Jurgen Klinsmann has thrown his hat in the ring for the Tottenham job, insisting he would “develop a really nasty, ugly, fighting spirit” in the players.
Igor Tudor oversaw his fourth defeat in four as Spurs boss on Tuesday as Atletico Madrid put them to the sword in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie to run out 5-2 winners.
Three consecutive defeats in the Premier League leaves them just one point above the relegation zone ahead of their trip to play Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Another loss will surely bring an end to Tudor’s brief and horrific tenure; it’s a surprise he’s still in the job given the Spurs players clearly haven’t responded to his tactics and – as Antonin Kinsky will advise – are some less than mediocre man-management skills.
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Wayne Rooney insists there’s “no way” Robbie Keane should leave Ferencváros for Tottenham in their current state and with Sean Dyche and Ryan Mason tipped for an interim stint until the end of the season, former Spurs striker Jurgen Klinsmann insists he would be open to the challenge.
Klinsmann is currently available having been sacked by South Korea in February 2024 after their defeat in the semi-final of the Asia Cup.
He told ESPN: “Who wouldn’t want the job? It is Tottenham.
“Whoever you choose, you need a person who can connect to everyone emotionally, that knows the club, that feels the club, that feels the people.
“Because, to get out of this mess, they need to develop a fighting spirit, a really nasty, ugly, fighting spirit and that goes only over the emotions.
“So you don’t need to have to bring in the mastermind of tactical stuff or whatever, you need to have somebody who gets everybody onboard and go and get these games done in a positive way and get everybody behind the fact that they are in danger of going down to the Championship.
“So no matter who you put in charge now, it goes only over the emotions, the willingness to suffer and fight and maybe take the ball away from some ballboys on the sidelines.”
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Klinsmann was referencing the clash between Pedro Neto and a PSG ballboy in Chelsea’s 5-2 defeat on Wednesday and then also reflected on Tudor’s decision to take Spurs goalkeeper Kinsky off just 17 minutes into their defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Tudor has been on the end of stinging criticism, firstly for starting Kinsky ahead of Guglielmo Vicario and secondly for hooking him so early in the game.
Klinsmann added: “I think if you ask him [Tudor] today and he reflects about the decision making before the game to play him and then during the game, obviously to sub him out after 17 minutes, he would re-think their whole situation.
“Obviously, it is a killer for the kid, it is the worst thing a goalkeeper can go through, I feel for the kid because my own son is a goalkeeper and I hope he never gets a moment like that.
“He will obviously make mistakes and he will make similar mistakes like Kinsky did there but obviously to then get pulled off after 17 minutes in a game in front of a sold-out crowd in Madrid, because you have these two blackouts is simply brutal.
“So I think we all felt for the boy and obviously you are on the ground, you get back up and you get going but this is a massive shocker for a young player like him.
“He threw him in the cold water and in that moment, the water was too cold.
“He made those two huge mistakes and then the other story to discuss certainly is how do you react to it, just drag it out until half-time.
“Maybe then you can talk to him and then you explain to him that you will sub him off and bring back Vicario in that moment.
“He decided to do it after 17 minutes and that is a huge punishment for a young kid like him.”
