Tottenham Hotspur legend Gary Lineker has had his say on his old club's relegation concerns after their defeat at Sunderland.
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Tottenham Hotspur were edged closer towards a ‘humiliating’ relegation into the Championship after they suffered a narrow defeat at Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
With new head coach Roberto de Zerbi in charge for the first time, there were high hopes the former Brighton and Hove Albion and Marseille boss could coax an improvement out of the players he inherited from predecessor Thomas Frank and kickstart a push away from the relegation zone. However, in a game of few chances, it was the Black Cats that claimed all three points when Nordi Mukiele’s shot deflected off Spurs defender Micky van de Ven and wrong-footed goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky before nestling just inside his far post.
That was enough to lift Sunderland to within touching distance of the European places - but it is matters at the opposite end of the Premier League table that are of major concern for Sunday’s visitors. The defeat means Spurs are two points adrift of escaping the relegation zone and they will now prepare for the first home game of De Zerbi’s reign when his currently employers host his former club Brighton next weekend. That is followed by a tricky away day double headers as Spurs travel to fellow strugglers Wolves and Champions League contenders Aston Villa and there is clear pressure on the Italian and his players to kickstart a push towards safety as soon as possible.
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Former Spurs striker Gary Lineker, who was an FA Cup winner during his time with the North London club, believes there was at least one positive to take from the defeat on Wearside - but stressed the De Zerbi’s players are ‘instilled by fear’ as the loss left them in the relegation zone for another week.
Nervous
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, the former England striker said: “Spurs are two points below the safety net and they’re in trouble. It wasn’t a very good goal, there wasn’t much in it, I’m not sure which team was better than the other. The goal was very fortuitous. There wasn’t much created in the game. Now if you’re going to be in a nervous situation, I think Tottenham are probably more nervous than Arsenal.
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“But they were hoping, obviously, for a bounce from De Zerbi coming in but that didn’t really happen. They played those three (Kolo Muani, Solanke and Richarlison) so that’s a positive start. You could see there was an energy and you could see the players were trying, there’s no lack of effort there. They were running, they were trying but they looked like they are completely bereft of confidence. It’s been sucked out of them. It wasn’t a great game. “Romero collided with his own goalkeeper and he’s injured and he’s going off in tears because he cares. The players do, I don’t believe they don’t care. I just think they’re instilled by fear at the moment. The fear of a going down and for a club like Spurs, that would be a humiliation.”