Roberto De Zerbi has spoken about rebuilding Tottenham after a narrow escape from relegation.
Roberto De Zerbi delivered an immediate and unambiguous message to the Tottenham Hotspur board in the aftermath of Sunday’s survival-securing victory over Everton, making clear that the work of rebuilding this squad must begin without delay and that the level of suffering endured throughout this campaign is simply not acceptable for a club of Tottenham’s stature.
The Italian’s words carried the weight of a manager who has spent seven weeks firefighting a crisis not of his making, working with a depleted, psychologically damaged squad, and steering it to safety through sheer force of conviction and tactical intelligence. He has earned the right to speak plainly about what comes next, and he did exactly that.
De Zerbi said (h/t Football London):
“From tonight, we need to build the new team. We don’t need to change too many players. We have 10, 11, 12 players who are good enough to stay as players and people. Now we need to complete the squad with the first level of players because I suffered too much, but so did the players, the board, and the fans, and we can’t suffer like this as Tottenham Hotspur.”
De Zerbi does not want to dismantle the squad
The message is carefully calibrated. De Zerbi is not calling for a fire sale or a wholesale dismantling of the current squad. He is identifying a core of players, somewhere between ten and twelve individuals, who he believes are both good enough in quality and right in character to form the foundation of what he wants to build. That distinction, players and people, matters enormously and reflects a manager who values culture and mentality as highly as technical ability.
What is needed, in his assessment, is not revolution but completion. The core is there. What surrounds it is not sufficient for a club with Tottenham’s resources, history, and ambition, and he has lived through the consequences of that insufficiency across every painful week of his tenure.
The reference to collective suffering is significant. De Zerbi is not pointing fingers or allocating blame. He is acknowledging that everyone connected with this club has been through something that should never be allowed to happen again, and using that shared experience as both motivation and mandate for serious investment.
The summer window opens soon. De Zerbi has made his position clear. The rebuild starts now.