Tottenham Hotspur have fully embraced Roberto De Zerbi as their new manager, and after he saved them from the mess Thomas Frank created and IgorTudor only prolonged to save them from a tragic Premier League relegation story, he has the full reign of the club. And he has already made great use of it, signing three blockbuster new starters in Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes, and his biggest prize, Sandro Tonali.
So far, De Zerbi is also having a tremendous offseason with Tottenham, and he may be unearthing another big gem of the future in 17 year old center midfielder Luca Williams-Barnett, whose moxie and technical skill are turning heads.
There is another thing De Zerbi is doing this summer that needs to be highlighted. Many Tottenham fans that Fernandes would not be playing in the preseason fixture against Sydney FC because of injury, but, in reality, De Zerbi was just trying to give him some additional rest.
Tottenham need to protect their stars
And he told reporters after the win over Sydney that his goal going forward is to manage the minutes of the payers because while he wants everyone to be fit, his main priority right now as Tottenham manager is to avoid anyone getting injured.
Roberto De Zerbi said, via Hotspur Lane, “Danso, Van de Ven, Solanke, JP van Hecke, I thought today they were not yet ready to play without risk. Maybe some of them can play the next game Saturday with Chelsea, maybe not at the beginning. Maybe in the beginning Robertson and Sandro Tonali, but it’s the management of the players, especially after World Cup or after big injuries like Udogie or Solanke. They suffered long injuries last season, and after a long trip, after the jet lag, after the beginning of the pre-season, I wouldn't like to take any risk.”
Ange Postecoglou was a charismatic manager who won the Europa League for Tottenham, but he also struggled badly in the Premier League; Spurs, after all, finished 17th already in the league the year before and would have been closer to relegation had it not been for the sheer unpreparedness of the newly promoted sides.
Big Ange, though, ran his team into the ground and did a poor job of juggling the minutes of key players, and while he did not have the right squad strength like De Zerbi is hoping to have in 2026/27, a lot of the issues were Postecoglou's own exacerbation. And Tottenham fans will be happy to see that, already, De Zerbi is not going to fall into that trap.
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