Roberto De Zerbi has to do something special to keep Tottenham up in the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur’s painful 2026 continued on Sunday as they lost 1-0 to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. It was Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the Lilywhites, and things just didn’t go as per the plan for him.
The Italian clearly has a big job on his hands as Spurs stayed in the relegation zone after the defeat at Sunderland, on a day where Tottenham lost their skipper, Cristian Romero, to a knee injury. Reliable Argentine journalist Gaston Edul has revealed that Romero will not feature again for Spurs this season as he requires a minimum of six weeks to recover from his knee injury.
Once again, as we have witnessed way too many times this season, the North Londoners lacked quality in the decisive moments and let go of some chances to get a positive result against Sunderland. Eventually, Roberto De Zerbi and Co. headed back to North London empty-handed, as the club’s relegation prospects deepened.
Simon Jordan backs Roberto De Zerbi to keep Tottenham in the Premier League
De Zerbi arrived at Hotspur Way over the March international break, replacing Igor Tudor at the helm. Tudor was dismissed after his dismal spell in charge, which had just one win from seven games in all competitions, so De Zerbi has inherited a messy squad from the Croatian manager.
The 46-year-old had 10 days to work with his boys before leading them from the tunnel against Sunderland in Wearside. The game at the Stadium of Light was a rude awakening to the job he has got on his hands, having penned a lucrative five-year deal.
Despite an underwhelming start to his tenure in North London, talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan feels De Zerbi would have learned something from his group of players from the Sunderland fixture. He has also backed the Italian to keep the Lilywhites in the Premier League.
“De Zerbi is not Harry Potter,” Simon Jordan said on the talkSPORT show.
“He’s not going to be able to just turn it around instantaneously. He is going to have learned something from that particular game about certain players.
“They are in jeopardy, clearly there’s no doubt about it, they’re in the bottom three and can’t hide from it. But I still think that De Zerbi has the ability to get something from this group of players more than they’ve got previously.”
Tough task for De Zerbi
Tottenham have just six games to save their campaign. West Ham’s win over Wolves, coupled with Spurs’ narrow loss to Sunderland, has made De Zerbi’s job even more complicated. Spurs now sit two points behind West Ham in 17th, and will entertain Brighton at home at the weekend, as De Zerbi reunites with his former employers.
Brighton are in scintillating form of late, winning five of their last six league games. So, they pose a big challenge for Tottenham, who are clearly devoid of any confidence and spirit at the moment. Our gaffer must devise a plan to beat the Seagulls and bring back smiles to the faces of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful. It’s been a very long time since they have cherished something!