Igor Tudor has revealed that there has been a lot of focus on one particular type of drill in Tottenham training in the lead-up to the Fulham clash.
Tudor saw the shortcomings of his side in his first game in charge last week as Arsenal thrashed the Lilywhites 4-1.
The interim Tottenham head coach admitted that he was angered by some aspects of his side’s display, and called on his players to work even harder in training to change their habits.
It appears that Tudor and his staff have been making them do just that in the lead-up to the London derby against Fulham on Sunday.
Igor Tudor reveals Tottenham players have had to do a lot of running
The Croat made it clear that he wants to see his players running more and getting up and down the pitch.
Tudor revealed that running off the ball has been one of the primary focuses of his training sessions this week, and claimed that the players were receptive to his demands.
When asked about the extra running in the training sessions, the 47-year-old said (via Football.London): “That’s the only way. Running. The pitch is 100 yards, it’s long! So you need to run. There are habits. Maybe you have habits to, I don’t know, to work a bit less.
“I put some runs without the ball. Players never like runs without the ball, so we put some runs without balls [into the sessions], but it’s a moment when there is no time to think too much about what somebody doesn’t like, and the best thing is that they understand this. They gave me their availability to do these things.”
When asked if he had put the players through double training sessions, he joked: “No, we did not. Just three…no, joking!”
Tudor suggests young players at Spurs may be struggling with the pressure
The interim Spurs boss made it clear that the issues with the squad are not just physical but also mental.
He claimed that some of the club’s younger players may be struggling to cope with the current situation, but suggested that this is a great opportunity for some of them to step up and prove their mettle.
Tudor added: “It is both things, physical and mental. There is some pressure here in this club, of course. Some players are still young. They were brought here to help and now maybe they are in a moment where they need to resolve the problems.
“So, if you have too many of these players, because of the amount of injuries, who are playing together in the squad it does create some problems, but it is also an opportunity and a challenge to grow fast, to become a man.
“To grow fast and say, ‘Come on, I’m the guy, give me the ball, I will score’ instead of just ‘What can I do? I’m just here you know’. This is the challenge for each of them. Why not? To say, ‘Come on, give me the ball, I will not cry, I will take the ball, I will defend my box’.
“It’s always how you see the situation. You can always see it both ways. Or ‘I’m just here and we had 15 players and I was always left out and now we have 10 players out, so I play’. How do you really see that situation? If you are the right guy, positive there is opportunity.”
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