Tottenham have moved decisively to appoint Roberto De Zerbi, offering the former Brighton & Hove Albion coach a reported five-year deal as the club seeks to preserve its Premier League status. The immediate task is stark: De Zerbi must prepare a squad that sees itself capable of European nights to avoid a slide that could leave trips to Portsmouth and Preston North End next season on the agenda.<\/p>\n
He has until April 12 to ready the group for the slog ahead, with Spurs next visiting Sunderland in the Premier League. Tactical flexibility is likely, but a return to the 4-2-3-1 that has been his default across much of his career is a realistic baseline. That shape would place Xavi Simons in a No. 10 role to maximise the Dutchman\u2019s creative influence between the lines.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi\u2019s football emphasises artificial transitions and progression through depth. Players must be comfortable on the ball and able to execute efficient passing sequences to escape pressure and create space for forwards. That places a premium on Tottenham\u2019s most technically secure performers. Captain Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro, alongside Destiny Udogie when he advances, will be central to building from the back, with Micky van de Ven capable of covering when full backs push high.<\/p>\n
Midfield options include Archie Gray as a current form pick, with Rodrigo Bentancur likely to be relied upon when fit. Bentancur performed well under Antonio Conte in a structure built on automatisms. Yves Bissouma offers bravery in the build-up and Lucas Bergvall provides carrying ability.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi has varied his approach recently at Marseille and used a back three more often there than previously. A 3-4-2-1 is an option if three fit centre backs are available, with Kevin Danso as a useful third choice.<\/p>\n
In attack De Zerbi must lean on Mohammed Kudus for the coming fixtures, pairing him with Xavi Simons between the lines and using Dominic Solanke as a reliable focal point. Randal Kolo Muani offers rotation but Solanke\u2019s ability to retain possession and press is highlighted in this context.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi\u2019s admiration for Pep Guardiola is well known, and influences from narrow central combinations championed by others may also inform his set-up at Tottenham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roberto De Zerbi must prepare Tottenham by April 12 for a run of fixtures beginning at Sunderland. .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,172,187],"tags":[1162,1305,1393],"class_list":["post-10332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-epl","category-tottenham-hotspur","tag-analytics","tag-bench-selection","tag-centre-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}