Roberto De Zerbi has had his feet under the table at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a little over a week, but already he is impressing.
The Italian was appointed following the disastrous interim appointment of Igor Tudor just over a month before, which saw him lose five of his seven games in charge.
With Spurs sat just one point above the relegation zone heading into the return of Premier League football, they need De Zerbi to have a quick impact.
Tottenham players report positive feelings around De Zerbi’s training
Thankfully, the early signs are positive, according to Independent journalist Miguel Delaney.
Based on his report, the Spurs players feel that De Zerbi has already provided them with better coaching than Thomas Frank, Ange Postecoglou and Tudor combined.
The squad is said to have responded positively to the Italian’s methods, which is more than can be said for Tudor’s short time at the club.
In even greater praise, Tottenham’s players are said to understand why Pep Guardiola rates De Zerbi so highly, such that he was once touted as the Catalan’s natural successor.
The decision-makers in north London will be breathing a sigh of relief at these reports, given BBC Sport reported that he has no relegation clause in the five-year contract they handed him.
That is particularly important, given that outlets like The Sun report that the offer made him the second-highest paid Premier League manager, behind only Guardiola.
De Zerbi is set to take charge of his first game for Spurs this weekend, in an away trip to Sunderland on Sunday.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, very rarely does a name like De Zerbi follow a tenure like Tudor and make a bad impression.
He was always likely to lift the mood, and may even be able to carry that through to Sunderland, but it’s still very much in the checking-your-luggage-in stage of this honeymoon period, so it’s far too soon to make any sweeping judgements.
If he manages to save Spurs from relegation, that will be job one ticked off his task list, but there’s still a mountain to climb to get the club back to the heights they’ve come to expect.
Nevertheless, it’s better to have these kind of murmurings coming from the training ground than the alternative.