Such a fraught dressing room atmosphere does not often lend itself well to receiving the sort of criticism Tudor has dished out, and performances suggest his messages are not getting through.
Tudor, though, is not worried about losing the trust of his players and says honesty is the only way to get Spurs out of the situation they are in.
“Always they need honesty,” he said before the Palace game. “One of the skills of a coach is to be honest, in the right way of course, to speak with them. Without honesty, you are dead. It's what I believe.”
Spurs understandably lack confidence after a run of just two wins from their last 19 Premier League games.
Players are not coming to search for the ball, clearances are being hacked into touch rather than shuffled into a team-mate and there is not enough willingness to stretch the play in behind.
These are basics, but also a symptom of a team stretched beyond its limits by injuries.
Spurs are just one point above the relegation zone
AFP via Getty Images
Players lack authority in possession not just because the gravity of the situation is dawning on them, but because they lack clarity about the positions they are meant to fulfil.
Conor Gallagher and Xavi Simons were on the periphery when played out of position against Fulham, but that does not appear to have stopped Tudor looking to tinker in search of solutions.
“We don’t have anyone,” he said when asked to explain his decision to play Gallagher as a winger against Fulham. “We have problems with the players. So sometimes someone needs to adapt a little bit their position to do it.
“When you have this emergency, someone needs to do something, maybe.”
Tudor is bidding to avoid being the first manager in nearly 50 years to take Spurs to the second division.
Their plight is not his fault, far from it, but he is the man with a chance to turn things around and his lack of clarity is feeding into the tetchy atmosphere around the club.
Ten years on from being favourites for the title with eight games to go, Spurs are now in do-or-die territory as they fight to hold on to their Premier League status.
