Roberto De Zerbi undoubtedly boasts an esteemed reputation in the managerial world, and the Italian has also had a profound fact on plenty of those who he's coached over the years.
Tottenham Hotspur turned to the fiery former No. 10 out of desperation. Igor Tudor's ill-fated 44-day reign only sunk the club further into the mire after eight months of Thomas Frank-led misery.
De Zerbi enters the poisoned chalice with Spurs just a point clear of the drop zone with seven games to play. He's essentially been handed the keys to the club by an inept hierarchy, with the boom or bust potential distinct.
Boom, and the Lilywhites will be competing close to the top of the Premier League in relatively short order. Bust, well, let's not go there, shall we? I've opted for positive thoughts only today.
Højbjerg offers ringing endorsement of Tottenham's new manager
Content creators and so-called social media 'tacticos' have voiced their concerns over De Zerbi's appointment because of the squad the Italian has inherited. This group of players seemingly aren't cut out to adhere to a risky and complex tactical framework, with the midfield engine room seemingly most inadequate for our new manager.
However, there's a case study from Marseille that offers hope. Given what you saw of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg towards the end of his Tottenham career, you wouldn't suggest he'd be the ideal De Zerbi midfielder, would you?
But professional footballers are malleable, folks. Skill sets aren't set in stone for the entirety of their careers. They can mature and develop, with new attributes emerging from the abyss. Brilliant coaches can do that, and De Zerbi got the best out of Højbjerg during his time in France.
Thus, it's no surprise that the former Tottenham midfielder has spoken so highly of the Italian: "I have been lucky enough to have coaches like [Pep] Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, and Antonio Conte. And I put Roberto De Zerbi in the same category," he told Onze Mundial last November.
Højberg then echoed a sentiment thrust into the mainstream by the aforementioned Guardiola, who's long been an admirer of De Zerbi's unique and proactive tactical thinking.
âOver the next 20 years, coach De Zerbi is going to contribute enormously to football. And for me, it is an honour to work with him. The coach⦠I do not know how to explain it. He has a connection with the dressing room, he has an emotional relationship with the dressing room, Mourinho had the same thing."
We can expect a diluted De Zerbi tactical framework until the end of the season, with the manager's capacity to motivate and inspire perhaps the most important aspects of his coaching repertoire for this vulnerable group of players.