This is not a “vibes” appointment. It’s the complete opposite.
Tottenham’s move for Roberto De Zerbi reflects the do-or-die situation they find themselves in, by the fact he could theoretically deliver either the miraculous best or cataclysmic worst case scenario for the club.
De Zerbi, on the surface, would be a coup for a team verging on the most humiliating relegation in Premier League history. The Italian was a resounding success story at Brighton, arriving with an unknown quality to English football only to become one of the continent’s most sought-after managers by the end of his two-season stint, apparently earning admirers at Barcelona and Liverpool.
He took charge of the Seagulls early into 2022/23 after Graham Potter was poached by Chelsea, but rather than overseeing a spiral he lifted the club to new heights, sealing European qualification for the first time in the club’s history. This proven ability to achieve the unlikely will surely have appealed to crisis-ridden Spurs.
Tottenham must also be attracted by De Zerbi’s free-flowing style of football. Traumatised by 44 days of Igor Tudor-ball, a footballing ideology bereft of inspiration, such a tactical revolution is needed and desired. Implementing that now, however, is a big risk.
De Zerbi likes to bait the press and build up. From goal kicks, he places the double pivot deep to draw the opposition high up the pitch, which then requires smart and swift play to evade the charging attackers and move the ball into the space created. Tottenham, exemplified in their Champions League quarter-final hammering at Atletico Madrid, are like a child running around with scissors when playing out from the back. It’s heart in mouth.
The Italian then strives for intricate possession-based football in the attacking phases, which again does not fit the bill of a team that only managed 50 per cent or more of the ball twice in Tudor’s reign of error. The jigsaw pieces don’t fit.
Assuming De Zerbi sticks by his tactical bible, his arrival does not promise a smooth transition when Tottenham can’t afford otherwise. The fact he went winless in his first five Brighton games will also not kindle confidence; do that in N17 and Spurs are all but down.
But there’s another problem attached to this choice.
Within three weeks of joining Marseille after his Brighton exit in the summer of 2024, Mason Greenwood followed De Zerbi through the door. Greenwood was charged in October 2022 with one count of attempted rape, one count of controlling and coercive behaviour and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm over allegations relating to a young women after images and videos were posted online.
The Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges in February 2023 owing to a “combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses” and there being “no realistic prospect of conviction”. But after Manchester United received widespread backlash for toying with his reintegration that summer, Greenwood has been effectively banished from the English game.
De Zerbi was understood to have pushed heavily for Marseille to snap up Greenwood despite his legal worries. He ended the 2024/25 season far and away the club’s top goalscorer with a league tally of 21, and De Zerbi has been outspoken in his unwavering support for the player.
In November, De Zerbi described Greenwood as a “good guy” who had paid a “heavy price” and added: “It saddens me what happened in his life, because I know a totally different person than the one who was described.”
It’s this that has caused multiple Tottenham fan groups to speak out against De Zerbi’s potential appointment. The club’s LGBTQI+ fan group Proud Lilywhites, along with Spurs Reach, both emphasised that progress should not come at the cost of “the values the club claims to stand for”. Women of the Lane defiantly said: “This is not an appointment Tottenham Hotspur should make.”
Tottenham’s Tudor gamble catastrophically backfired, but one of the very few silver linings was that at least the fans were united in how bad things were. That was evidenced by the vociferous welcome they gave their team bus before the crucial Nottingham Forest game, which aged comedically poorly as Tottenham’s players curled over in a bruising 3-0 defeat.
De Zerbi, however, risks completely dividing this fanbase at the worst possible time. You only need to look at the social media comments of Proud Lilywhites’ statement to see the number of “anti-woke” supporters who diametrically oppose the group’s viewpoint.
Tottenham have eight cup finals left to save their season. Four of them, including the last game of the season, are at home, where they’re winless in the league since December. Crowd infighting will not change the tide.
And then there’s the fear that unlike maybe a Ryan Mason or Harry Redknapp – the “he knows the club” candidates – De Zerbi will not go down with the ship. The Independent understands he will get a huge bonus for keeping Spurs in the Premier League, but details are scarce on the security of his five-year deal if he fails to deliver survival. Would he have taken this job if he didn’t have an escape route?
Tudor was the short-term solution that combusted on arrival. De Zerbi joins with the long-term at the forefront. If Spurs stay up, the ninth richest club in the world will feel well positioned to put this harrowing episode behind them and push back up the table. Sink to the Championship and Spurs may be left managerless, hopeless and with a fractured fanbase, their long-term plans torn to shreds.