Guillaume Marion, Media365: published on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 11:50
While Tottenham is fighting to avoid relegation in the Premier League, Roberto De Zerbi once again delivered a positive message, urging his players to be ready to “die on the field”.
In the English football elite since the late 70s, will Tottenham make a comeback to the Premier League? With four games left to play this season, the Spurs are currently in the relegation zone (18th place) with a two-point gap behind the first non-relegation spot held by West Ham (36 points).
Before facing Aston Villa (5th) on a difficult away match this Sunday in Birmingham, Roberto De Zerbi tried to rally his troops. He took over as manager from Igor Tudor at the London club a few weeks ago. “It feels like everyone is mourning and that we have already been relegated. No, not yet. We have to fight on the field,” stated the former Marseille coach, who lost his first match with Tottenham (1-0 against Sunderland) before drawing (2-2 against Brighton) and finally winning (1-0 against Wolverhampton).
De Zerbi: “We are good enough to stay up”
“The most important challenge now is to silence the little voice within us, the players, the staff, the fans. These voices generate negative thoughts, saying that we are unlucky, have too many injuries, that our medical staff is not good enough, that the pitch at the stadium is not good, that of the training ground is also bad, that it’s impossible to win two or three games in a row,” explained the Italian coach.
“It’s a tough moment, but losers cry, they think negatively. I don’t want people next to me who cry and think differently from me. We are good enough to win games and good enough to stay up,” De Zerbi also acknowledged in a press conference on Friday. In the battle with Tottenham, West Ham has the opportunity this Saturday to put pressure on their rivals as they visit Brentford (9th), who have been struggling in recent weeks.
