“I will be the coach of Tottenham [Hotspur] next season, whatever”.
Roberto De Zerbi, who recently signed a five-year contract in north London, has once again confirmed the belief that he is here for the long term, even if he is considered to retire from the Premier League.
With seven games to go, seven ‘final’ as it goes, Italy are left to pick up the pieces after a disastrous short reign under Igor Tudor.
|
Spurs’ last 7 opponents |
||
|---|---|---|
|
The day |
Objection |
24/25 result |
|
April 11 |
Sunderland (a) |
N/A |
|
April 18 |
Brighton (h) |
1-4 (L) |
|
April 25 |
Wolves (a) |
4-2 (L) |
|
May 2 |
Aston Villa (a) |
2-0 (L) |
|
May 9 |
Leeds (h) |
N/A |
|
May 17 |
Chelsea (a) |
1-0 (L) |
|
May 24 |
Everton (h) |
4-0 (W) |
All will go well at Sunderland next week, and De Zerbi will have to make sure he doesn’t fall into the same trap as before.
The biggest problems De Zerbi needs to solve at Spurs
First and foremost, the north London side need to see a return to stability, particularly in terms of selection, with Tudor guilty of vacillating between tactical arrangements during his short tenure.
Whether De Zerbi – a man who used 49 players in 69 games in charge at Marseille – is the man to provide that remains to be seen, although he has returned to Brighton and Hove Albion, settling into a 4-2-3-1 formation, even if the personnel there are constantly changing.
Likewise, the enigmatic coach can at least provide a sense of clarity, despite the potential problems, about how he wants his team to play, as he has often favored a heavy-handed approach in his previous positions.
In 2022/23, for example, his Seagulls team finished third in the league in terms of average possession per game.
There has never been a sense under Tudor, not Thomas Frank for that matter, what the real plan was at Spurs, who have been particularly guilty of needlessly lining their pockets, such as dropping Xavi Simons to the bench after his brilliant display at home to Atletico Madrid.
De Zerbi, injury admitted, needs to build around the likes of Simons and those who could be in it for the long haul, with Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Mathys Tel also coming into that category.
On the other hand, the new manager may also be cruel to those who may be involved at the end of this season.
Werner must be furious that Spurs hired De Zerbi
Looking back on Tudor’s poor season, there weren’t many green shoots, the only important results being a hard-fought game at Anfield, and a 3-2 win against Atleti after a hard-fought game.
De Zerbi must sell the signatures of Nuno who “never wanted to be at Spurs”
There is a feeling that Spurs need to rip it up and start from scratch under Roberto De Zerbi.
That victory – which appeared to be the Croatian’s last – also saw French loanee Randal Kolo Muani score, with the Paris Saint-Germain striker heading home expertly in the first half.
The 27-year-old – who signed under Frank in the summer – also broke his Premier League duck in the London Derby defeat earlier, as well as assisting Richarlison on Merseyside.
Indeed, two of his five Spurs goals have come in the space of just seven games under Tudor, with the 47-year-old seemingly the man to get the best out of Kolo Muani, considering their former relationship at Juventus.
The 2022 World Cup finalist arrived in north London after a loan spell in Turin last season, scoring ten times in just 22 appearances for the Serie A side, five of which came in 11 under Tudor.
Frustratingly, however, that form has largely deserted him since, apart from those brief spells under Tudor, with his Premier League goal tally making for poor reading.
Not the only underachiever in the forward line to struggle, Kolo Muani joins those ahead of him as another wayward, classy addition, perhaps akin to Timo Werner under Ange Postecoglou.
As a France international, Werner had arrived in north London looking to revive his career after a difficult season at Chelsea, returning to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2022.
When the golden boy of the Bundesliga side before moving to Stamford Bridge, the German moved to Spurs in January 2024 as a player who seemed to be hungry for confidence, who never looked like the answer to Postecoglou’s side.
Although six goals and an assist in 13 Premier League appearances over the next six months led to an extension to his loan spell, Werner continued to fade from view in 2024/25, ending his time at the club in May last year with just three goals in 41 appearances in all competitions.
Kolo Muani is headed in the same direction, it has to be said, as the former Nantes man may be furious that the man who seems to be getting the best of him – Tudor – has been sent packing so quickly.
In De Zerbi, he may not find the right coach for him, the likes of Dominic Solanke and Richarlison will be ahead of him in the battle for that one striker.
De Zerbi could bench Kolo Muani and Solanke in “Defoe-esque” Spurs star
Roberto De Zerbi will need to find a solution at Spurs for a central midfielder.
