Is Roberto De Zerbi the man to turn Tottenham fortunes around? – Back Page Football
It seems like at the start of every season I’m writing the same article. Well, for the past three seasons or so it has been like that. Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank and now, Roberto De Zerbi were or are in charge of my beloved Tottenham Hotspur.
Thomas Frank’s tenure peaked last year in only the second league game of the season when we went to the Etihad and outclassed City with a 2-0 win. From there, things got worse and worse and somehow worse again until it seemed that the Danish manager was just trying to 0-0 his way out of trouble. When Spurs finally sacked him, our season was down the toilet, and we were seriously fighting relegation. Say whatever you want about Tottenham, that’s not a position they should be in. Although there seemed to be mutual flirtation between the board and the thought of reuniting Mauricio Pochettino with a fan base that loves him so dearly, they decided to hand over the reigns to someone else to save the day and save the day he did.
Before I get into the exciting parts – I need to address the elephant in the room. What a win that was against Charlton! It was annoying not to get the clean sheet but excellent performance all round.
We’ve been terrible at the start of the new Premier League season. Two losses. 5 goals conceded. 0 scored. I am trying not to panic or anything just yet, but it’s hard not to. It’ll take time for RDZ’s football to come to fruition. I’ll stick with that and hope I’m not writing a similar article soon.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’RMA408f6QA9VsrSlfMoSNA’,sig:’1A5oxVoZvJbLr9LSKmBwScfPaEqCSOLnQmSl22hoB8Y=’,w:’594px’,h:’438px’,items:’2291008515′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
I was really excited when De Zerbi took over. Having taken over from Graham Potter with Brighton, he made them one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League and pushed them to challenge for Europe. Piggybacking off the ideas that Potter had installed in the Seagulls, they went from a club whose sole focus was to remain in the league to playing more front foot, attacking football, and it has continued to thrive under the tutelage of Fabian Hurzeler.
De Zerbi demands a certain, high-energy focus to his play and he implemented small parts of that into the team towards the tail end of the year that was essential in retaining topflight football. He never got to fully express his ideas with the short amount of time he had to keep us alive, but with a full preseason under his belt, you can rest assured that he has hammered his ideas into this set of players and yet another new style of football will be coming to N17.
Although his football is far closer to Ange than it is to Frank, he does have his own quirks that stick out. Most obviously, is the way he wants and invites teams to come and press his side. His centre backs and goalkeeper will take, more often than not, an unnecessary amount of time starting the attacks. They will wait and wait until the other team starts to press before De Zerbi’s philosophy can come into full effect. His two holding midfielders will drop deep, nearly as deep as their defenders to draw their corresponding markers out of position. With this move they are options for quick pop passes that lead to quick transition. The idea is that when that double pivot drops in, they can receive the ball from the backline, use each other for a bounce pass and then fire the ball into the attacking players in the open space that was left by the other teams’ midfielders.
In simple terms, the buildup is slow, opposition gets impatient and presses, quick combination between defenders and midfielders, press broken and the immediate straight-line attack on goal is on. Rather than a Pep-like style where he wants to suffocate you with possession, De Zerbi wants the ball to manipulate you into a press so his players can find the open space and attack you directly. Without the ball, De Zerbi wants it back quickly. His team will press high, often with a simple backwards pass as the trigger and they will hunt in man-to-man scenario’s from there to win it back.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’sP0rwN6EQWFBGaGjCy09gA’,sig:’rtZF8GFARQuMQUWv7s7bJzf-WihKFaVD36o63-akbsc=’,w:’594px’,h:’394px’,items:’2291008259′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
He has high demands of his players, and clearly, of the board. He signed a five-year deal that will run until March 2031, which included a survival bonus and seemingly, an open cheque book for this summer. Before the season was over, Spurs had agreed deals in principle with Andy Robertson, Macos Sensi, and Martin Dubravka on free transfers from Liverpool, Bournemouth, and Burnley, respectively. From there, he decided that he wanted to bring in one of his trusted players from Brighton, John Paul van Hecke, for the lovely fee £52 million. After feeling confident of the defensive revamp, he went into the engine room of midfield to nab two highly sought-after central midfielders in Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, with a combined fee of £185 million to boot. Oh, and he wasn’t done yet. Savinho, or as he has just asked to be called, Sávio, has just signed his contract on a £75 million fee, with another £10 million add on’s. Spurs’ biggest fault last year was the lack of goals and goal scoring opportunities, and the Italian manager is leaving nothing to chance with Omar Marmoush completing a double swoop from Manchester City and Cody Gakpo also being lined up before the transfer window closes. If the Gakpo deal goes through, Spurs overhaul would cost a pretty sum, north of £400 million.
