Is Igor Tudor facing the sack? Tottenham make decision on interim boss ahead of crunch Liverpool encounter

The situation reached boiling point following a humiliating 5-2 first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) are now demanding "emergency action" as pressure mounts on Tudor. With no league win since late December, the board is being urged to act before the club tumbles into the Championship. ESPN reports that senior figures at Spurs are deeply concerned, but Tudor is expected to face the media on Friday as planned and lead the team at Anfield as they desperately search for a spark to ignite their survival bid.

Tudor’s man-management has come under intense fire after he hauled off young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky just 17 minutes into the clash in Madrid. The 22-year-old Czech, making a surprise start over Guglielmo Vicario, committed two high-profile errors that saw Spurs trail 3-0 within a quarter of an hour. Former Manchester City keeper Joe Hart was left "flabbergasted" at Tudor's "cold" shoulder when he refused to acknowledge the distraught youngster as he left the field.

Defending his ruthless decision, Tudor stated: "It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are, with the pressure on Vicario, another competition. Toni is a very good goalkeeper. It was for me the right decision. After this, of course, it's easy to say that it was not the right decision. So I explained to Toni also, speaking after: he's the right guy and a good goalkeeper. [The early substitution] is very rare. I've been coaching for 15 years, I've never done this. It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team. Incredible situation, nothing to comment."

The mood within the squad appears to have hit rock bottom, with first-team stars struggling to process the rapid decline. Defender Micky van de Ven offered a brutally honest assessment of the night in Spain, describing the collapse as a "doomsday scenario" for the club. The Dutchman also admitted that the relentless negativity has forced him to retreat from the public eye to protect his mental health.

The Netherlands international said: “Terrible, to be honest: a doomsday scenario. Everything that could go wrong in the first twenty minutes went wrong. Everyone slips, including me. Those are moments you simply can’t do anything about. I can’t just stand here and start blaming the pitch.”

The trip to Merseyside now represents a make-or-break moment for Tudor's short-lived tenure. While the club are expected to stick with him for the weekend, another heavy defeat could force their hand as the threat of relegation becomes a genuine reality. Failure to produce a competitive performance at Anfield could leave the board with little choice but to search for another manager before the return leg against Atletico and a vital run of domestic fixtures that will determine the club's top-flight status.