Djed Spence sends clear message to Igor Tudor in Tottenham defeat by Atletico Madrid
Tottenham defender Djed Spence was seen giving Igor Tudor a clear message as Spurs were humbled by Atlético Madrid on a stunning night in the Champions League.
Atlético Madrid blasted Tottenham past five as Tudor’s nightmare continues
Tudor’s tenure at Tottenham has been a disaster from the start.
Three Premier League defeats, nine goals conceded, one point above the relegation zone. But nothing – nothing – in these terrible opening weeks prepared fans for what happened at Riyadh Air Metropolitano tonight.
Atlético beat Spurs 5-2, and the score doesn’t mean half the story.
Tudor made the unusual decision to drop Guglielmo Vicario – a goalkeeper who had missed a game all season – in favor of Antonin Kinsky, the Czech goalkeeper who had not played since the Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle in October.
The manager has spoken early about the appointment that is best for the team. Within six minutes, that logic was in ruins.
Kinsky slipped trying to get out, the ball was intercepted by Julian Alvarez, who fed Marcos Llorente to hit home from the edge of the area. 1-0 in the sixth minute.
Micky van de Ven then lost his footing trying to tackle a routine ball and gave Antoine Griezmann a tap-in. 2-0.
And then – at that moment a truly deluded belief – Kinsky was fed a direct back-pass, flicked his left boot into thin air and watched Alvarez head the ball into an empty net.
The club are keen to stop Bayern Munich’s title-winning former manager from joining Tottenham after being linked
It is reported that the Spurs have arrived.
Three goals in fifteen minutes. Three mistakes are fatal to each other. The goalkeeper was in tears as he retreated down the tunnel, after Tudor made the controversial decision to send him off.
Vicario rushed to put on his gloves, and the shocked Tottenham dressing room tried to process what had just happened.
It got worse before it got better. Robin Le Normand scored a fourth from a corner in the 22nd minute, shambolic defending again, before Pedro Porro at least pulled one back for pride just after half an hour.
At the break, Spurs scored four goals down, five yellow cards were collected, and the tie was almost over.
Alvarez added a fifth on the hour – his second of a troubled night for the Tudor side – before Dominic Solanke, introduced at half-time, scored a second consolation on 67 to make it 5-2.
Tottenham finished the game with more yellow cards than shots on target, and have now lost six games in a row for the first time in their history.
But it wasn’t the score line that made TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher reach his words, it was the moment taken away from the broadcast cameras that he saw – and one that probably paints a picture of a club broken inside.
Djed Spence sends a clear message to Tottenham manager Igor Tudor
As Spence was sent off with less than 10 minutes to go, he appeared to approach Tudor on the touchline – not the other way around – and tap the manager on the shoulder and wave.
Fletcher quickly recognized what he saw, revealing that it was “not what you see” – a player starting that shift instead of a manager.
The significance, Fletcher suggested, lay in what happened earlier in the game when Tudor sent Kinsky off without seeming to acknowledge the keeper who had been beaten as he went past him, leaving the 22-year-old facing a tangled tunnel.
Whether Spence was making a point, showing solidarity with Kinsky, or simply acting unethically, it was clear to Fletcher that it was a message that needed attention.
On a night when Spurs were humiliated on the pitch, the side shows could tell a more damaging story.
Tudor’s Tottenham are a club in freefall, and the evidence is everywhere you look.
The Croatian’s time at Spurs, especially after tonight, could be coming to an end, with previous reports suggesting they were considering a move even before their defeat to Crystal Palace.
Tottenham could replace Igor Tudor with the title-winning coach wanted by Crystal Palace
There have been suggestions that the Croatian is walking on thin ice.
