Maddison: ‘Without De Zerbi, there is a serious possibility Tottenham would’ve gone down’ | OneFootball

England international James Maddison insists that there was a ‘serious possibility’ that Tottenham Hotspur would have been relegated to the EFL Championship had it not been for the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi heading into the final stages of the season: ‘Credit to him’.

Maddison heaps praise on De Zerbi after Tottenham survival: ‘He’s switched the mindset’

De Zerbi was called in to replace former Juventus boss Igor Tudor as head coach of Tottenham at the end of March, with Spurs sitting in 17th place with seven matches of the Premier League season left to go at that stage.

Despite going without a win during his first two matches in charge, De Zerbi went on to win three of his Tottenham’s final five matches of the Premier League season and kept the team up by a margin of two points on the final day of the season.

Several Tottenham players have credited De Zerbi with bringing in the ‘passion’ and drive that the players needed heading into a crucial run of Premier League fixtures.

Among them is England’s Maddison, who missed the vast majority of the 2025-26 campaign with a knee injury.

“Since he came in, he’s been brilliant. Without him coming in, there is a serious possibility we would have gone down, yeah,” Maddison told Sky.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Roberto De Zerbi, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, celebrates after the team secured safety from relegation during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 24, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

“He’s switched the mindset, the passion he shows every single day rubbed off on the players and I think you could see that in the last few performances. Yes, maybe we could still be better in terms of quality and the moments we were producing.

“I never questioned the group’s mentality, I didn’t see a group who weren’t willing to try, it just needed Roberto to come in and fine tune it and get it out of some of the players and he managed to do that, so credit to him.”