LONDON (AP) — Tottenham manager Igor Tudor acknowledged some of his players were struggling to cope with the pressure as the club lurches toward relegation from the Premier League in one of its worst seasons in a generation.
An ever-present in England’s top flight since the 1970s, Spurs are one point above the bottom three with nine games left. They haven’t won their last 11 Premier League matches — dating to last year.
The team also is reeling from a 5-2 thrashing by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 — during which Tudor substituted goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky in the 17th minute for making two errors leading to goals. After the game, Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven said it was a “really, really awful” period and he no longer checks his phone.
“Some of them, they cannot manage, for sure,” Tudor said on Friday at a news conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Liverpool in the league. “Some of them, you arrive and you can help them.
“So sometimes you cannot do anything, but most of the time you can do even small changes, small help. But also what I always like to say to the players, ‘Don’t be the victim.’”
Tudor himself is facing plenty of heat after starting his interim reign with four straight losses. He gave a challenge to his players, saying: “You can cry or you can fight.”
“The bottle is always half-empty or half-full,” Tudor said. “Here, there is nothing full. There is a lot of empty things.
“I believe the players will take this challenge as an opportunity. We stand up with the courage to change things after this period — they will become a better person and better players.”
Absentees list growing
Adding to Tudor’s problems is a list of absentees that is growing by the week.
As well as injuries to key players such as James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur, van de Ven is suspended while Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha will miss the trip to Anfield as they follow concussion protocols after clashing heads against Atletico.
Tudor said on Friday that Yves Bissouma has joined the injury list, too.
Vicario returning as goalie
Tudor said Guglielmo Vicario would be back as goalkeeper at Liverpool after being dropped against Atletico.
Still, the Croatian coach said Kinsky would play games this season “for sure” despite his nightmarish performance in Madrid.
“He came back the day after and was very good in training,” Tudor said. “He has the strength and quality. In front of him is a very good career.”
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