Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi is enduring a difficult start to the 2026/27 Premier League season with just one point and zero goals through three games. And thus, the media vultures have swooped in, picking apart at De Zerbi before he has even become a corpse, criticizing the manager in a way that they have not criticized others, such as Unai Emery, for slow starts.
Nevermind that De Zerbi's 400 million pound summer has yet to fully come together on the pitch, with key players like James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro, and Mohammed Kudus from last season still not 100 percent fit.
De Zerbi is feeling the heat already, and it's gotten a bit ridiculous. And that's especially because, actually watching the games, Tottenham have improved in each of their three outings. Yes, they were totally embarrassed in the road opener against local rivals Brentford, but they were not as bad as the score line suggests against Newcastle United and would have won against Nottingham Forest with better play from the attackers.
Roberto De Zerbi is owed grace at Tottenham after last season
Now, even with the reasoning that Tottenham Hotspur still are not at full strength, Roberto De Zerbi has to be accountable for the combined 5-0 defeats to Newcastle and Brentford, and, as the manager, he still does have to answer for the ills of the attacking quality against Forest, particularly since he was the one who chose to start Conor Gallagher as the No. 10 (not that he can be entirely blamed for wanting to avoid Mateus Fernandes getting injured by Forest's leg hacking midfield).
But it seems as though De Zerbi's triumph in getting Tottenham to survive Premier League relegation when they were almost 100 percent doomed to go down has been forgotten, even though De Zerbi accomplished the feat just a few months ago.
Football has a short term memory, but the English media are a textbook form of amensiac. De Zerbi is facing fire through three matches in the league despite there being improvements, a clear idea of what he wants to do, and improved execution of that idea in possession.
Soon, Savio, Mohammed Kudus, Destiny Udogie, James Maddison, and the other key players will be fit and the new signings will be integrated, and De Zerbi will get a real chance to prove many in the media, again, that he knows what he is doing as far as tactics and coaching on the pitch goes.
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