De Zerbi is ‘far from a safe pair of hands’

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood is not convinced Roberto De Zerbi is the best fit, in the short-term, to become the club’s new head coach.

Reports this afternoon suggest De Zerbi has put his reservations about taking over at the relegation-threatened club to one side and is in talks over succeeding Igor Tudor, who was sacked yesterday after just 44 days in the job.

Assuming the talks reach an agreement, De Zerbi will have seven games to save Spurs from the drop. They are currently one point and one place above the bottom three.

Sherwood, who managed Tottenham for six months during the 2013/14 season, says De Zerbi is the right man long term but has doubts that his expansive style will align with a team scrapping for their lives.

He told Sky Sports News: “I like him, I really do. I like his personality. I said many months ago that he would be the man to come into Tottenham.

“I would’ve picked him over Mauricio Pochettino for the long term because he plays that style that Tottenham fans want to play. But not now. That style is not needed now, what they need now is a safe pair of hands. This is far from a safe pair of hands.

“They can be open and can get hammered in some games – you can’t get hammered between now and the end of the season.”

Headstrong De Zerbi will be ‘hard to deal with’ at Tottenham

De Zerbi is available after leaving Marseille in February but is still held in high regard in England following a successful stint with Brighton. The Italian is known to be a combustible character and Sherwood says the club aren’t taking the easy route by appointing him. 

He added: “We know how stubborn this man is. This man is hard to deal with, but I like him for that because he’s got his own mind and does it his way, so that’s my only reservation.

“I think if he can get them over the line, I think he’s a perfect manager for Tottenham to have taking them forward. 

“The main priority is just to keep them in the league. He would not be that firefighter-type manager who comes in for this seven-game period.

“He wanted to have a break after Marseille in February, but why didn’t they bring him in then? Why didn’t they bring him in before Igor Tudor? You’d have given him another seven games to go at, then I would’ve had total confidence that he would keep them in the league.

“They obviously didn’t want him then. He was available, but they didn’t want him.”

Why was Tudor sacked?

Tudor’s tenure lasted just 44 days with results showing no sign of improving after he replaced Thomas Frank.

The club wanted to sack him following the humbling 3-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest last Sunday but opted to wait as he dealt with the death of his father.

Tudor failed to win a Premier League game during his short stint in charge, taking just a solitary point from five games. They did beat Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie but it proved a false dawn as Forest ruthlessly exposed their shortcomings.

Tottenham have gone 13 games without a win in the league, their worst run since 1934/35 when they were relegated. Their first demotion from the top flight since 1977 is now a realistic possibility.

Tottenham’s results under Tudor

What’s next for Tottenham? Will Spurs stay up?

Spurs remain the only Premier League side yet to win in the top flight in 2026 and the international break means they do not play again until they visit 11th-placed Sunderland on April 12.

After the defeat to Forest, they were fourth-favourites to go down with bookmakers behind Wolves, Burnley and West Ham.

At the time, stats experts Opta gave Tottenham a 27.1% chance of relegation and predicted they would stay up at West Ham’s expense, finishing a point or two above the Hammers.

Here are Tottenham’s next five fixtures.