Now, in my previous articles, I have been critical of the Spurs board for their lack of support for the managers. Although we seemed to spend money, it never looked like the money was going to the glaring areas of concern and left our squad weak and unbalanced. With these signings, Spurs have brought in Premier League proven players (at the back and in midfield), in areas of need. For the first time in God knows how long, it feels like we made the right signings at the right time. The signings are a big signifier of the football he wants to play. The two centre halves are two of the best in the league over the last few years at being strong defensively, while also having the quality to start the build up and be a focal point for everything the manager wants to do. Similarly, the midfield additions will bring in much versatility and progressive passing that we have been crying out for. Rather than players built into the mold specifically as a ‘6’ or ‘8’, Tonali and Fernandes can seamlessly transition through the different positions and transition the ball quickly to our attacking players.
As for the attacking signings, I think they leave a lot to be desired. Sávio is an exciting player, without a doubt, but his lack of finished product is worrying and for such a massive fee, the coaching staff will have their work cut out ensuring they can turn the Brazilian’s fortune around, in front of goal. However, he excels in one on one situations, with his pace and dribbling, he is a nightmare for defenders, so it makes sense why De Zerbi has targeted him from the start of summer and with the way he plays, the Brazilian international will have plenty of opportunities to show where he excels. Gakpo would be a strange signing, for many reasons. Firstly, I would be shocked if he wanted to leave Liverpool. Two years removed from a Premier League winners medal and playing consistent Champions League football, it seems like an odd choice. Secondly, he may be the most confusing, inconsistent player I have ever seen. One week he’ll get two goals and an assist and the next he’ll miss two sitters in a row. Maybe De Zerbi sees something he likes and something he could unearth but I just don’t think he has ever lived up to the hype that he brought from the Eredivisie.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’NbwqweYlQC94_60j0sz1MQ’,sig:’Fni19OiClQHjHeubfgOtClOMD8UE5S2LVSLaqOIh83s=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’2284687241′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
The signing I am most excited about is Omar Marmoush. Another player who brought so much hype with him when he joined City from Frankfurt, on the back of 20 goals and 14 assists in 26 games before making the move. Every time I have seen him play, he has excited me and I always thought Pep would eventually find a way to get him into the team on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it never happened for him, but his goal scoring and talent is still obvious to see. Maybe he suffered from the fact that he was seen as a striker, and nobody is getting that position on the blue side of Manchester until Erling Haaland says so.
De Zerbi identified our biggest weaknesses. A lack of defensive depth. Little control in midfield. Lack of firepower up front. He identified his targets and, for the first time in my 26 years on this planet, the Tottenham board allowed their manager to go get his targets. The profile of players suits his style excellently and I can’t wait to see how it pans out.
This is all brilliantly exciting for me and other Spurs fans, but it doesn’t come without its cons. Firstly, spending that much money, you need to make sure it works out. It backfired before, when Gareth Bale left to join Real Madrid, there was a host of new players in the door, with Christian Eriksen being the only one that really left his mark in North London. Secondly, De Zerbi doesn’t tend to stay in a job too long, his longest tenure being three seasons. So, if this season is about implementing his culture/style of play. Next season, maybe perfecting it or pushing on again and the third season we really go for it, does that mean he walks away after? Maybe it’s just before everything is properly coming together, he walks away? I really hope not. I hope he, at least, honors his five-year deal and we can see him implement his vision for the club’s future.
Whatever it looks like, I know this will take time. I don’t think we’ll be coming out and looking like a completely new side, all problems resolved. There will be growing pains. But, the summer has been a great sign of things to come. Signings, demanding manager, optimistic board, it looks good. Let’s just hope De Zerbi can implement a new mentality and culture at the club. Ange tried to, but that was under a different board. With this board and manager can we finally live up to the motto, To Dare is To Do?
