It has been three weeks since Tottenham Hotspur has lost a match! The amount of time since the last Premier League win is just a tad bit longer, but Roberto De Zerbi is here to…attempt to fix that. Odds of relegation are still precarious, but the club had no choice but to re-roll the dice and hope that manager number three this season will fare better than the previous two.
For Spurs to stay up, it will require getting some results against the middle of the table, starting with Sunderland on Sunday.
The Black Cats have fallen off a bit, winning just two of their past five league matches and falling to League One side Port Vale in the FA Cup in March. A victory is unexpected, but Sunderland has lost three straight at home, scoring one total goal in those contests. Please just give us something to believe in.
Match Details
Date: Sunday, April 12
Time: 9:00 am ET, 2:00 pm UK
Location: Stadium of Light, Sunderland
TV: USA Network (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)
Table: Spurs (17th, 30 pts), Sunderland (t-10th, 43 pts)
These sides last met right after New Year’s, sharing the points in North London. Spurs were the better side and took the lead in the first half after Ben Davies deflected in a goal following a corner, but the home side failed to hang on for all three points, conceding an equalizer in the final 10 minutes. Along with the scoreless Brentford draw three days prior, this collapse kicked off the dreadful run of form spanning this entire calendar year.
Two Things to Watch
Yet another new system
The hope for a new-manager bounce was quickly squashed by the struggles under Igor Tudor, and with the new appointment there is more concern about implementation than there is expectation of any sort of immediate bonus. In fact, the whiplash from Frank to Tudor to De Zerbi is fairly significant and it is fair to wonder if this side is capable of embracing this attacking approach.
Certainly dominating possession and attacking directly are philosophies that have been absent lately. Spurs have struggled to generate any sort of consistent threat, and the midfield simply might not be able to live up to the manager’s press-resistant expectations. The defense is a whole other problem that has plagued Tottenham all season long; asking the team to be more aggressive up front will surely not help anything at the back.
All that being said, on paper there is absolutely a way this works. Spurs have the individual talent to thrive, and players like Xavi Simons, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall all have roles that are fairly straightforward to imagine. The question becomes how long it takes to start seeing fruit from these tactical changes. Even if this is the right direction for this roster, is there enough time to make this turnaround?
Mentality
At this point, Tottenham’s safety might depend more on other relegation candidates’ floundering than their own success. There will need to be some more points won, though, and the mental burden is going to be significant over the final seven matchweeks. With West Ham playing Wolves on Friday, it is very possible Spurs enter Sunday (at least temporarily) sitting 18th in the table.
The encouraging part is that Forest plays Villa amidst its Europa League campaign and Leeds faces United on Monday, also having to prepare for an upcoming FA Cup semifinal. As bad as Tottenham has been, so have their peers, and De Zerbi’s task is as much psychological as it is football. A moderately surprising result or two, such as a win at the Stadium of Light, would cause huge ramifications at the bottom of the table.
I want to believe it can happen, seeing Sunderland’s poor form recently, trusting the new manager to light a spark under his players, and assuming the club will finally start responding to the pressure around them. There are few remaining chances to get out of the danger zone, and all things considered, this is an opportunity that must be seized. Instant results are far from guaranteed, but the luxury of patience is no more.
