Roberto De Zerbi Can’t Just Inject Confidence – Ex-Winger Dubs Tottenham ‘Fragile’ | OneFootball

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Ex-Premier League winger Perry Groves thinks that Tottenham Hotspur are so fragile that whenever they concede the confidence just drains out of the team.

Roberto De Zerbi took charge of his first match as Tottenham boss on Sunday away at Sunderland, with Spurs heading into the game sitting inside the Premier League relegation zone.

The Italian went with a midfield three of Conor Gallagher, who he is keen to see rediscover his Chelsea form, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.

Sunderland scored the only goal of the game though, with Spurs coming up short and now being still stuck in the drop zone as relegation fears only worsened.

Groves admits that he felt the midfield three that De Zerbi picked would give Tottenham the legs they needed in the engine room.

Tottenham though, in Groves’ view, are so fragile that as soon as they concede the first goal the confidence just drains out of the side, as it did when Sunderland scored.

He thinks De Zerbi cannot just turn that around so quickly, with Spurs reverting to type in the second half at the Stadium of Light.

Groves said on talkSPORT (12th April, 16:03): “This Spurs side is very, very fragile and De Zerbi can’t just turn that around, he can’t just inject confidence.

“When they concede the first goal then you can just see the confidence drain out of them completely.

“I thought that the legs in midfield with Gray, Gallagher and Bergvall, I thought that would give them a chance.

“I think in Sunderland you just see a team who are far further down the line in their development than Spurs are.

“It’s survival football and as De Zerbi you want a good result in your first game and a good performance. Second half was very much old Spurs under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.”

De Zerbi did choose to start with Mathys Tel on the bench and the Frenchman’s performance after he came on just after the hour led one former top flight star to question whether he should have been in the team from the off.

Tottenham were boosted by Pape Matar Sarr returning to training before the Sunderland game, but he was only fit enough for a spot on the bench.

Sarr did come on in the second half at the same time as Tel was introduced.

Now De Zerbi must plot how to guide Tottenham back to winning ways in their next game against Brighton, with the situation becoming ever more serious for the north Londoners.