Tottenham sporting director wants ‘dominant’ football from next permanent coach

Tottenham’s next permanent head coach must play an attractive style of football, but sporting director Johan Lange has insisted the current focus of the club is to support Igor Tudor.

Spurs have turned to experienced Croatian coach Tudor to steer them away from Premier League relegation concerns after Thomas Frank was dismissed earlier this month following a run of two wins in 17 league fixtures.

It has left Tottenham in a precarious position and Lange faced the UK media in a roundtable setting for the first time on Friday. The Danish director accepted responsibility for the current state of the squad but declined to discuss the club’s managerial search.

Asked if former boss Mauricio Pochettino would be on a summer shortlist, Lange said: “Igor has been here for five days. That is our focus and I am not going to comment on any names that have been linked to the job.

“Our focus right now, as I said, is to get high up in the table in the league, focusing on the Champions League as well. That is our focus right now and I am sure you can understand that.”

Lange did confirm that a manager with a possession-based style of play will be targeted in the summer after Frank failed to truly win over Spurs’ fanbase with a pragmatic and direct brand of football.

“It is definitely something high up on the list,” Lange acknowledged.

“We are very ambitious to create a team that can play dominant football and that can control the matches with the ball for a few reasons. If you look across almost every league in the world, that is how you can say the top teams normally are successful.

“Then we are also a club with a rich history of having some of the best offensive players in the world and having a very particular style of play that resonates with the history, resonates with the fans.

“And I think that combined with having a possession-dominant, aggressive style of play, those two things go hand in hand. Of course that is something that is important for us here at the club.”

During a 20-minute conversation inside Tottenham’s Hotspur Way training ground, Lange admitted results “over a period” meant the club ended Frank’s tenure after 38 matches.

“Of course it was a board decision, but we made the decision and that was why we decided it was the right time to change,” Lange explained.

The decision to turn to Tudor has raised eyebrows with plenty of former players quick to point out the lack of Premier League experience of the 47-year-old.

Tudor also has past links to Fabio Paratici, who left his role as co-sporting director at Spurs at the start of February.

Yet Lange insisted: “Fabio stopped working here at the beginning of February and it’s us who are working here who make the decision.

“Who we spoke to…people that Igor worked with in the past, be it executives, be it players, etc, we like to keep confidential.”