The start of the Igor Tudor era at Tottenham is almost upon us. On Valentine's Day, Spurs confirmed that the former Marseille, Lazio and Juventus manager would take over for the rest of this season, replacing Thomas Frank.
Tudor took training at Hotspur Way for the very first time on Monday, preparing for his first match in charge on Sunday, the small matter of a North London derby against league-leaders Arsenal. The Croatian finds a team bereft of confidence, without a win in eight Premier League matches, only able to beat Brentford and Crystal Palace across 17 fixtures since October. As a result, the Lilywhites need points, given that they are currently just five clear of the relegation zone.
However, Tudor also has a very limited squad, in terms of numbers, with which to work. That's because, Cristian Romero is still suspended for the next three matches, while Ben Davies, Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Kevin Danso, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kuluševski, Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison are all injured.
This leaves Tudor with, by our count, only 13 senior available outfield players but, even with that in mind, here are three players who should not be central to his plans.
3 Tottenham players who won't get a chance under Igor Tudor
Radu Drăgușin
One player who is unlikely to suit Tudor's tactical style is Radu Drăgușin. During his one season at Stade Vélodrome, leading Marseille to third in Ligue 1, Tudor implemented a high-energy, high-risk man marking system, which requires defenders to be both alert and quick.
Well, pace is certainly not one of Drăgușin's strengths, as was on show when he was sent off against Qarabağ last season, dismissed for hauling down Juninho near the centre circle. Thus, the Romanian international always appeared to be an awkward fit for Ange Postecoglou and, well, that may why he's rarely featured.
So far this season, after suffering an ACL injury against Elfsborg a year ago, Drăgușin has just five appearances to his name, still yet to convince the Spurs faithful. For now, with Romero suspended and Danso sidelined, he will surely have to start against Arsenal on Sunday, despite being an awkward fit for a Tudor team, to put it mildly.
Antonín Kinský
The goalkeeper position at Tottenham is a really interesting one. Under both Postecoglou and Frank, Guglielmo Vicario was the undisputed number one, despite less the convincing performances.
Guglielmo Vicario 2025/26 Premier League statistics
Statistics | Guglielmo Vicario | PL rank |
|---|---|---|
Goals conceded | 37 | 4th |
Shots on target faced | 107 | 4th |
Saves | 71 | 5th |
Save % | 66.4% | 13th |
Goals conceded outside the box | 8 | 1st |
Punches | 18 | 10th |
High claims | 20 | 8th |
Errors leading to a goal | 2 | 2nd |
Average SofaScore rating | 6.94 | 11th |
Note: All stats are via FBref and SofaScore.
In the Premier League this season, only Martin Dúbravka, Đorđe Petrović and Bernd Leno have conceded more goals than Vicario, while only Emi Martínez has made more errors leading to a goal. However, in the Italian's defence, Dúbravka, Petrović and Alphonse Areola are the only goalkeepers to have faced more shots on target, albeit his save percentage of 66.4%, which ranks 13th, is not particularly impressive.
So, should Antonín Kinský be given an opportunity? Vicario has started every match in the Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup, limiting the Czechia international to two EFL Cup outings. After a clean sheet against Doncaster, Kinský made a costly error as Spurs were dumped out by Newcastle at St James' Park.
Overall, since arriving last January, when they simply needed someone who wasn't Fraser Forster, Kinský has made 19 appearances for the club, keeping just four clean sheets. Thus, while Vicario is not proving to be an elite-level shot-stopper, there's little evidence to suggest that Kinský is either.
Mathys Tel
Lastly, turning out attention to Tottenham's forward line, Mathys Tel's move from Bayern Munich to North London has not panned out how he would've hoped. To encapsulate the Frenchman's season, he was left out of the initial UEFA squad, added when Richarlison got injured, thereby featuring against Slavia Prague, only to be removed again when Dominic Solanke returned.
Overall, in just over 12 months at Tottenham, Tel has scored a miserly six times in 44 appearances, on target only once since 8 November. Xavi Simons, Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani, who Tudor worked with in Turin, are all ahead of the 20 year old in the pecking order, with the change of manager unlikely to lead to an increase in importance for the forward.