Roberto De Zerbi saves Tottenham: How head coach revitalised Spurs to secure Premier League survival
Roberto De Zerbi's Spurs won the ball in the final third more per game than any other Premier League side; the Italian learned from early mistakes to settle on a workmanlike midfield and ultimately secure Tottenham's Premier League survival on final day
Sunday 24 May 2026 20:59, UK
There was meant to be no way back for Tottenham. A failed manager, a failed replacement, no wins in almost half a season and only two at home all year. But Roberto De Zerbi has saved Spurs, by the finest of margins.
There were question marks whether the fiery Italian's unorthodox, even eccentric methods would transfer across to his new players with only seven games to keep them afloat.
His former captain, Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk, once recalled a "carnage fortnight" when he took over at the Amex in 2022, as he struggled to get his ideas across and the Seagulls' form fell off a cliff in the opening weeks of his tenure.
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Any repeat in north London and it would be curtains in a race for survival against a resurgent West Ham side under Nuno Espirito Santo. But Tottenham's longest unbeaten run of the season - admittedly, a low bar - and 11 points from seven games later, has been enough to secure their Premier League status with a 2-0 win over Everton on the final day.
De Zerbi has chosen pragmatism over ideology, at least by his usual standards. No goalkeepers baiting opposition or a league-topping number line-up changes. Hallmarks of his style still underpin his version of Spurs, but simplicity has been the key both in his methods and his selections, with the results speaking for themselves.
How has the 46-year-old got it done?
High-pressing, efficient running
The signs of De Zerbi's high-pressing game quickly became increasingly evident across his opening games to the point where inside five games he already enjoyed the best record of any single manager across the division of winning the ball back in the final third this season - an average of 5.1 times per game since his arrival.
That comes with a small sample size but large enough to compare impressively with his predecessors, with those numbers rising 40 per cent on the rest of the season in the final seven games of the campaign.
Spurs are pressing better by being smarter. Their running numbers have dropped across the board - they are running slightly less but sprints have dropped by almost 10 per cent compared to before De Zerbi's arrival, despite their possession stats barely increasing. Not pressing for pressing's sake.
That better organised, front-foot approach is having a different effect than you might expect. Yes, Spurs are winning the ball back closer to the opposition goal but only Xavi Simons' fine strike against Brighton directly owes anything to it. Spurs are barely creating more xG, striking at goal more or even getting shots away quicker than before De Zerbi arrived.
Instead, keeping opposition pressure away from Spurs' own goal is making a significant difference. They have given up less than a goal's worth of xG on average, 0.79xG per game under De Zerbi - a figure almost 50 per cent down from before his arrival when they were shipping 1.51xG every match.
Going by those numbers, Spurs' average goal difference per game has risen from a concerning -0.49xG per match into positive numbers for the first time since their draw with Brighton all the way back in September.
A reinvigorated, industrious midfield
It's worth remembering that not everything was immediately plain sailing for De Zerbi.
The comparison between Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka's numbers alone against Spurs' midfield three in a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light in his first game made for humiliating reading.
In that game, De Zerbi picked the young duo of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall alongside Conor Gallagher and was badly burned.
"Are two young kids, learning their trade, going to get you out of a relegation battle?" asked Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher after that game.
"The balance in midfield at Spurs is not right. To be fair, the manager's only been there a week or two," added Roy Keane.
De Zerbi prefers players who can play but he did not make the same mistake again, and put his ideals on hold for more industrious options.
Gallagher was partnered by Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield for each of Spurs' subsequent three games, while Joao Palhinha joined them in the win at Aston Villa last month. That was the first time the trio had played together all season, but they have gone on to start each of Spurs' final four games.
Why? What the trio may lack in flair, they make up for in legs and energy. At Villa Park, they outperformed the home trio of Ross Barkley, Lamare Bogarde and Youri Tielemans despite playing 19 minutes fewer.
They set the tone with a display of tackling, duels and ball-winning superior to their Villa counterparts and dominated the middle of the park.
A lack of midfield balance which has dogged Spurs all season finally had a solution. De Zerbi decided to settle on a system best-suited to winning the midfield battle.
It has not been without its problems, like the toothless display at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, but it has done enough without the ball to help keep Tottenham in the league.
But there was a nice reward for the manager in that final-day win over Everton, with Palhinha scoring the decisive goal in north London.
The De Zerbi factor
Numbers can only tell you so much about De Zerbi's impact. Renowned for his man management and big personality, he wasted no time in building his players up when he first walked through the door.
Reassuring them that he would be at the club next season regardless of relegation, true or not, laid down a long overdue base of continuity. He has demanded positivity and belief, but he has provided it too.
"I try to find the best solution to reach every player," he said before his first win over Wolves. "Sometimes that is analysis videos but sometimes what they have done in their career for other clubs.
"With [Randal) Kolo Muani, if I play with Kolo Muani as right winger it's because he has played in that position. If you go to YouTube, and you go to Kolo Muani (at) Eintracht Frankfurt, you can see he played very well in that position and he scored a lot of goals in that position."
De Zerbi's plan is one Spurs players can buy into. It is working and it is effective. But they, like Marseille and Brighton before them, are buying into the man too. "I see football in a completely different way, I picture it in a different way," Dunk said only months after working with him.
Conor Gallagher finally looks like the player who became Chelsea captain. No surprise when De Zerbi claimed his side were "playing with 12 men" owing to the performance of the goalscoring 26-year-old at Villa on Sunday.
"Every player in the squad has taken to him, everyone trusts him, he makes you feel good, confident, he's bringing the best out of players and it's only the start," Gallagher told TNT Sports after Sunday's win.
"Hopefully we can keep learning from him and build a great team."
A great team can wait for the moment. For now, survival was the only requirement. And with a first home win since December 6 to seal their Premier League spot on the final day, it has been achieved. Just.
