At best, Tudor can be a sticking plaster but it will take three, four or even five transfer windows for Tottenham to find a proper cure for their problems and the recruitment and planning has to improve dramatically.
There was a brief reminder of the good old days when Dele Alli made a half-time appearance on Sunday. But it’s been downhill all the way since the days of Dele and Co, and it must have been painful for him to watch how far Arsenal are now ahead of his old club from the stands.
“There is a big gap between the two teams,” said Tudor. “Arsenal were too much for us with the problems we have. It’s nice to understand where we are to show our reality. So each of us understand. Now we must restart. To change old habits and the state of mind. It’s the only way to work.
“It’s something good to see where we need to be. You know, where is the goal? What is the level? So today, totally different worlds. I need to be honest. Two totally different worlds. Psychological and physical worlds.”
Lange claimed to accept responsibility for his part in the Spurs shambles in a rare interview with non-club media last Friday, but bizarrely listed Champions League squad restrictions as one of the reasons why the club did not sign more players in January.
The Champions League might be a nice distraction and has provided some rare moments of joy this season, but Tottenham should be worrying about the threat of dropping down to the Championship and Lange has left the club in peril.
Brazilian teenager Souza was one of Lange’s January signings. But he was not deemed ready to start against Arsenal, despite Tottenham being short of full-backs. It meant Archie Gray first had to fill in as a right wing-back, as he had done under Frank, and then shifted to the right side of a back three when Tudor made changes. So it cannot be too surprising that it was Gray who Viktor Gyokeres held off before scoring his team’s fourth goal.