Roberto De Zerbi rips up Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor arrangement for Tottenham clash vs Brighton

• 

• Spurs
• Tottenham Hotspur News
• Roberto De Zerbi

Roberto De Zerbi has been tasked with saving Tottenham from the drop and the Italian has already made one change from previous regimes

Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs players will not take the team coach to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before their crunch clash with Brighton. This differs from how Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor had their squad arrive at home matches.

With Tottenham now locked firmly in a relegation battle, they have turned to former Brighton boss De Zerbi to steady the ship. Though his first match in charge, a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland, meant Spurs remain inside the bottom three.

It is De Zerbi's former side that will visit north London on Saturday evening in what is one of many must-win fixtures to come. But unlike under the last two managers, Frank and Tudor, players will arrive earlier before the match and not on the team coach.

Tottenham fans planned a well-attended show of support before Tudor's team clashed with Nottingham Forest in March, with thousands lining the streets as the team bus arrived in N17.

FOLLOW OUR TOTTENHAM FB PAGE! Latest Spurs news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

But there will be no such welcome this time around, as confirmed by a fan group, who posted on X: "Contrary to what we had hoped for, the players will not be arriving on the team coach for the Brighton game. We have been in discussion with the club and this is purely a decision taken by Roberto De Zerbi - the players will arrive earlier due to his reasoning.

"He and the club have both apologised for the Coach Meet not taking place. Disappointing, as we had hoped we can welcome them again in thousands, as we try to give them a lift ahead of a vital time for the club.

"However, we purely understand that this is now do or die and we support whatever Roberto sees fit in order for his players to have the best possible preparation.

"We have already been in discussions, as a contingency, in case the Coach Meet did not materialise. It is now a tight turnaround, but other plans are being worked on."

De Zerbi's approach has all but ripped up both Tudor and Frank's arrangements for arriving at matches, but ex-Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou did have his players turn up to matches in their own cars on occasion.

Under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, on the other hand, players would drive to Hotspur Way or a pre-match hotel before boarding the team coach for the game.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, arriving by coach is the status quo. Manchester City and Tottenham's rivals Arsenal both take the team bus to home matches.

Liverpool are another team that utilise the coach, having done so under both Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot with scores of fans often there at Anfield to welcome their squad during big occasions. It is worth noting De Zerbi generally allowed players to drive to matches during his time at Brighton.