Igor Tudor could stay at Tottenham for a long time, says sporting director Johan Lange

Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal will mark Tudor’s first match in charge.

The former Juventus coach conducted first-team training for the first time on Monday, and his side had 12 days to prepare for Sunday’s match given their FA Cup third-round exit.

Tudor has a history of making instant impacts at clubs, and the former Croatia international insists he can keep Spurs in the Premier League.

Asked how confident he was that Tottenham would continue in the English Premier League next season, Tudor replied, “100%.”

“I’m not here to have fun, I’m here to work,” the 47-year-old said.

“Enjoy the first moment, then there is work to do. It is a great club. I am very focused on doing the right things.

“It’s not about systems. It’s important that we become a team, a group, that takes care of each other. For me, that’s key.

“Then the quality can show, and for me, this is a quality team, with legs that can run. There is potential.”

Despite finishing fourth in the Champions League league stage to jump straight into the round of 16, Tottenham have struggled in the Premier League.

Since November, the team has won just two of their 17 league matches, with six draws and nine defeats. Their last league win was a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on December 28, and they have collected just four points out of a possible 24 in 2026.

Tottenham, who finished 17th last season, have been in the top flight of English football every season since one year in the old Second Division in 1977-78.

But they head into Sunday’s match against arch-rivals Arsenal due to an injury crisis.

“It’s a very rare case,” Tudor added. “We have 10 injuries, and we trained with 13 players.

“It’s a bigger challenge to achieve success from this situation. My first goal is for us to become a team in the truest sense of the word, which suffers when it needs to suffer, fights, runs, and has the right mentality. The beginning is always about the mentality.”