Sam Allardyce outlines first thing Igor Tudor should’ve done at Tottenham after latest developments: ‘What is going on?’
Igor Tudor has joined Tottenham while they’re in the middle of a huge injury crisis.
The 47-year-old will take charge of Spurs until the end of the season, but he currently has a very limited squad to choose from.
As the Lilywhites are in a relegation battle, they desperately need the majority of their players to be fit, but that simply isn’t the case.
Unfortunately for the Croatian head coach, 11 players are out of contention for Sunday’s North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Cristian Romero is still serving his four-game ban for the red card he was shown against Man United on 7 February.
This means it will be incredibly tough for Tudor to name a strong starting lineup in the next few weeks, and former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce can’t wrap his head around the amount of injuries he has to deal with.
Igor Tudor has to deal with 11 players out injured at Tottenham
The Sofascore graphic above shows that Tudor didn’t have a great spell at Juventus, and he was sacked by the Italian side in October 2025 after just seven months.
However, what’s clear is that he has to have a fast start to life at Tottenham, but his squad have been hampered by injuries all season.
The latest news on the injury front is that Lucas Bergvall now won’t be available until April, and it is the latest blow in a series of setbacks that Spurs have had to adapt to in 2025-26.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast on 17 February, Allardyce was left confused by how many players are out of action in N17.
He said: “They’re in the Champions League and that will hinder their survival hopes in the Premier League. You’re going have to play your best eleven.
| Tottenham players | Type of injury |
| Wilson Odobert | Knee injury |
| James Maddison | Knee injury |
| Dejan Kulusevski | Knee injury |
| Rodrigo Bentancur | Thigh injury |
| Mohammed Kudus | Thigh injury |
| Destiny Udogie | Thigh injury |
| Richarlison | Thigh injury |
| Pedro Porro | Thigh injury |
| Ben Davies | Ankle injury |
| Lucas Bergvall | Ankle injury |
“If I were the new Tottenham head coach, the first thing I’d be doing is to go into the physio room.
“I mean, what is going on? How is it that there are so many injuries? You’ve got all these staff to help prevent injuries, but what are they doing?”
Every player on that list still has a while to go before they can return to the side fully fit, which is deeply concerning.
Tudor has his work cut out for him, but he is not the first Tottenham manager to face this type of problem.
Tottenham’s medical team needs to fall under scrutiny
The truth is that Tottenham having an excessive injury list has been a recurring theme in recent years.
Ange Postecoglou had his entire defence unfit for large parts of last season, although his players returned in time to help Spurs win the Europa League.
At the start of this campaign, Richarlison, Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke were all injured around the same time, which left Mathys Tel starting up front for several games under Thomas Frank.
In the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on 10 February, Spurs had six teenagers on the bench, which clearly shows how badly they’ve been affected by injuries.
The current medical department is doing a poor job, with many players suffering a recurrence of a previous issue they had.
Ultimately, something needs to change at Tottenham, and the medical team has to take some responsibility for the injury woes in N17.
Because it simply isn’t just bad luck anymore.
Check out Football Insider for the latest updates and insight into what is going on at Tottenham.