Monday, 4 July 2022

Igor Tudor Named Head Coach of Olympique de Marseille

July 4, 2022 - It had been rumored for days, and now Olympique Marseille has officially confirmed Igor Tudor as the club's new coach. The Croatian coach signed a contract with the former European champion for two years.

The former head of Hajduk will sit on the bench of the French club after Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Last season, Tudor successfully led Hellas Verona, and those results attracted one of the biggest French clubs ever and a great rival to PSG.

Tudor boasts over 50 caps for the Croatia national team and at the club level, he spent most of his career at Juventus Turin, recording over 170 games with the Bianconeri as a central defender and winning two Italian Championship titles.

"In the 1998-1999 season, his teammates were Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane, with whom he played in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
He returned to the "Old Lady" in the 2020-2021 season as an assistant coach alongside Andrea Pirlo," wrote Olympique Marseille in their announcement. 

The boss of Olympique was delighted by his attacking football in a league otherwise known for defensive football. He booked his ticket to Marseille with victories against Juventus, Roma, and Atalanta. They point out that during his playing career he shared the national team dressing room with their legend Alen Bokšić.

The club will return to the Champions League this season, and Duje Ćaleta Car will welcome Tudor to the team. 

"I think we have found what we need in Igor Tudor, and I am happy to welcome him to our club. Igor is a fighting man, as he has demonstrated throughout his career, both as a coach and as a player. Trained in Split, I am convinced that he will feel at home in Marseille. Moreover, his experience as a coach at Galatasaray and PAOK, as well as at Juventus as a player, have prepared him for the level of passion that defines and unites our club and his city. But above all, as he recently proved at Hellas Verona, Igor is an authentic leader who offers a bold vision of soccer, who does not shy away from any challenge and who is determined to pursue excellence," concluded Olympique Marseille owner Frank McCourt. 

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Friday, 21 August 2020

Igor Tudor Leaves Hajduk Split to Join Juventus as Pirlo's Assistant

August 21, 2020 - Igor Tudor has left Hajduk to become the assistant coach at Juventus, the Split club announced on Friday.

"As of today, Igor Tudor is no longer the coach of Hajduk after he decided to accept the offer of the new Juventus coach, Andrea Pirlo, to join him in Italy as an assistant in the professional staff.

Now the former coach of the 'Whites' spent eight months in his second term on the bench of Hajduk, and led them in 18 official matches.

We wish coach Tudor a lot of luck and success in his future career," Hajduk wrote on its official website

Tudor received an offer last weekend to return to Juventus, the club he played for from 1998 to 2007, after Andrea Pirlo took over the Turin club.

After training at Poljud on Monday, Tudor told Hajduk leaders that he would like to take the opportunity to go to Italy, where he led Udinese on two occasions. It was just a matter of waiting for the compensation amount to be agreed upon. The Italian champion will pay Hajduk 450 thousand euros.

Hajduk decided that Tudor's assistant Hari Vukas will lead the team in the match against Osijek, which is scheduled for Sunday at 5:55 pm at City Garden Stadium.

Vukas' first assistant will be Jurica Vucko, and Toni Golem joins the professional staff of the first team, who recently took over juniors II. In his career so far, he has already had experience working in the professional staff of Hajduk's first team.

Goalkeeping coach Hrvoje Sunara remains, and Toni Modric and Sime Versic are still in charge of preparing the players.

Pirlo ended his playing career three years ago, during which he won the 2006 World Cup with Italy and reached the Euro final in 2012. While playing for Milan (2001-2011) and Juventus (2011-2015), he won two Champions League titles (2003, 2007) and once again played in the final (2015) with six Italian league titles (two with Milan, four with Juventus).

The former Croatia national team player made 174 appearances for Juventus and another 39 for Siena. As a coach in Italy, he led Udinese and saved them from relegation in two seasons. He also led PAOK, Galatasaray, and Karabukspor. Tudor took over Hajduk in December last year, and under his leadership, the Split club finished the season in fifth place.

Source: Index.hr

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Thursday, 4 June 2020

Igor Tudor: I Want Hajduk Players to have Michael Jordan Mentality

June 4, 2020 - After several months away, the Croatian First League will return this week with the match between Hajduk and Inter Zapresic at Poljud on Friday at 8 pm.

This means that the pre-game press conferences have returned, but not in the standard form. Hajduk coach Igor Tudor addressed the press via Zoom on Wednesday. We are transmitting the meeting via Index.hr.

What are the expectations and what kind of Hajduk will we see?

