Roberto De Zerbi is in serious trouble after a confrontation on the field with one of his players

These are extremely tough times for Roberto De Zerbi and his Tottenham team: despite a massive spending spree, the Spurs have managed to scrape together just 2 points in their first 4 matches, and—even more alarmingly—they haven’t scored a single goal in the Premier League yet. A nightmare start that inevitably creates a lot of tension.

At the end of the match against Everton, De Zerbi stormed onto the field, and his outburst with Mathys Tel went viral around the world. The coach was absolutely not happy with the former Bayern Munich player’s performance and made no secret of his disappointment; Tel then responded, and De Zerbi walked away.

At the press conference, he tried to explain it this way: “I went straight to him because I was frustrated. I brought him on with a very clear instruction: make runs, draw out the defenders, attack the spaces, and create options for your teammates. But when he stepped onto the field, I didn’t see enough of that. He was too static. He was waiting for the ball to come to him instead of making something happen.”

“I told him straight up: ‘You can’t come into a game like this and disappear. I need you to move. I need you to make the defenders think.” We were desperately looking for a goal, and I needed energy, movement, and aggressiveness from him,” De Zerbi continued. “Instead, there were moments when he was standing still in the same position while his teammates were trying to create something.”

“I’m not angry because he made a mistake. I’m angry because he didn’t do what I asked him to do. At this level, talent isn’t enough. If I ask you to make a run, you make it. If I ask you to stretch the defense, you stretch it. You can’t help the team if you’re invisible”.

At the moment, it appears that Tottenham’s management isn’t considering a coaching change, but things could change if De Zerbi fails to turn things around soon. Furthermore, the drama with Tel has fueled tension with the fans, who took to X to criticize the theatrics of the confrontation between the two.

During the summer transfer window, the Spurs spent over 350 million euros on Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Tosin Adarabioyo.