Having written Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor’s report, let’s complete the Tottenham Hotspur series by assessing new head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
Five points from 13 matches has pushed Spurs to the brink of relegation, requiring immediate and drastic action.
They managed to convince the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss to take over as coach now, rather than in the summer, so Tudor’s 44-day tenure has come to an end.
Let’s take a look at what De Zerbi’s arrival means for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
CAN Spurs be relegated?
An ever-present in the Premier League era, it has been almost 50 years since Spurs’ last relegation in the top flight. But fans of other clubs are no longer joking – the North London outfit are in real trouble.
Currently one point ahead of 18th place, they have not won since December 28. Neither team has fewer points at home, so it’s probably a blessing that four of their last seven games are still on.
Our Ticker Fixture thinks they’ll have the seventh best finish. But there are concerns on both sides.
Under Frank, Spurs were third at the climax of Gameweek 9, suggesting that finishing 17th last season was a strange result. But the next 22 games produced only two wins and 13 points.
This number is also the player with the second highest expected goals (xG) in the league – scoring 40 goals instead of 32.51. And their recent inevitable setback has yielded just five goals in their last seven games.
However, it was even worse at the back. From Matchday 21 onwards, they were the only team not to keep a clean sheet, and 10 of these 11 matches saw them concede at least twice. The highest total in the league is 26 goals conceded.
Even though it should only be 21.06, according to expected goals conceded (xGC) data.
They are in free fall.
HISTORY OF DE ZERBI
| SEASON | TEAM | DIVISION | POSITION | POINTS PER GAME |
score a goal | DEVELOPMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Marseille Olympics | League 1 | 4th** | 1.86 | 46 (2) | 27 (=7) |
| 2024/25 | Marseille Olympics | League 1 | 2nd | 1.91 | 74 (2) | 47 (=9th) |
| 2023/24 | Brighton and Hove Albion | Premier League | 11th | 1.26 | 55 (=12th) | 62 (=10th) |
| 2022/23 | Brighton and Hove Albion | Premier League | 6th | 1.63 | 72 (4) | 53 (=10th) |
| 2021/22 | Shakhtar Donetsk | Ukrainian Premier League | 1st* | 2.61 | 49 (1) | 10 (second) |
| 2020/21 | Sassuolo | Series A | 8th | 1.63 | 64 (7) | 56 (9th) |
| 2019/20 | Sassuolo | Series A | 8th | 1.34 | 69 (6) | 63 (13) |
| 2018/19 | Sassuolo | Series A | 11th | 1.13 | 53 (9th) | 60 (16) |
* The title was not awarded, with the season suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
**At the time of De Zerbi’s departure (end of Gameweek 21)
De Zerbi has a volatile and outspoken personality, which resulted in nine yellow cards and two red cards during his time at Brighton. Such self-destructive actions won’t help a team whose players are constantly losing their minds.
His early managerial career was covered in our pre-Brighton Scout Report. Emerging as a replacement for Graham Potter, a brilliant first season ended in sixth place and an FA Cup semi-final, while 2023/24 brought five wins in the first six games, then Europa League triumphs over Ajax (twice) and Marseille. Unfortunately, things started to unravel, eventually tangling with Tony Bloom and finishing 11th.
Such explosive behavior closed several doors at elite clubs, allowing Marseille to make a move. However, in another brief experience, De Zerbi took action The Olympians to second in 2024/25 – it’s worth remembering that Tudor’s entire season in charge saw them in third place – before a series of defeats in January and February left them in fourth place and out of the Champions League.
“In all my discussions with the club leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear – to build a team capable of great achievements, and to do that by playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters. I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to make it happen.”
“Our short-term priority is climbing the Premier League table, which will be our full focus until the final whistle of the final game of the season. I can’t wait to get out on the training pitch and work with the players to achieve that.” – Roberto De Zerbi
TACTICALLY, WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Another risk in Tottenham’s move is that there is not much time for De Zerbi to implement his attacking tactics. A style different from Frankish and Tudor.
