Igor Tudor’s unorthodox north London derby preparation: New Tottenham interim manager takes his relegation-threatened squad out for dinner ahead of crunch Arsenal clash

Tottenham‘s interim manager Igor Tudor looked to get his interregnum off on the right foot on Thursday evening by taking his squad out for a team bonding dinner. 

The former Juventus head coach was appointed at Spurs on Friday afternoon, but faces a baptism of fire for his first competitive match, with the club welcoming loathed rivals Arsenal on Sunday for the north London derby. 

But in a bid to raise morale following the departure of Thomas Frank, Tudor may have turned to more unorthodox methods to improve the mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

Tudor – perhaps inadvertently – appeared to add a sprinkle of Europa League-winning manager Ange Postecoglou‘s formula in the early stages of his time in north London, plumping for Greek-Cypriot restaurant Ousia in Muswell Hill for his first team meal. 

Tottenham’s players might have chosen between classic dishes such as chicken souvlaki, lamb kleftiko or beef moussaka as they toasted the start of Tudor’s time in the dugout. 

After dinner, the team posed for a picture, with the players beaming smiles a hint that with the departure of Frank, the darkening mood around the club might at least begin to lift. 

In a baptism of fire his first task will be attempting to beat Premier League leaders Arsenal

Going into the north London derby, Spurs sit just five points above the relegation places, with Frank given his marching orders following another dismal defeat to Newcastle just under two weeks ago. 

As well as overseeing a number of worrying losses, Frank is believed to have drawn his players’ ire by over-relying on comparisons to Arsenal. 

The Danish manager was said to be ‘constantly’ talking about their north London rivals, and even before and after playing at the Emirates earlier this season, Frank was said to be telling his players how impressive he thought the team were. 

With Spurs’ Premier League future potentially hanging in the balance, Tudor arrived under no illusion of a happy atmosphere, and cut a determined presence in his opening interview. 

‘The first priority is to give everything the team needs in these moments… first of all, to get some confidence, to get some courage, but also in the same way, the concrete things in the pitch,’ he told the club’s website.

‘There is no time to find excuses. What I said from the first day here, each of us, each of the players need to give something, something more, something extra, because the position of the club in this moment is not that anybody can accept.’

‘The situation is not easy because, as you know better than me, we have a lot of injured players, so we need first to find the best system that suits the players that are available at this moment.’