Igor Tudor has been sacked by Tottenham. They called it a “mutual agreement”, but let’s be honest: he was sacked. And, just as I had already predicted, Tottenham now have to look at other options if they want to avoid relegation at the end of the season, because with Tudor this was going nowhere.
The two biggest possibilities are Sean Dyche and De Zerbi, but in my opinion there is a clear favourite because of the moment of the season.
Tottenham are the Titanic and they are sinking. If nobody steps in, understands the situation and guarantees points, they are going down. Wins? It is not even about that. Points. Draws are already useful. It does not matter who plays beautiful football, it does not matter about attractive football, passing sequences or runs. None of that matters right now. What matters is getting more points than West Ham and avoiding relegation.
With that in mind, and with it already being the end of March, the option has to be Sean Dyche. He shuts the team down, does what needs to be done, does not care about aesthetics and gets points. And he already has experience in this kind of “life or death” situation.
I see some disrespect towards the Dyche option, but have Tottenham fans still not realised the club’s situation? Yes, De Zerbi is a better manager than Dyche, but have you actually looked at the context? This is not the start of the season, there is no time to plan, and there is no transfer window to build a squad. We are at the end and this is about surviving or going down. It feels like Tottenham fans are aiming higher than reality allows. In this specific moment, there is no better option than Sean Dyche.
Also, Mauricio Pochettino has been talking for a long time about a return to England and that club would clearly be Tottenham, but right now he is managing the United States national team. In other words, Tottenham need to stay in the Premier League and then try to bring Pochettino back next season, because no top manager is going to take over a team in the second division.
It seems obvious, but this insistence on forcing De Zerbi is not helpful when there is no time to think too much.
Conclusion
In Tottenham’s current situation, Sean Dyche is clearly the best option. He is used to fighting for survival, gets the job done and then leaves. It does not even need to be a long-term project.
I feel like Tottenham fans see Dyche as an inferior manager, but have they really looked properly at the club’s situation? What is worse than getting relegated?
De Zerbi is a good manager, he has strong ideas, but he is for a serious project, with time and planning. He is not for holding together a ship that is already sinking.