Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi lost his debut on the Tottenham Hotspur bench, leaving them in the Premier League relegation zone.
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The former Sassuolo, Benevento, Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympique Marseille boss was drafted in during the break for international duty following the dismissal of Igor Tudor.
De Zerbi is the third manager of the season at Spurs, which shows the extent of the task at hand to turn this situation around, but signed a long-term contract as a show of faith in their prospects.
Tottenham defeat on De Zerbi debut
It was the worst possible start to his Tottenham career, suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Sunderland, decided by Nordi Mukiele’s impressive strike.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/2043336922232156206
The team is now without victory in 14 Premier League games, since beating Crystal Palace on December 28, and the club’s longest winless streak since 1935.
“I can be a big brother, father, they don’t need a coach,” De Zerbi told BBC Sport.
“They don’t need to improve football. They can play better and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence.
“I‘m sure if we are able to win a game then everything will change.”
"I'm sorry for the result, I'm sorry for the Romero injury…We didn't deserve to lose the game"
Roberto De Zerbi says his players showed real fight against Sunderland but were unlucky to come away with nothing 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/SQG9599yHA
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 12, 2026
To add insult to literal injury, former Serie A defender Cristian Romero went off in tears with a fitness issue and that could well be the end of his season.
Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho have struggled here before, now De Zerbi is the latest coach to take on a club with seemingly endemic problems.