Roberto De Zerbi has been named as the new Tottenham Hotspur manager in the wake of Igor Tudor’s exit, and has quite the task ahead of him to keep the club in the Premier League
Brad Friedel claims that Roberto De Zerbi must inspire confidence in his players should Tottenham Hotspur wish to remain in the Premier League next season.
The Italian has been named as the club’s new head coach following Igor Tudor’s exit. The Croatian managed just seven games in north London – having only stepped in on an interim basis following the sacking of Thomas Frank in February – before he left the club by mutual consent.
Currently sat 17th in the Premier League standings, just one point clear of the drop zone with seven matches remaining in 2025/26, De Zerbi has a major task to turn the tide at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And according to former Spurs goalkeeper, Friedel, the 46-year-old should skip trying to fine tune his tactics and instead devote his energy into instilling confidence in his squad should the club hope to compete in the English top flight next term.
Speaking exclusively to football.london via Gambling.com who review all slot sites UK, Friedel said: “They don’t need a big tactics board at this moment in time.
“They need someone to give the best players the confidence to perform and get some points on the board. And I think whatever way they go, they should be getting at least two players back that are influential players from injury soon. And that’ll help a lot because those players haven’t been involved in a lot of the downfalls.
“So they’ll be coming onto the pitch hopefully, maybe not with match fitness, but at least with the confidence of winning football matches and being involved in Champions League games and towards the upper half and the upper echelons of the Premier League table. So that’s how I see it.”
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He added: “When you’re in a relegation battle, it becomes a much more difficult mental game than when you’re fighting the top of the table. So I’m worried as an ex Tottenham guy.
“I am worried because it could happen that they’re relegated. So the coach that goes in, he’s got some character building and confidence building.
“And one word that I haven’t heard in a long time around Tottenham is enjoyment. He’s got to get the players enjoying football. It’s a game. Let’s never forget that.
“The worst day of football is still the best day of your life when you’re a player. You get to my age, you know that.
“And it hits you, how fun it was while you were playing. So somebody’s got to go in there and get the smile back on the players’ faces.”
De Zerbi’s first task as Spurs manager will be a tough trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland AFC come Sunday, April 12. De Zerbi will then face a visit to the AMEX Stadium against his former club Brighton just six days later, before a clash with Wolves on April 25 rounds of the month’s run of fixtures.
Games against Aston Villa, Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton then await in May, with Spurs needing to a sharp upturn in results to avoid relegation to the Championship.
