Tottenham Hotspur supporters were looking for any sliver of optimism, and they thought they had found it after a 1-1 draw with Liverpool and a 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid. Suddenly, it looked like interim manager Igor Tudor had found a winning formula, and if in the span of a week Spurs showed they could play up to two Champions League quarterfinals, then maybe they would be back in business over the weekend with the resumption of the Premier League relegation battle.
But intead of showing up in a must win relegation six pointer against lowly Nottingham Forest, Spurs were absolutely decimated and eviscerated in front of their ardent supporters, losing 3-0 in a historically inept performance.
All of the praise for Tudor has flipped right back into grave concern, and on the BBC Sport broadcast after the game, former Tottenham Hotspur and England national team goalkeeper Paul Robinson uttered the universal truth about the plight of Spurs and of Tudor's place in the problems.
Igor Tudor can't fix Thomas Frank's mess
Robinson said, via The Spurs Web, "I don’t see a structure. A game plan, or a way of playing. I don’t see a tactical idea. I see a team that’s set up in the first instance, that changes two or three times during the game. They look devoid of ideas, and a manager who is looking for something that he is yet to find, and no time to find it."
Everything Robinson said above is spot on, and not even the five members of the Igor Tudor fan club could dispute what is plainly evident before everyone. Tottenham are not in this mess because of Tudor, and the manager before him, Thomas Frank, clearly had the team set up poorly and himself was devoid of ideas.
It is a long standing issue for Spurs, yes, but Tudor has not exactly helped matters. You could see in the 3-0 dismantling at the hands of an unimpressive Nottingham Forest that Spurs still have no ideas, no patterns of play, and no way to adjust during games when things are not going well. Spurs started poorly against Forest and somehow finished even worse.
The last bit of Robinson's quote is perhaps the most biting. Because even if Tudor had a prayer of coming up with the right formula for Spurs, there are merely a handful of games left in the Premier League season to get things right. There is no time for a turn around, and Tudor, thus far, has not shown he is the right man to do it.