Roberto De Zerbi will take the reigns this weekend against Sunderland as the Tottenham Hotspur manager for the first time. It took some convincing, but it sounds like De Zerbi is, at least publicly, all in on staying with Spurs and building something out of a team that finished 17th in the Premier League last season and is in an even weaker 17th place this season with just seven games remaining in this garish 2025/26 campaign.
There is a lot of work to do for De Zerbi to shape this team up, and one high priority task for the Italian manager is to get the most out of star players who have underperformed badly this season, even looking mentally checked out.
One of those players is captain Cristian Romero, who is the biggest star on Tottenham - a point that has been emphasized and now hard to debate with star right winger Mohammed Kudus potentially done for the remainder of the season with injury.
Roberto De Zerbi is playing nice with Cristian Romero
Romero has had great moments this season, but the reigning Europa League Player of the Season has deteroriated in recent weeks, looking less like a captain and a leader and more like part of the problem.
But in his first public remarks on the Argentinian World Cup star, Roberto De Zerbi decided to avoid any shade at Cristian Romero and instead praised his experienced starting center back quite effusively.
Speaking of Romero on the 2 Robbies Podcast with NBC Sports, Romero said, “I think Cuti is crucial for us, crucial for Tottenham as a club. He is the captain, he is maybe the most important player in our squad, and to achieve our goal, we need the best of Romero.”
Nothing De Zerbi said here is wrong either. Tottenham Hotspur do need the best of Romero for the remainder of the season if they want to survive relegation. With his ability to win possession, weave passes, and even carry the ball at a high level, Romero has the potential to be the source of a lot good for Spurs, especially in a more aggressive, attacking hungry system run by De Zerbi than what was done before by Igor Tudor and, especially, Thomas Frank.
De Zerbi affirming Romero's leadership as captain and importance to the club is a great way to appeal the the star man's own ego, and it may be the words Romero needs to hear to puff up his chest a bit and give that very best to the Lilywhite badge in April and May.