Roberto De Zerbi has said that his long-term ambition is to guide Tottenham to the top of the Premier League table despite having just seven games to save them from relegation.
De Zerbi took charge of Spurs last week, replacing interim manager Igor Tudor, with the club just one point above the relegation zone.
The Italian head coach’s immediate priority is to prevent Tottenham slipping into the second division for the first time in nearly 50 years, but in signing a five-year deal, he appears to have underlined his commitment to the club and said he would stay “no matter what” next season in his first interview since his appointment.
The length of De Zerbi’s contract, which does not have a relegation clause, was considered surprising, given his longest managerial stint came at Sassuolo between 2018 and 2021.
But asked whether he was committed to the challenge at Spurs, De Zerbi said he planned to stay for a long time and wanted to help the club challenge for the Premier League title in the future.
“I stayed three years in Sassuolo and then I left from Ukraine when the war started. In Brighton I left for different problems and in Marseille maybe the same,” De Zerbi said in his first pre-match press conference as Spurs boss.
“I would like to stay four or five, for a long time. I don't know how many years but in Marseille like this because in Marseille my idea was to stay for a long time,
“Then you have to speak with the club and when you have a different view of football or other things you have to leave money and you have to leave.
“But in my plan for sure there is the idea to stay for a long time, to try to put Tottenham, I'm not speaking about the titles because it's not the right moment now, but to put Tottenham to stay in the first position in the Premier League because there are all parts to reach that level.”
For now, De Zerbi’s only aim is to steer a Spurs side yet to win a league game this calendar year away from the relegation zone.
The brief is simple, and De Zerbi says his messaging since taking his first training session this week has been not to overcomplicate things.
A revered tactician, De Zerbi admits the intricacies of his style will take a backseat as he seeks to get his team playing with courage and character again after a brutal run of results.
“Listen, my style is one part, about the style of play and one part about the character, the personality. I have no time enough to work in the principle or in build-up so much, or in the last 20 metres” De Zerbi continued.
“I want to give organisation with the ball and without the ball. Two principles without the ball, three principles, four more. Something more in possession, in offensive phase and that's it,
“What I want to do, what I want to achieve immediately is the character, is the right spirit, the right courage to play, to attack. Because the DNA of this club, of this squad is to find the goal, to score.
“In this part I can be able to transfer, not in too much time, my principle.”