Roberto De Zerbi swaps confusion for clarity in bid to save Tottenham from relegation | OneFootball

New Spurs boss maps out route to Premier League survival

But that all feels a long way off happening right now. His first priority is getting points on the board after Spurs slipped into the relegation zone following West Ham’s 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on Friday.

One of the standout lines from his first address to supporters was to state that Spurs’ squad had to start remembering who they were. De Zerbi appears to have full confidence in the players at his disposal and has devised a plan to maximise their potential.

“I'm sure about the level of the players, because many players in the past I was very, very close to bring them in my former teams,” De Zerbi said as he faced the media for the first time since taking the reins in north London.

“I try to bring my style, myself, my character, my personality, my passion, to help the players first of all to show their qualities, because they have a lot of qualities. And then to achieve our target, because the most important part now is our target.”

This is a far cry from the disparaging approach adopted by his predecessor Igor Tudor, who within two games had already taken aim at his players, claiming he wanted to “see everything more” following a 2-1 defeat to Fulham.

Tudor appeared to be figuring it out on the spot, notably shoehorning Conor Gallagher and Xavi Simons out wide against Fulham before deciding they were not players he wanted to build his team around.

De Zerbi, by contrast, took time, unprompted, to lavish praise on Gallagher, whom he tried to sign at Brighton. Simons, as well, is someone who fits the mould in De Zerbi’s preferred 4-2-3-1 and the Italian is keen to help the pair rediscover their confidence on the ball and off the pitch.

With just seven games to go, De Zerbi looks to have taken a risk to try to keep Spurs in the Premier League. Yet for him, the opportunity and the timing were perfect. Money, he insists, was not a motivating factor.

“From my perspective, it was a big opportunity because Tottenham is one of the most important clubs in Premier League and Premier League is best league in world.

“I know the qualities of the players. We have a lot of specific players for my style, and then there was a crucial part that there was 12 days before the first game,” he said.

Spurs have not played for three weeks, but even with some much-needed time on the training ground, this will be a diluted version of the style De Zerbi hopes to instil later down the line.

A revered tactician, De Zerbi knows his philosophy is not important right now. He wants to focus on “organisation with the ball and without the ball” while working on the courage of a team that has struggled to take responsibility for the club’s situation.

Spurs’ confidence is shot. They have yet to win a league game this calendar year and were handily beaten at home by their relegation rivals Nottingham Forest before the international break.

De Zerbi’s task is to change that mentality. He needs his players to believe in themselves again, and feels that a change in perspective could prove useful.

Rather than dwelling on past performances, De Zerbi wants to focus on the potential of his squad and the avenues for development. Picking over the obvious faults in this side serves to benefit no one.

He has “confidence” that goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who has not played since his nightmare performance away to Atletico Madrid, can step in for the injured Guglielmo Vicario. He appeared to name the back four he will come to rely on in the final weeks of the season.

There is a clarity and confidence to the way De Zerbi has mapped out Spurs’ route to survival.

As De Zerbi himself has said, though, talk is cheap. The true test will come when his players take to the pitch at the Stadium of Light.