"Everybody was a little bit down. He brings a lot of good energy." That's Micky Van de Ven, speaking from Tottenham's preseason tour in Sydney, and it tells you everything about where this club has been — and what they're hoping De Zerbi can fix.
Two consecutive 17th-place finishes. A revolving door in the dugout that saw Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor come and go in the same campaign. Tottenham spent last season one bad run from the Championship, and the damage to the dressing room's confidence wasn't cosmetic. It was structural.
De Zerbi's impact is already visible
Van de Ven knows what Roberto De Zerbi looks like up close. The Italian took charge for the final stretch of last season — 11 points from 21, just enough to keep Spurs up — and the centre-back liked what he saw. "It's going to be more with the ball, more about playing football," Van de Ven said. "More enjoyable for people to watch because we'll be playing offensive football."
That's a direct shot at what came before. Defensive, reactive football that couldn't even keep Spurs safe. De Zerbi's system is the polar opposite, and after two years of survival-mode misery, the players seem genuinely energised by it.
Spurs have also given their new manager serious resources. Matheus Fernandes arrived from West Ham for £113 million. Sandro Tonali — yes, the same Tonali who served a gambling ban at Milan — came in for £133 million. That's over £240 million in two signings. For a club that's been fighting relegation, that's either a statement of intent or a very expensive gamble, and the early signs from Van de Ven suggest the squad is buying in. "The guys who are coming in have been unbelievable. They have fit in well to the group."
What it means for the season ahead
Tottenham open the Premier League campaign against Brentford on August 22nd, with five preseason fixtures still to go. The optimism is real, but optimism has existed at Spurs before — usually followed by a coaching sack by November.
What's different this time is that De Zerbi has a track record of making clubs genuinely watchable. Brighton under him were one of the most tactically interesting sides in Europe. Whether that translates to points against better-resourced top-half rivals is the question Spurs fans need answered, not just good vibes from a Sydney training pitch.
Anyone pricing Tottenham for a top-eight finish should factor in that De Zerbi has had less than a full preseason and is implementing a completely new system at a club still carrying two years of psychological scar tissue. The talent is now there. The reset is underway. Whether it holds when the league season actually bites is another matter entirely.
