Igor Tudor\u2019s messaging was always going to be key. All eyes and ears were on the interim Tottenham head coach on Thursday night and how he would react; the tone he would look to set. Would there be another blast for the players? Goodness knows, the material was there.<\/p>\n
It had been another impossibly awful occasion at the club\u2019s home stadium, another defeat \u2013 this one by Crystal Palace<\/a>. Spurs cannot buy a Premier League win at the Temple of Gloom; they have two all season, the basis for the worst home record in the division. As relegation fears sharpen to an incredibly uncomfortable point, the emotions in the stands ranged from apathy to anger. A lot of anger.<\/p>\n Tudor has been in the role for nearly three weeks, having replaced Thomas Frank, and before kick-off against Palace his words in public about the challenge he has taken on and the players he has inherited had largely been negative.<\/p>\n The top line came after last Sunday\u2019s defeat at Fulham; how the team were \u201clacking\u201d in three areas<\/a> \u2013 defence, midfield and attack. Actually, there was a fourth \u2013 the \u201cbrain\u201d department. Before the game, he had said the players were not fit enough and questioned their desire to put in the hard yards without the ball. He has described the overall situation as an \u201cemergency\u201d<\/a>, tougher than he envisaged and most likely his hardest job<\/a> in management.<\/p>\n Tudor reached for a different lever after Palace. He was positive, insisting he had seen something from the players; energy and passion. He said his belief had increased<\/a>. Well, if the big stick does not work \u2026<\/p>\n It was of a piece with Tudor\u2019s approach to tactics and selection \u2013 trying one thing and then lurching to another. Everything on the hoof. For his first match, the home loss against Arsenal<\/a>, he started with a 3-3-3-1 formation. At Fulham<\/a>, it was 4-4-2. Against Palace, it was 5-4-1. Nothing has worked and a picture has formed: Tudor groping desperately for the solution, flailing in the face of the general panic; time against him, everything against him.<\/p>\n Empty seats and angry fans during Tottenham\u2019s home defeat by Crystal Palace. Photograph: John Walton\/PA<\/p>\n Tudor was kidding nobody after Palace. Everything is relative. Spurs were better in the second half, not suffering further, but only after surrendering the game in the first, going in at 3-1 down and with Micky van de Ven sent off. This team have an uncanny knack for rallying when the result looks beyond them. They were edgy in the first half, without an obvious strategy to progress up through the thirds. They were just so fragile. Palace eased off after the interval.<\/p>\n This was the game that Spurs wanted to be the catalyst for Tudor\u2019s tenure. Instead, there are questions from supporters about whether he should remain in charge because there has been zero evidence of a new manager bounce. Should he be Stellini-ed<\/a>?<\/p>\n