this game than I believed before. I saw something. I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go and needs to go and whoever is in the boat can stay.

"Otherwise, they can leave the boat. So, when the other players will come back, I’m sure we will have a good team and the victories will come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment where we are now but it is how it is."