Tottenham defender Jed Spence was spotted giving Igor Tudor a clear message as Spurs succumbed to Atletico Madrid on a remarkable night in the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid beat Tottenham by 5 points as Tudor’s nightmare continues
Tudor’s tenure at Tottenham was a disaster from the start.
Three losses in the Premier League, nine goals conceded, one point above the drop zone. But nothing in these miserable opening weeks has adequately prepared supporters for what happens at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano tonight.
Atlético beat Spurs 5-2, but the scoreline barely tells half the story.
Tudor made the unusual decision to drop goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who had barely missed a game all season, and bring in Czech keeper Antonin Kinski, who had not played since October’s Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle.
The coach talked beforehand about choosing the best for the team. Within six minutes, that logic fell apart.
Kinski slipped while trying to clear, and the ball broke to Julian Alvarez, who fed Marcos Llorente, who fired into the net from the edge of the area. 1-0 in 6 minutes.
Micky van de Ven then lost his footing trying to deal with a routine ball, giving Antoine Griezmann a tap-in. 2-0.
And it was a truly incredible moment. Kinski was given a straight back pass, swung his left boot in the air and saw Alvarez put the ball into an empty net.
The club are desperate to prevent a move to Tottenham after contact with former title-winning Bayern Munich manager
Spurs have reportedly made contact.
3 goals in 15 minutes. There are 3 fatal personal errors. After Tudor made the highly controversial decision to send off the goalkeeper, the goalkeeper burst into tears as he trudged down the tunnel.
Vicario rushed to put on his gloves and a shocked Tottenham dressing room tried to process what had happened.
It got worse before it got better. Robin Le Normand headed home the fourth goal from a corner kick in the 22nd minute, and the defense was again shaky, but Pedro Polo pulled at least one back just after the half-hour mark as a vestige of pride.
Spurs went into half-time with a four-goal lead, and with five yellow cards accumulated, it was as good as a draw.
Alvarez added his fifth goal in the same period, the second of a personally devastating night for the Tudor team, but Dominic Solanke, brought on at half-time, scored his second with his 67th point to make it 5-2.
Tottenham finished the game with more yellow cards than shots on target, resulting in six consecutive defeats for the first time in the club’s history.
But it wasn’t the scoreline that TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher had words for, but the moment he caught on the broadcast camera he spotted – and one that perhaps paints a picture of a club crumbling from within.
Jed Spence sends a clear message to Tottenham manager Igor Tudor
After Spence was sent off with less than 10 minutes remaining, he was seen approaching Tudor on the touchline (rather than the other way around), tapping the manager on the shoulder and shaking his hand.
Fletcher was immediately alarmed by what he was seeing, pointing out that it was “not tangible,” meaning that the player, not the manager, initiated the interaction.
Fletcher suggested the significance lies in the incident in which Tudor passed the downed goalkeeper and was unknowingly replaced by Kinski, leaving the 22-year-old goalkeeper confused as he headed for the tunnel.
Whether Spence was intentionally making the point, showing solidarity with Kinski, or simply acting out of character, it was clear to Fletcher that it was a message worth noting.
On a night of Spurs’ humiliation on the pitch, the sideshow may tell a more damaging story.
Tudor’s Tottenham are a club in the doldrums and the evidence is everywhere.
The Croatian’s time at Spurs could be coming to an end, especially after tonight, with previous reports suggesting he was considering a move even before the lackluster defeat to Crystal Palace.
Tottenham could replace Igor Tudor as Crystal Palace’s title-winning manager
Some have suggested that the Croatian player may be walking on thin ice.
