Igor Tudor demands more from Tottenham but accuses Raul Jimenez of ‘cheating’
Spurs were furious with Fulham’s opener after a push by Jimenez similar to an incident last Sunday against Arsenal.
Tottenham interim head coach Igor Tudor took aim at his own players before he slammed “cheating” Fulham after another defeat.
Spurs lost for a second time under Tudor, who switched to a back four for this London derby but watched his faltering group go behind after seven minutes.
Harry Wilson scored for Fulham but Tottenham were furious a slight push by Raul Jimenez on Radu Dragusin was not penalised, especially given they had a goal ruled out against Arsenal last Sunday for a similar push by Randal Kolo Muani on Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Of course it’s a foul,” Tudor insisted. “Nine out of 10 people will say it’s a foul, I believe, because it’s so obvious.
“Sometimes the criteria don’t have consistency. Last week what happened in our game against Arsenal, same thing.
“He (Jimenez) was not thinking about the ball, he was thinking how to cheat, so he cheated the player with pushing and they scored the goal. So it’s cheating and there’s the foul.”
Fulham doubled their advantage in the 34th minute when ex-Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi fired in from range and even though Spurs substitute Richarlison pulled one back, the club’s winless run has extended to a record-equalling 10 Premier League games.
Whilst West Ham lost at Liverpool on Saturday to stay four points behind 16th-placed Tottenham, the north London outfit remain in a precarious situation.
“The problems are much bigger, the problems are much bigger,” Tudor reflected.
“It’s a complicated situation. A lot of problems, I cannot tell you nothing new. Nothing new. We need to find the voices inside each of us.
“I said to the players, ‘it’s always what you’re going to do, what you want to do with yourself,’ you know?
“More personality, more wish to do before reacting, a lot of things.
“We lack when we attack, we are lacking the quality to score the goal, we are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation.”
Spurs had been second-best for an hour until Tudor introduced Pape Sarr, Mathys Tel and Richarlison.
Asked if he wanted to see more fight, Tudor responded: “I want to see everything more.
“Of course (substitutes) give something and of course we need that, Pedro (Porro) also, when Kevin (Danso) comes inside, personality and quality, so it changes. They bring this of course.
“This is the key also to have the players who can give this to the team. Too many players need the help from each other.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva refused to be drawn on their opener, but claimed victory was deserved.
“No, I will not make any comments on it. Of course it is their opinion and I have to respect it,” Silva said.
“Of course the result, I believe the three points, (it’s) clear we deserve it. The score should be different with the amount of chances we created.
“Great performance from us.”
