Tottenham are said to be holding off on any decision to sack Roberto De Zerbi for now, with the club keen to avoid rash moves despite a rocky start to their Premier League campaign.
Spurs only just avoided the drop last season, then spent more than £300 million rebuilding the squad over the summer in hopes De Zerbi could spark a real turnaround. So far, though, the struggles have carried over into the new season — four games in, Tottenham are still without a win and have picked up just two points, putting them uncomfortably close to the relegation zone.
The latest blow came Saturday when Spurs could only draw 0-0 at home against Everton, a result met with boos from the home crowd and fresh chatter about De Zerbi’s job security. Even so, reports suggest the club isn’t preparing to make a change. The thinking is that a heavily overhauled squad and a number of unavailable players give De Zerbi legitimate reason to expect improvement once things settle.
Tottenham’s stance on De Zerbi
According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, speaking to Football Insider, Tottenham are sticking by their manager, and De Zerbi himself remains confident he’ll turn things around given enough time. O’Rourke acknowledged that no Premier League manager can survive a poor start indefinitely and that two points from four games clearly isn’t good enough, but argued De Zerbi has earned some patience after keeping the club up last season. He said it will take time for the new signings to settle in and reach their best form, and that De Zerbi currently believes he has the backing of the board — with O’Rourke stressing that Tottenham won’t be making any impulsive decisions and remain fully behind their manager.
After the Everton draw, De Zerbi himself pointed to a psychological issue holding his team back. He described it using the Italian word sbloccarsi — essentially needing to “unblock” themselves — calling it a mental barrier built up after four games without a win or a goal, which he acknowledged has been difficult on the players. He insisted the squad is strong enough to score goals and win matches, and — setting aside Solanke and Marmoush — noted that several of his other players haven’t historically been prolific scorers, meaning the team will need to find those goals collectively through the quality of their overall play.
For now, it seems Tottenham are prepared to let De Zerbi work through the problems on the pitch rather than respond to the slow start by changing managers.
