Roberto De Zerbi’s first match in charge of Tottenham ended in exactly the kind of result the club could not afford: a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, settled by Nordi Mukiele’s deflected second-half strike.
Roberto De Zerbi’s first match in charge of Tottenham ended in exactly the kind of result the club could not afford: a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, settled by Nordi Mukiele’s deflected second-half strike.
The loss left Spurs in the relegation zone, two points from safety, with six games left to save their season.
It was a flat, nervous display in a match that never felt fully under Tottenham’s control, and it immediately confirmed the fact that De Zerbi’s mandate is as much psychological as it is tactical.
The bigger story is not one bad debut. It is the season-long collapse behind it. Spurs have spent months bleeding points from winning positions, with many prominent analysts pointing out that they have lost 44 points from such positions since the start of last season.
This makes them the best team to attack in the league, inadvertently making them the worst defensive side in the league in the period under consideration, despite boasting some of the best talents in the league. What this betrays is a sign of repeated game-management failure, not just unlucky bounces, under the club’s past managers.
We cannot ignore the effect of their brutal injury crisis on their team and set up this season, with Tottenham having lost 1,528 days to injury so far, which is far more than any other side. Several key players have either not featured at all or have been repeatedly unavailable.
There is still a route out, however.
The Premier League’s relegation picture shows Spurs trapped in a tight battle rather than being ruled out of remaining in the league. The gap to survival is still small enough to cross, but De Zerbi has to produce results quickly.
Sky Sports’ expected-points view also suggests Tottenham are roughly where their performances place them, level with Wolves and above the bottom three on that model, which implies this is not simply a case of rotten luck.
The team struggles with confidence, cohesion, and discipline. That is why the argument for relegation is no longer a joke, even if it is still not a certainty.
So, can Tottenham actually go down? Yes, absolutely. However, De Zerbi cannot be held responsible for a potential relegation. In fact, his performance in his debut shows that things can work out for their good if they stay on this path. The issue with their safety stems from their fragile season, caused by injuries and repeated collapses.
The good news is that the table is tight, and one win could change the mood fast. The bad news is that Spurs have spent too long making survival feel like an emergency.
