Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi came into the job under fire and maligned as a difficult person to work with, someone who would throw tantrums at the board or even pick and choose certain players to back or ostracize. He was positioned as a lightening rod of controversy and someone unwilling or unable to take accountability for results, blaming the board or other instead.
So far, Tottenham have not really seen that from De Zerbi. He became a hero at the club almost immediately, elevating the performances at a dire time after the failed reigns of Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, sparing Spurs relegation blushes.
The honeymoon period has worn off for De Zerbi, though, and Tottenham Hotspur have started the 2026/27 Premier League season without a win, already being knocked out of the League Cup with a 3-1 defeat to a stronger Liverpool squad.
Roberto De Zerbi has to know Tottenham need wins
After the game, Roberto De Zerbi was still using words like "unfair" and "unlucky" to describe the performance, which is a bit annoying, but at least he apologized and made it lear to the Tottenham Hotspur supporters that the team has to do better.
De Zerbi said, via Fabrizio Romano, “We are sorry for the result against Liverpool, we are frustrated. I think it was unfair. We have to accept and to be stronger than this unlucky moment”,
You can see what he means by "unlucky" and "unfair" for his players, in the sense that they are showing improvements in what he wants to do tactically and outshot and outpossessed Liverpool, while they had to deal with amazing saves from Giorgi Mamardashvili and great goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and their former transfer target Cody Gakpo.
At the same time, De Zebri has to start taking full accountability for the losses, because while it is true that Spurs did some good things and are showing improvements, fans don't want to hear excuses or caging language from their manager after a defeat of 3-1 in which they were knocked out early of a League Cup. What they want to hear is just the "I'm sorry" and the action plan for doing better.
De Zerbi has at least offered the apologies and made it clear that he is serious about Spurs doing better. That is the minimum Tottenham fans want, and the next step is for De Zerbi to take ownership of the fact that he earns the results.
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