Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke said the team no longer have any excuses after their Premier League survival hopes took another blow with a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Thursday.
Spurs — one of the richest teams in Europe and a founding member of the Premier League — are just one point above the relegation zone and without a domestic win in 2026.
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“We’ve just had a big conversation. We know the position we are in is definitely not where we want to be so we need to figure out how we are going to get out of it as soon as possible,” Solanke told TNT Sports.
“We know there’s been difficulties but we’re not in a position to make any excuses anymore. We need to do the job on the pitch. It is easy to say we want to be better but we want to be better on the pitch.
“We need to fight and realise the position we are in. We know the club is not used to being in this position so we need to understand it and understand it’s not going to be easy and we need to fight every single game, every single minute, to make sure we improve.”
Spurs’ latest defeat was the fifth in a row and the third under new coach Igor Tudor, who was tasked with the responsibility of turning the season around.
He watched as his team capitulated in front of a home crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — conceding three goals in the first half, having taken the lead and then gone down to 10 men when Micky van de Ven was sent off.
Palace took full advantage by scoring three times in seven minutes before the break.
Ismaïla Sarr struck twice — one from the penalty spot — with Jørgen Strand Larsen getting the other for the visitors.
That was after Solanke had given Spurs the lead in the 34th minute. Van de Ven was red-carded four minutes later for bringing down Sarr in the box and Palace took control.
Plenty of Spurs fans headed for the exit doors at half-time and while Tudor’s depleted group showed some spirit in the second half, this latest defeat extended the club’s winless run to 11 matches, which is a new club record in the Premier League.
“I am very disappointed, like the fans,” Tudor said. “We know what the moment is and we need to keep working and believe.
“But after this game I believe more than before because I saw something in the team and in the dressing room after the game. When we will be complete it will be good, I believe.”
The deepening crisis at Tottenham comes after winning the Europa League last season and advancing to the knockout stage of the Champions League this term, where they face Atlético Madrid in the round of 16 next week.
But their desperate league form has carried on from last year when they finished one place above the relegation zone — their lowest final position in the Premier League era.
“I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go and needs to go and who is in the boat can stay,” Tudor said. “Otherwise they can bow down, or how do you say that, leave the boat.
“So, when the other players will come back and choosing the right [players], I’m sure we will have a good team and the victories will come back. It’s not easy to accept the moment where we are now but it is how it is.”
Their plight also comes amid a tumultuous period when they have had seven managers in less than seven years.
Tottenham have spent only one season out of England’s top flight since 1950 and have been an established member of the Premier League since the competition’s inception in 1992.
Deloitte ranked Spurs ninth on its most recent rich list in January with revenues of $781 million. That placed Tottenham above giants like Chelsea, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
