Tottenham have made a £200m gamble – appointing a Sean Dyche-type manager would have avoided ‘massive risk’
Tottenham Hotspur have made the risky decision to name Igor Tudor as their interim manager amid his Premier League inexperience.
That’s the view of talkSPORT host Andy Goldstein, who believes that someone similar to Sean Dyche would have been a better choice.
Spurs sacked Thomas Frank after their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United and are now set to bring Tudor in until the end of the season.
The Croatian, who left Juventus in October, is seen as someone who can make an immediate short-term impact at the north Londoners.
His short-term appointment also keeps the door open for Spurs fan favourite Mauricio Pochettino to make a return in the summer.
However, the pending arrival of Tudor has left Goldstein concerned for Spurs, who are 16th and battling to avoid a shock relegation.
The talkSPORT Drive host suggested that a manager like Dyche, who was sacked by Nottingham Forest on Thursday, should have been on their radar instead.
“Here’s my take on when an unknown European manager comes over here, all football experts love them, but nine times out of ten, they don’t do that well,” he explained.
“I’ve never heard of his fella… I can’t come on here and say that he’s awful or brilliant.
“But what I will say is that it’s always a massive risk when a foreign manager who doesn’t necessarily know the Premier League comes in and has to do a job quickly.
“I’m not saying Sean Dyche was the answer, but if someone like him came in, he knows the league, knows the opponents, knows the dangers instantly.”
Goldstein added: “This is basically, from Tottenham and the board, a gamble that could be worth about £200million.
“If they get this wrong, because he needs to start winning… and you don’t get games harder than the north London derby, if he gets it wrong, it could cost them £200m.
“They could be playing their football in the Championship, I’m stunned they’ve gone for him.”
Darren Bent then replied: “It’s a difficult one… someone like Dyche would not have gone down well.
“A lot of teams hire Dyche when they’re fighting relegation.
“Now, if Spurs had gone for him, it would have been an obvious admission from them that they’re fighting against going down.
“It’s a risk, and how it turns out? I have no idea.”
What is Tudor’s style?
Speaking on Hawksbee and Jacobs, Italian football journalist Daniele Fisichella compared Tudor to former Spurs boss Antonio Conte.
The ex-Chelsea manager endured a difficult spell at the club from 2021 to 2023, and is now at Napoli.
However, he delivered a style of play that could be set to make a reappearance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“3-4-1-2 and 3-4-2-1 are his preferred formations,” Fisichella said of Tudor.
“He’s very much a manager in the mould of Antonio Conte, in the likes of he wants the back three defence and he wants a lot of intensity, a lot of aggressiveness.
“His football, in a way, is simpler, if you like, than some of the other managers. When Juventus hired him last season following Thiago Motta, he simplified the way they were playing.
“He wanted Juventus to play higher up the pitch and he wanted the players to win the individual duels, the battles, across the pitch, which he was able to do last season.
“Now he inherits a team, Tottenham, that are already quite keen at pressing high in the Premier League.
“I was checking the stats before, Tottenham have got the fourth-highest passes per defensive action, it’s a metric that measures how many passes the team allows before launching a press, so it’s a very pressing side.”
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