In fact, Brighton did not win any of their first five league games under him. Speaking to the Telegraph in 2023, Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) said the initial weeks were difficult.
“If I’m honest, the first few weeks were terrible… I wouldn’t say terrible; it was confusing. Training changed dramatically. We were working on a lot of different things, and the first few weeks were a very difficult transition.” – Lewis Dunk
And surely this emergency situation will stop the 46-year-old from overcomplicating things, even when the absence of other competitions gives him a full week to work with the squad.
Above: De Zerbi’s preferred tactics bear similarities to Ange Postecoglou’s first season, according to Opta Analysts
We know from his experience on the south coast that a 4-2-3-1 should be used, becoming a 3-2-5 when in possession.
Frank and Tudor rely on direct play, long throws and set pieces, relying on set pieces for 35.0% of goals – a proportion second only to Leeds United. However, this did not work, even though De Zerbi’s mindset was more similar to ‘Angeball’ – the era of Ange Postecoglou.
High on the ball, he looks for short goal kicks and press-baiting passes that tempt opponents to move forward, before a series of quick passes exploit these newly manipulated gaps.
However, William Vicar (£4.7m) is not good with the ball at his feet and Antonin Kinsky (£3.9m), who is expected to fill in during his colleague’s hernia recovery, recently made two big mistakes against Atletico Madrid.
In Ligue 1, Marseille made 45 errors resulting in shots under De Zerbi, more than all but Nice (54).
Above: The Athletic’s graph of how often Spurs lose the ball near their own goal
Meanwhile, in attack, the Brescia-born boss also has the desire to press the back line man-to-man, by looking for high turnovers.
THERE ARE FPL OPTIONS?
Therefore, his team was open to receiving counterattacks. So it’s probably best to avoid defensive names like Kinsky, a regular crosser Pedro Porro (£5.1 million), and Micky van de Ven (£4.4m) – the only Spurs asset in which he has a stake of more than 10%, although this is a popularity that has never been seen among active managers.
After all, only they and Wolverhampton Wanderers don’t have a single player with 100+ points.
On the positive side, the serious injury crisis is starting to subside. We see Christian Romero (£5.0 million) starting in Gameweek 31, along with a cameo appearance from Udogie’s destiny (£4.3 million) and Lucas Bergvall (£5.2 million).
To further build confidence that an angle can be changed, Muhammad Jerusalem (£6.4 million), Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.2 million) and Joao Palhinha (£5.5m) will likely return for the trip to Sunderland.
However, it is difficult to predict Spurs’ starting XI. Now there’s another head coach to welcome, plus some returning players.
Still, Xavi Simons (£6.5m) performed well in Atletico’s second leg and should be De Zerbi’s magic number 10. He’s taken two of his four Champions League penalties, but Spurs are yet to get one domestically.
The one with the yellow flag Call Mathys (£6.2m) is in our ‘Imminent Assists’ table, having recently created nine chances.
Ahead, be careful when advancing Richarlison (£6.3 million) and Dominic Solanke (£7.2m), as it is a rotational risk.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It will be difficult to reverse a slump like Spurs’ collapse in 2026, but they are still outside the relegation zone. Get two or three wins together and you can breathe a sigh of relief before looking ahead to the 2026/27 season.
Is there enough time for De Zerbi to implement the new system? Tudor reverted to a back four late in the game, which should have helped. Perhaps the dramatic changes Dunk describes need to be postponed.
Defensive assets need to be avoided for the most part, but Porro plays on a few set pieces and has a track record as an FPL attacking threat.
As for the midfielders and forwards, FPL managers will have to be wary of how exciting Xavi, Solanke, Richarlison and dribbler Kudus will soon become.
Hiring Italians was a big and controversial gamble, but it needed to be done. Simply put, there is no time to waste. De Zerbi’s track record suggests he will be gone long before his five-year contract expires, but keeping him is paramount.
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