The winds of change at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have been less of a gentle breeze and more of a turbulent storm lately. Following the departure of Thomas Frank, the arrival of Igor Tudor was meant to signal a new dawn for a club that has found itself in the unthinkable position of a relegation battle.
However, Tudor’s debut in the dugout was anything but a fairy tale. A bruising 4-1 defeat at home to Arsenal served as a harsh wake-up call, illustrating just how much work remains to be done. While the scoreline was difficult to swallow, it is hard to ignore the context: Tudor was forced to navigate one of the world’s most intense derbies with a skeleton crew of just thirteen available senior players.
In the high-stakes environment of the Premier League, depth is everything. When that depth is stripped away by an unforgiving injury crisis, even the most brilliant tactical minds find themselves hamstrung.
For Tottenham, the final eleven games of the campaign are no longer just fixtures; they are a fight for survival. To succeed, Tudor desperately needs his reinforcements to return to the grass. Fortunately, the clouds seem to be parting slightly, as the manager recently hinted at a double injury boost that could fundamentally change the team’s dynamic for the upcoming trip to Fulham.
The two names on everyone’s lips are Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso. When questioned about their potential availability for the next match, Tudor offered a response that was brief but laced with genuine optimism.
He suggested that “probably two of them” would be ready to return, providing a much-needed lift to a dressing room that has been understandably low on morale. This isn’t just about adding numbers to the squad; it is about restoring the tactical identity that Tudor wants to implement.
Tudor is a known proponent of a sophisticated three-at-the-back system. To make this formation work, you need very specific profiles in the defensive line and on the flanks. Against Arsenal, the absence of natural specialists forced the manager into a series of awkward compromises.
Perhaps the most glaring issue was the use of Joao Palhinha as a makeshift center-back. While Palhinha is a world-class defensive midfielder, he looked like a fish out of water in the heart of the defense. He was frequently dragged out of position by Arsenal’s fluid movement, leaving gaps that were ruthlessly exploited.
The return of Kevin Danso would solve this problem immediately. Danso provides the natural defensive instincts, physical presence, and positional discipline required to anchor a back three.
His presence would allow Palhinha to move back into the midfield, where his ball-winning abilities can be utilized to protect the defense rather than being part of it. This shift alone would give Tottenham a much more rugged and compact feel, making them far harder to break down than they appeared during the derby disaster.
Equally vital is the return of Pedro Porro. In Tudor’s preferred wing-back system, the wide players are the engine room of the team.
They are expected to provide defensive cover while acting as the primary source of width and crossing in the final third. Porro is tailor-made for this role. His energy and technical quality on the ball are levels above what Spurs have been forced to use in his absence.
Furthermore, Porro’s return has a positive domino effect on the rest of the lineup. It frees up young Archie Gray, who has been filling in admirably but unnaturally on the right side of the defense.
Gray is a generational talent in the center of the pitch, and moving him back to his natural midfield home would restore a sense of balance and composure to the team’s buildup play. When you look at the potential lineup with Danso and Porro back in the fold, it looks significantly more like a top-tier Premier League side and less like a patchwork quilt of available bodies.
| Predicted Tactical Shift | With Injuries (vs Arsenal) | With Returning Stars (vs Fulham) |
| Defensive Shape | Makeshift Back 4 | Structured Back 3 |
| Center-Back Anchor | Joao Palhinha (Out of position) | Kevin Danso (Natural specialist) |
| Right Wing-Back | Archie Gray (Filling in) | Pedro Porro (Natural specialist) |
| Midfield Engine | Thin and Overstretched | Palhinha & Gray reunited |
The timing could not be more critical. Tottenham isn’t just fighting to stay in the Premier League; they also have Champions League commitments that require a level of squad rotation that has been impossible of late.
Every player who returns to fitness represents a new tactical option and a chance to rest those who have been “red-lining” for weeks. Tudor’s system relies on high intensity and sharp mental focus, both of which are the first things to go when players are fatigued.
While a single injury update won’t fix all of Tottenham’s problems overnight, it provides a foundation upon which Tudor can finally begin to build. The “humiliation” of the derby was a bitter pill, but with the potential return of Danso and Porro, there is a path toward stability.
The trip to Craven Cottage will be the first true test of whether Tudor’s vision can work when he has the right tools at his disposal. For the Spurs faithful, the hope is that these two returning stars are just the beginning of a larger recovery that sees the club climb away from the danger zone and back toward the standards expected of them.
