Seven games to save Tottenham's season - but why De Zerbi?

ByAndy Cryer

BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Tottenham are closing in on the appointment of Roberto de Zerbi as head coach.

Should the former Brighton boss agree a deal - as is expected - he would have seven games to save the club from relegation to the Championship.

In two months' time, Spurs' third boss of the season would have either secured his place as a hero at the club, or forever connected his name to one of the worst seasons in their history.

Tottenham are 17th in the Premier League, just one point outside of the relegation zone and without a win in the competition in 2026. Should they fail to beat the drop, it would go down as one of the league's most remarkable relegations.

De Zerbi is set to succeed Igor Tudor, who lasted just 44 days in the post before his spell was mutually ended.

After guiding Brighton to European qualification during his two seasons in the Premier League between 2022 and 2024, the Italian took Marseille to second in Ligue 1 before leaving in February.

Should his appointment be confirmed as expected, his first match as Tottenham boss would be a trip to Sunderland on 12 April, followed six days later by a home game against his former club Brighton. Their remaining fixtures are home matches against Leeds and Everton, and trips to Wolves, Aston Villa and Chelsea.

"He will be having his own way - he's quite a character.," former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He's a very outspoken manger. He's a manager in a similar way to Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte that Tottenham have had in the past."

It is well documented that De Zerbi's footballing DNA traces back to the Pep Guardiola tradition, but to leave it there would be restrictive. He has taken the principles - positional play, pressing triggers, control through the ball - and built his own beliefs around them

There are a number of reasons why this appointment could work.

First, De Zerbi doesn't care what people think. He has a clear, unshakeable idea of how he wants to play football and at a club as chaotic as Tottenham right now, that kind of certainty is invaluable.

He has also never managed a club with no expectations and has always delivered under pressure. He knows what it means to have concrete targets and he knows how to meet them.

He brings the added benefit of knowing the Premier League and the timing of the likely appointment gives him scope for preparation. Spurs don't play again until 12 April and that gives him precious time to assess his squad.

Arriving during the international break would give De Zerbi precious days to begin assessing his squad.

The big concern here, though, is less about De Zerbi himself and more about whether those around him will have the discipline to align with his vision.

When that alignment has broken down in De Zerbi's career - when ownership or a director of football has pulled in a different direction - the project has quickly unravelled.

That is precisely what happened at Marseille. The football was often compelling, the city was behind him, but at decision-making level the relationship could not be sustained.

Tottenham have had their own well-documented structural difficulties. If De Zerbi is to thrive, the football operations around him must be stable, communicative and genuinely aligned to his way of working.

That is not a small ask for a club in the midst of a relegation battle.

ByMatt Spiro

France football expert

Marseille fans felt both relief and regret when De Zerbi left midway through his second season.

Relief because the final weeks were desperately poor, but regret too because De Zerbi - a former ultra with immense passion - looked at times a perfect fit for the Mediterranean club.

His first year was promising: Marseille finished as runners-up and returned to the Champions League. A raft of new signings raised hopes, especially after a first home win over Paris St-Germain in 14 years and a six-goal rout of Le Havre sent them top.

Yet there was always a sense Marseille were just a couple of defeats from crisis. The squad almost imploded when Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot clashed in the dressing room, and De Zerbi's uncompromising style alienated certain players.

He infuriated observers by constantly changing systems and selections, leaving players bamboozled.

For the most part, De Zerbi lined up in a 4-2-3-1 and fans occasionally saw glimpses of the front-footed, attacking style he wanted to implement.

Yet Marseille's midfield pairing - usually Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Geoffrey Kondogbia - lacked the technical skills and mobility to perform in that system against stronger opposition. The defence would be left exposed, while the attack relied too heavily on individual exploits from Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

When a flagging Marseille crashed out of the Champions League, losing 3-0 in Bruges, reports emerged De Zerbi had lost the dressing room. A pitiful 5-0 defeat at PSG - the heaviest in Classique history - made his exit inevitable.

De Zerbi left with the highest win percentage of any Marseille coach this century (57%). That Igor Tudor (56%) ranks second suggests Spurs fans should treat that statistic with caution.

De Zerbi will only have one priority if he takes over at Tottenham Hotspur: keeping them in the Premier League.

The peril of Spurs' position was why the highly regarded Italian was initially reluctant to take over so late in the season, with the club's future still uncertain as they contemplate the real possibility of dropping into the Championship.

How would De Zerbi view his future if Spurs do not escape? It would not be down to him, but he certainly does not regard himself as a coach who operates in the second tier.

Given Spurs' status and ambitions, relegation is as unpalatable as it gets. Championship football at the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium would be nothing short of total humiliation.

De Zerbi's firecracker personality, as well as an ability as a coach that has won him widespread admiration from peers such as Pep Guardiola, must inject life into a squad decimated by injuries and stripped of every vestige of confidence.

He has to turn losers into winners. Instantly.

And he has to start at Sunderland in Spurs' next Premier League game.

De Zerbi is fiercely competitive and must transmit that into his players; easier said than done given the timid, defeatist nature of their performances this season.

He would have preferred to start afresh next season - and maybe somewhere else if Spurs are a Championship club - but he is confident, talented and brimming with self-belief.