Former England striker Alan Shearer is worried that Roberto De Zerbi’s job could be on the line if Manchester United beat Tottenham by two goals or more this weekend. The Italian rescued Spurs from relegation last season, but results have dried up lately despite a summer in which the club spent heavily.
More than £300m went on new arrivals, the largest chunk on central midfielders Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. Even so, Tottenham have managed only two goals across five league games.
Speaking to Betfair, the Match of the Day pundit described the fixture as arguably the weekend’s most significant in terms of consequences, even with Liverpool against City grabbing most of the attention. He explained that a defeat for either side could decide a manager’s future. Shearer added that both clubs have a case for needing it more: Spurs because of the money they’ve spent, and United because of what they chose not to spend, or could have.
He pointed out that Spurs sit at the bottom of the table despite a huge outlay, and that the players brought in to fix the problems of the last two seasons have left them in a worse spot. In his view, De Zerbi would have been eager to play, though the international break would have limited how much time he got with his squad.
Shearer credited De Zerbi with a superb job keeping the club up last year, noting it earned him the contract he wanted and the freedom to push for the signings he demanded. With that power, he said, comes an obligation to deliver quickly, and the manager will be well aware of it.
Shearer predicted a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, but accepted that De Zerbi badly needs a result. Whether the Spurs board acts, he suggested, will depend on how the games are lost or not won rather than the results alone. He saw small signs of improvement but stressed that a 2-0 or 3-0 loss to United would be unacceptable.
De Zerbi’s side failed to score in their first four league matches. They finally broke their duck against Aston Villa, but only after trailing 3-0 to goals from Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendia, with keeper Zion Suzuki making key first-half saves. Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke narrowed the gap late on.
Afterwards, De Zerbi said he deliberately stayed silent with his players because he had nothing to say, and that the squad must work harder, particularly as he disliked how the match finished. He acknowledged not everything was bad but made clear it wasn’t good enough.
