Tottenham players need my honesty – Igor Tudor

Igor Tudor believes his honesty has gone down well with the Tottenham squad, but rejected suggestions he is the type of guy to only shout and scream.

Tudor made headlines after Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Fulham when he criticised his players in all areas.

The remarks were reminiscent of ex-Spurs boss Antonio Conte in 2023, but the 47-year-old insisted his harsh sentiments came from a good place ahead of Thursday’s visit of Crystal Palace.

“Always they need honesty. One of the skills of a coach is to be honest, in the right way of course, to speak with them. Without honesty you are dead,” Tudor said.

“The way I speak, they need to recognise in you here is a person that wants to tell the things from a good (place), not in a negative way.

“You cannot speak in a way like ‘raaah OK’. They need to recognise in you that you are telling them for the best. Then you can tell them everything.”

Asked if he was not a coach to hug his players, Tudor responded: “Who says that? That’s not true.

“Without hugging, without connection with the player, you cannot do anything. These are only words. It’s not true. There’s not one coach in the world who can come and go (only) with the stick. The players will say, ‘who are you?’.

“There is a relationship, there is honesty, there is a right way to do it. I’m not coming here to shout at players or to scream at them. You have totally the wrong image of me or the guys who are speaking in that way.”

Tudor struck a far more positive tone on Wednesday compared to Sunday and will hope Spurs spark into action as a result.

Tottenham have won only two of their last 19 fixtures in the Premier League, but their last victory occurred at Palace on December 28.

Quizzed on what details give him encouragement, Tudor explained: “It was more energy for sure, more wish to run to fight, small details we discuss in the dressing room about tactics, but still a lot of work to do.”

The Croatian reiterated this job is “bigger” than his previous mid-season roles at Juventus and Lazio where European qualification was the target.

“It’s impossible to compare,” Tudor insisted. “Where are the biggest problems? For me, this problem of Tottenham is bigger.”

Tudor was more enthused on forward Richarlison after his cameo helped Tottenham finish strongly at Fulham.

Tudor said: “I like the guy, I like him. It’s simpatico, it’s a guy who is always interesting to speak with him, of his style of speaking. Fantastic player, he can play all positions, with two strikers, with three. So, he will give us something for sure in the next games.”

Guglielmo Vicario was also praised by Tudor after a mistake by the Italian goalkeeper was highlighted by the official X account of the Premier League before it was subsequently deleted.

Tudor said: “Not nice, not nice. Vicario is a fantastic guy, a fantastic player.

“I spoke with him. He’s OK. It’s part of the job, with the social media, sometimes we give too (much) importance to (certain) information. For sure it is not good.

“I’m sure they are aware of the mistake they made and they will not do in the future, for sure.”