"We are all looking forward to the game; that's why we work and live. It's a unique story to play without an audience, and it's never been pleasant for me. It's an aggravating circumstance for the home team. We have to justify the role of favorites on Friday. At the moment, we have 10 games, and we want to win each one. I think the players are in good shape; they are motivated, they are eager. "

Who stood out the most during the break?

"I never like to point out individuals, but there will be three or four new names on Friday. They have imposed themselves during this break, they are here, but in football, everything changes in a few moments. I want to get a winning mentality from the team. Every rehearsal and every addition better. I think this generation is missing that in general, we saw it in Jordan's documentary 'The Last Dance'. I want to see it and we're going in the direction of improving it."

Will there be a loudspeaker at the stadium during matches?

"We'll see. Normally it's not that, it has nothing to do with real cheering, it has pros and cons, it kills that sick silence, but on the other hand, you hear some weird noise. I really hope the audience comes back in a few rounds and we continue going in the right direction."

What is the impact of the break on the state of the team, plans for the transition period and the summer?

"As it is for us, so it is for everyone else. In time, everything will be better, in terms of the whole game. An important segment is the selection of players, and we overestimate the role of coaches in such things. You have to be a magician for that, considering the budgets that Croatian clubs have."

Any comment on the Croatian Cup semifinal?

"It didn't look bad; there was a good rhythm, a good Slaven in the first half, Lokomotiva solved the game thanks to individual class. The referees overshadowed the great game between Rijeka and Osijek; the boys in black were the best individuals there. Osijek solved that game already, but the boys in black disagreed."

What about Inter?

"We looked at them a bit in two friendly matches. We will be asked the most here. We have to run full throttle from the first minute and sort things out as soon as possible. We're going to win."

What about the match schedule?

"The schedule is not tight, and it's good that we have five substitutions. This way, while playing every five days, it's not bad."

Did you hear from Bjelica after his dismissal at Dinamo? In addition, will these referee problems ever change in the HNL?

"Neno is great, the enemy never sleeps, not even across the border, and he was surprised by a neighbor from Bosnia. As for the refereeing, Hajduk has always beared the brunt of the refs, and now that is Osijek. We give them support. In the last 30 years, what should not be happening is happening, the refs who should be invisible are always here. That can change immediately, but a few people decide it. I welcome the suspension of refs, whoever makes a mistake has to suffer the consequences. The HNL has a long, beautiful history around that, but I hope it goes in a better direction as a lot of things in this state are going in a better direction."

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Monday, 23 December 2019

It's Official: Igor Tudor Named as New Hajduk Coach

December 23, 2019 - Igor Tudor is the new coach of Hajduk Split!

After almost five years, Igor Tudor will again take over the Hajduk bench in early January. The club confirmed that the 40-year-old Split football expert would lead the team through their 2020 winter preparations. The first official match of the newly appointed Hajduk strategist after 2015 will be in February against Varazdin.

Tudor first sat on the Hajduk bench back in 2013 as a celebrated Hajduk player and Croatia national team member. Shortly after taking over Hajduk, Tudor won the Croatian Football Cup, in which Hajduk topped Lokomotiva.

Tudor’s first term as Hajduk coach was from April 2013 until February 2015, and over the three seasons, he led Hajduk in a total of 77 official games, affirming several young players. In the meantime, he has led the Greek club PAOK, the Turkish clubs Karabukspor and Galatasaray, and has twice been coach of the Italian club Udinese.

Tudor served as Eduard Reja's professional staff in the 2009/10 season and worked at the Hajduk Academy as a cadet trainer before his first term on the Hajduk bench.

Igor Tudor made his debut for Hajduk as a player on October 11, 1995, in a Cup match against Marsonia. In total, he recorded 127 appearances in the Hajduk jersey, with 11 goals scored. He left Hajduk in 1998 for Juventus, Italy, where he achieved some of the most significant successes in his rich player career, which he completed in the summer of 2008, where he began, in his favorite Hajduk jersey. He won the bronze medal at the 1998 World Cup in France with Croatia. 

We will have more info on the signing soon.

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Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Igor Tudor New Coach of Udinese, Third Croatian Coach Ever in Serie A!

Igor Tudor is the new trainer of Udinese!

Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Croatian Coach Igor Tudor Making Waves in Turkey

Croatian football expert Igor Tudor is all but confirmed as the new coach of Turkish football giant Galatasaray. However, the news did not sit well with the President of Tudor’s current club Karabukspor, who announced a complaint with the Turkish Football Union

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