When Roberto De Zerbi arrived at Tottenham, the conversation was largely about damage limitation. The club had not won a Premier League game in 2026. The dressing room was unsettled. The stadium, despite its size and quality, had started to feel like a heavy thing rather than an advantage. And the broader football press had already begun the quiet, grim process of writing Spurs out of the top half for next season. De Zerbi walked into all of that. Four matches later, something has shifted.
It is not that Spurs are suddenly flying. Four games is not enough data to declare a renaissance. But the change in how the team is carrying itself, how they press, how they pass — that has been visible and real. Players who had looked flat under the previous setup are showing what looks like genuine engagement. The results have backed it up. Whether this constitutes a turn or just a temporary boost is still being debated, but the immediate response has been stronger than almost anyone expected.
What De Zerbi has changed
The most obvious shift has been in how Spurs press from the front. De Zerbi built his reputation at Brighton and then Shakhtar Donetsk on a very specific kind of positional play — structured, precise, with pressing triggers that the whole team understands and acts on simultaneously. Getting that into a squad in four weeks is impossible. But even a rough version of those principles has made Spurs more difficult to play through. Opponents have found it harder to build from the back against them than was the case even a month ago.
The other change is harder to quantify but possibly more important. The players look like they believe they are being coached by someone who has a clear idea of what he wants. That sounds basic. It is not. A dressing room that has lost confidence needs to feel like the sessions they are running have a point. By most accounts, De Zerbi has been direct, demanding, and technically specific. That tends to go down well with professional footballers who have grown tired of vague encouragement.
The scale of the rebuild ahead
Four matches is still four matches. The squad that De Zerbi inherited is not a top-four squad as it stands. There are holes in midfield, question marks about the defensive depth, and a striker situation that needs resolving before the start of next season. None of that has changed. What has changed is the baseline. If De Zerbi can get this group to play something close to their best, they can compete for a Europa League spot. That would have felt like an optimistic projection a month ago. Now it is the realistic minimum expectation.
The club, to their credit, appears to have given him space to work without interference. The transfer window in the summer will be the real test of whether the ambition matches the current energy around the place. De Zerbi has a track record of getting the best from players who were previously underperforming — Brighton's development under him was real and documented. Whether he can do something similar with a bigger, older, more complicated squad at Spurs is the question that the next 18 months will answer.
The reaction from inside the club
Those close to the club describe De Zerbi as intense and thorough. He watches enormous amounts of footage, is detailed in his team meetings, and expects players to understand not just their own job but those of the players around them. That level of preparation can take time to filter into match performance. The fact that it has shown up quickly suggests the squad was more ready to respond than their league position implied. Or it suggests De Zerbi is better at transmitting ideas quickly than most. Probably both.
The narrative around Tottenham had become one of decline and dysfunction. Four matches will not rewrite it entirely, but they have at least made the conversation more complicated. That, for now, is progress.
Context: Roberto De Zerbi appointed Tottenham Hotspur head coach, April 2026 | Four Premier League matches: won 3, drew 1 | Spurs currently 10th in Premier League table
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