In our hour of greatest need Spurs traded hope and unity for… this guy?
Let’s start with the positives. It may be better to commit a head coach to Spurs for more than just the seven remaining games of the season. The players could benefit from having a plan to buy into, and confidence arising from knowing that the future has been considered. It is worth almost any managerial price to stay in the Premier League, given relegation costs £350million. Employing a manager with Premier League experience is vital.
But, for Tottenham, making Roberto De Zerbi reportedly the third-highest paid manager in the league – on a deal with no relegation clause – means the rubbernecking only intensifies. What is it about his career at Brighton and Marseille that tells you he is worth such an investment?
All I can glean from the announcement is that either he or his agent is a good negotiator, willing to strike at a time of peak vulnerability for his prospective employer. How do you get paid more? You either propose a larger salary, or you secure a longer deal. Or, if the client is really desperate, you do both. The Tottenham board can spin the decision as an investment in the club’s future. It does not convince.
And let’s not forget the discomfort with which some fans view the appointment of De Zerbi in the first place. Three fan groups issued joint statements reminding the board that ‘De Zerbi has publicly defended Mason Greenwood in a way that downplays the seriousness of male violence against women and girls. That raises serious questions about judgement and leadership.’
Greenwood was charged in 2022 with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. The charges were dropped in 2023. In November when De Zerbi was Marseille boss, he described Greenwood as a ‘good guy’.
The point these fans are making is this doesn’t just raise questions about De Zerbi’s judgement, but also of the senior figures at Tottenham who have made the decision.
Executives at the club have been understandably praised for very little this season, but conversations about improving the ‘culture’ of the organisation, led by former Arsenal exec Vinai Venkatesham, have been greeted with optimism internally. De Zerbi’s appointment seems only to undermine them.
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His combustible personal style is also a cause for concern. Before we even get into how the ragged collection of players available to the club might play anything approaching De Zerbi ball. Key to which will be crushed second-choice keeper Antonin Kinsky, who needs to start in the first game of the Italian’s reign against Sunderland in less than a fortnight.
Talking seriously about a first relegation since 1977 has been new experience for many Spurs fans, including me. The angst around the board’s recalcitrant sacking of Thomas Frank, the misguided – and brief – appointment of Igor Tudor, the continued slide towards serious trouble. These were all struggles we could deal with as a unit.
And so we did: the Cup Final atmosphere ahead of the recent Nottingham Forest game showed what a motivated, unified crowd could be. Feel free to continue to mock, but I will always feel proud of what we showed in Tottenham that day.
As the need for Tudor’s departure crystallised, the prospective candidate list was understandably sparse. Most fans at that stage considered a connection with the club to be key, the built-in respect that would flow in both directions vital.
De Zerbi has no connection. There is also no evidence from his career to indicate that he is the master of a quick turnaround. He’s been appointed in-season three times – from his first five games at Palermo, Benevento and Brighton in total he secured only a single win.
When Tudor was originally appointed, many hoped he would secure survival and keep Mauricio Pochettino’s seat warm until after the World Cup. Though De Zerbi’s track record means that his lasting more than a few months in north London seems unlikely, his five-year deal effectively kills that dream. The guardians of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have therefore traded the ultimate fan unity candidate for… this guy. They’d better have seen something I haven’t.
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