The Tottenham Hotspur head coach needs to get his Tottenham players firing again before they fall out of the Premier League
Roberto De Zerbi has been showing his Tottenham players their greatest hits on YouTube to help them save the club’s Premier League status.
Spurs have started to improve under the Italian in his first two matches but are yet to win a league game in 2026. The 18th-placed side travel to Molineux on Saturday, a venue they have not won at in the Premier League in just over five years, knowing that they must beat Wolves to keep the pressure on West Ham above.
De Zerbi admits that with just five matches to go and Tottenham’s top flight status on the line, it’s all about showing the players what they once were.
“My words are not enough and I try to find the best solution to reach every player. Sometimes you arrive with a video, sometimes with words, sometimes with red win, or a beer,” said the 46-year-old. “You have to find the balance. The balance between the football and the improvement on the pitch because we play football. But I think the most important part for a player is [the head] and the heart.”
He added: “It’s what they have done in their career, also in other clubs. If I play with [Randal] Kolo Muani as right winger it’s because he has played in that position. If you go to YouTube, and go to Kolo Muani Eintracht Frankfurt, you can see he played very well in that position and scored a lot of goals.
“When I don’t work in my office, I go to find something important for me to give more information about the players because we have no time and have to consider everything to stay up. I use YouTube or Wyscout to find the best solution for the players, not for me.”
De Zerbi believes the key is to stop his stars wallowing in the faults of a season in which they have won just seven times in the Premier League and tap into what they were before and can be again.
“I am used to working in this way and I go to war for my ideas. I am honest and sincere and don’t like to say something when I don’t believe it,” he said. “I am sure they are good players. I don’t know what happened in the past with the coaches before I came and I want to show them what they are very good at doing on the pitch, because they have incredible qualities and you have to put the focus on the qualities and not on their faults.
“Their qualities are enough to win the game and stay up. If you speak every day about the faults, the heads of the players stay on that and it’s not good. We have to be positive and remember what we are good at.”
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Tottenham’s injury problems show no signs of abating and De Zerbi confirmed Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario and Pape Matar Sarr will all miss the trip to Wolves. The Italian is no closer to getting Dejan Kulusevski in action this season and James Maddison is set to be selected on the bench despite De Zerbi saying he is not available due to some minor pain this week after his return from his ACL injury.
“Better if he plays, for sure, but as a leader, he is a positive guy,” he explained. “Inside of my dressing room I want nice people, positive people and this is important for his team-mates.”
As time drifts away from the season, does De Zerbi wish he had come to Tottenham sooner in order to stop them falling towards danger?
“Bah, I don’t know but we can’t go back. Like the Sunderland game [after the Premier League panel admitted Brian Brobbey should have been sent off], we have to think from now until the end of the season. Not before, otherwise we lose energy,” he said. “It’s very difficult but not impossible.
“Results change things. In Brighton for example when we won 4-1 against Chelsea at home, we changed everything. After that win, we won three or four games in a row. Now I’m thinking Brighton but there are a lot of examples.
“Today is 24th April and we have not won a game in 2026. Do you think the players suffer for this? For sure. To win a game can give us, give them more energy, more confidence, more positivity but they are human.”
Kevin Danso has become an important player for De Zerbi, especially after losing captain Cristian Romero to a knee injury for the remainder of the season. Danso was excellent against Brighton on Saturday before being dispossessed in the 95th minute in the lead-up to the visitors’ last-gasp equaliser.
After the game, the Austria international was subjected to racist abuse on social media and after condemning that abuse, De Zerbi said it will not affect the centre-back.
“No, no. He has a big personality. Every one of us loves him as a man. He is a lovely guy. He does not have this type of problem. We have not spoken yet but I think he doesn’t need my words,” said the Italian. “I hugged him at the beginning of the week and we worked hard and we prepared for the next game. Full stop.”
One player hoping to get more minutes before the season ends is Mathys Tel with the Frenchman finding himself behind compatriot Kolo Muani in the pecking order. De Zerbi was asked what the 20-year-old needs to do to force his way into his starting line-up.
“Nothing more, because I’m happy with him. He has a great attitude, he has great qualities, he’s very young. Kolo Muani has much experience, but we’ll go to see in the next game,” he said.
“Maybe he can start in the first XI, but I don’t like to change too many players, one game, one game. Especially now, we have to find the connection between the players. They have to be able to communicate inside of the pitch.”