The Italian was unable to make an impact during his Tottenham debut in the dugout and he will have to take on the lessons learned quickly
Roberto De Zerbi was unable to mark his Tottenham debut with a victory and he will have to heed the lessons learned quickly before it's too late.
Spurs fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Sunday afternoon thanks to Nordi Mukiele's hugely deflected effort and that ensured the north London club remain in the bottom three in the Premier League and stretched their dreadful run to 14 games without a win in the competition.
De Zerbi has just six games to save the club from dropping into the Championship and he was asked after the game what he learned about his players during the encounter.
"You know me as a coach, but one very important part for me, for my style of being a coach, is the mental part, is to transfer the confidence of the players, to give them what they need in terms of mentality, in terms of confidence," he said. "And for that I said we could play better because during the week they play better because they are clear with their head, and during the game it's different for sure. And my work is to help them to show what they do during the week, on the game, during the game."
The 46-year-old is unlikely to publicly state some of the things he learned from his debut as Spurs boss so here's what we, as unqualified mind readers, reckon was actually going through his head.
It's a huge job
De Zerbi's predecessor Igor Tudor made it very clear that what he assumed from the outside and presumably what he had been told about the job was nothing compared to what he discovered when he actually walked through the door.
The current Spurs boss had nine days to work with the squad on the training pitches of Hotspur Way but seeing them in action in a match against opposition players is a very different thing. De Zerbi will have learned about the fear that exists within this group in the way they play and their lack of character in fighting back.
Tottenham are one of only two teams with Wolves that are yet to win a game this entire season after falling behind and that says everything about the way they respond to setbacks and it was something that Thomas Frank also spoke about being a problem. De Zerbi must find a solution and fast.
Make it his team now
The Italian has made a big case for simply being at Tottenham this season for the vibes more than anything else, as a motivator more than a coach.
"I can be a big brother, father, they don't need a coach. They don't need to improve football. They can play better and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence," De Zerbi said after the game.
The Spurs head coach told football.london on Friday that he only brought in two of his usual coaching staff rather than the seven he normally brings because he does not want to confuse the players by launching into his complicated brand of attacking football.
The problem is that what Tottenham have been doing all season just hasn't worked. So why not try something completely different? It might lead to mistakes as they try to take it on board but they're making mistakes anyway. It's better to get them playing in an attacking style they know will be the one they'll use going forward so they can believe in it. Players need an idea to get behind rather than a compromise.
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Use Xavi
Three head coaches in a season all choosing not to use Xavi Simons has to be taken into account, but in De Zerbi's case if felt more like safety first in his opening game and it didn't work out for him.
Spurs desperately need to create chances and score goals. The Dutchman has created more chances for the north London side than any other player this season. He's played more than double the amount of through balls than anyone else in the Tottenham squad, he's won the third most duels and his expected assists tally (3.56) is far beyond anyone else in the team.
The Lilywhites have only won three games when Xavi has been on the bench and his impact is often missed in the build-up to moves as he knits together the midfield and attack.
De Zerbi did not bring on Xavi, who has three Champions League man of the match awards this season, until the 85th minute on Sunday, despite the attackers being starved of service and his side desperately needing a goal.
"Yes, why? Why? Because I changed three players, then after Romero's injury there was on the pitch Kolo Muani and Udogie," he said. "I didn't know when Udogie could finish, the energy to play, just for it. Without Romero's injury, Xavi would have come on before."
De Zerbi has another five days to work with Xavi and he needs to fit the 22-year-old into his system. The handbrake must come off.
Richarlison is not an ideal winger
It's understandable that De Zerbi would want to get Richarlison into his team somehow because the Brazilian is Spurs' top scorer and he's a battler. He's also been in a relegation scrap before with Everton and fired them out of it.
However, the 28-year-old is just not particularly effective as a left winger. He does not have the ability to regularly beat a man down the flank nor the pace to be take advantage when he actually does. Mukiele had such an easy time against the Brazilian that he decided to go up the other end of the pitch and show him how to score himself.
Using Richarlison as a winger ensured Spurs' most effective wide man, Mathys Tel, spent much of the game on the bench before finally coming on and whipping in a good cross that Dominic Solanke should have done better with.
De Zerbi rates Solanke highly so will either have to play him and Richarlison up top together or choose one or the other. Either way, whoever plays up front needs service.
He needs leaders
De Zerbi lost both Mohammed Kudus and captain Cristian Romero for the remainder of the season in his first week in charge. Such is life at Tottenham Hotspur.
football.london understands that Romero will miss the rest of the season with the medial collateral ligament injury in his right knee and the new head coach will have to turn to others to lead the team now that the World Cup winner is out of the relegation fight.
Unfortunately that's something Spurs are lacking in. Micky van de Ven could take the armband, while Rodrigo Bentancur will be an experienced head when he fully returns to training as will Guglielmo Vicario.
Conor Gallagher was brought in as a potential leader but he is having enough trouble with his own game to lead the team. De Zerbi talked up the midfielder before the game, having wanted to sign the England international from Chelsea back in his Brighton days. Yet the 26-year-old huffs and puffs without blowing anybody's door down. On Sunday, he gave the impression of always looking busy but you'd be hard pressed to note down anything worthwhile he actually contributed to the cause.
De Zerbi must work out if there is anyone inside the squad who can step up and lead it. The summer transfer window will require leaders as a priority, with Scotland captain Andy Robertson still on the radar if Spurs stay up, but they need someone to lead the charge now before it's too late.