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Tottenham Hotspur supporters were clamoring for the club to hire Mauricio Pochettino as their next manager while in a state of crisis, and even though he could not bolt for Spurs immediately due to his obligations with the United States men's national team ahead of the World Cup, there was hope among the fans that he could be strongly in play during the summer after the World Cup.

Even though Pochettino was an internally discussed option and one of the top two options, he was a seemingly distant No. 2 to Roberto De Zerbi, whom Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham were smitten with.

Spurs were able to throw enough money at De Zerbi to somehow get him to change his mind into not only joining the club immediately, but also in committing to the club even if they were to be relegated to the EFL Championship this season.

Mauricio Pochettino doesn't like his USMNT players

For the Tottenham Hotspur supporters who clearly wanted Mauricio Pochettino much more than they wanted Roberto De Zerbi, the Argentinian manager's latest comments on the struggling United States national team will only make them feel more sad about missing out on Poch.

Because it sounds like Poch doesn't want to be coaching the USMNT in his heart of hearts. After the 5-2 drubbing against Belgium and another dreary 2-0 loss to former World Cup foes Portugal, Pochettino totally threw his players under the bus.

Pochettino lamented about his squad's quailty by stating, via Doug McIntyre of FOX Sports, “Belgium and Portugal both have top-100 players, some players playing that top 100. I think we don't have [that].”

Wow. That is a brutal quote and summation of the players he has at his disposal for the United States, and it is pretty jarring to hear the usually upbeat Pochettino talk about his players like that. While it is mostly true that the quality the USMNT has is way, way below what Belgium and Portugal have, it is weird that Pochettino doesn't think Christian Pulisic is a top 100 player in the world when he's been pretty good for AC Milan in Serie A.

Maybe Pulisic is and maybe he isn't, but he is the face of the United States and is a conceivable enough top 100 player that you'd expect the manager not to say this. And even if he isn't, you still wouldn't want the coach to be saying something like that before the World Cup.

It's the kind of commentary made by a manager who is subtly making it known that he doesn't want to be coaching this team for very long. Pochettino left his heart in Tottenham, but it's too late for him now with the club committed to De Zerbi.

Even though Tottenham Hotspur have been a disaster this season and are just one point above the Premier League relegation zone following their 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, part of what makes Spurs such a disaster is the fact that they've had a lot of injuries and have underperformed their talent level due to a mix of egoes and horrible coaching from Thomas Frank.

So Roberto De Zerbi joins Spurs with the ability to make a huge mark by getting some very talented footballers to play at their best together. It will be tough, but here are three players who will blossom under De Zerbi.

CM Archie Gray

Even just the brief upgrade from Thomas Frank to Igor Tudor helped the young Tottenham No. 6 shine, as Archie Gray has been the star of Spurs these last few weeks, even in some of the awful losses. Gray has the best ball progression and pure passing ability on the ball of any Tottenham midfielder - or player, in general. De Zerbi will learn to lean on him pretty quickly, and as the focal point of the deep build up, Gray could improve rapidly into true stardom under the Italian manager.

CM Lucas Bergvall

Lucas Bergvall is a phenom, too, and had such a great 2024/25 season for Tottenham Hotspur. He regressed this season due to injury and the fact that Thomas Frank was a horrid coach, constantly playing the Swedish prospect out of position. If De Zerbi can harness the full potential of this box to box monster and give him the freedom to roam and wreck as a true No. 8, he will immediately be close to world class.

AM Xavi Simons

It felt a little bit cheap picking three center midfielders and leaving the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel out of it as key attacking difference makers on the wings, but Xavi Simons is such a talented footballer and has shown real flashes of the superstardom he consistently displayed in league and European competition for both PSV and RB Leipzig previously.

Roberto De Zerbi loves his uber athletic and uber technical creative, box to box hybrid mavens. He was cooking with them at Brighton, Sassuolo, and Shakhtar Donetsk previously, but Simons is the best player he will work with. If he can get him into better positions to affect play in the final third, Simons could be come a double digit assist guy next season pretty easily.

Roberto De Zerbi is the new Tottenham Hotspur manager after Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange did everything they could to convince the Italian manager to commit to them immediately, which included countless dollar signs. But De Zerbi is here, and he may not like the players Spurs have at his disposal. Here are three players he will surely not rate upon his arrival at the club.

CB Radu Dragusin

Although Radu Dragusin played in Serie A at the time Roberto De Zerbi coached in Italy at Sassuolo, he never got much game time as a failed Juventus prospect. It was only later when he emerged at Genoa, and his issue, which Spurs are finding out rapidly, is that he can never play for a top club because he is so atrocious on the ball. Dragusin is a decent defender who works hard, but he is so awful on the ball that De Zerbi will discard him immediately in a system that emphasizes ball security and progression.

CM Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher has been an abject failure of a transfer, which anyone with footballing sense who reasoning goes beyond buzz words like "leadership" and "Premier League experience". The man cannot create or even just play the ball forward. De Zerbi is going to pull his hair out until he looks like Daniel Levy dealing with this guy in midfield, because he is the antithesis of the kind of player RDZ values. Gallagher is the worst kind of sideways passer.

Between the two veteran players, the former Brighton man Yves Bissouma will likely be preferred, because he's actually driven the ball forward more often than Gallagher this season for Spurs.

DM Joao Palhinha

Joao Palhinha's days were already starting to look numbered, but now that De Zerbi has arrived as the new Tottenham Hotspur manager, the Portuguese international is all but guaranteed to head back to Bayern Munich with a very uncertain future. He can defend at a high level and even score the occasional banger by surprise, but he is so lacking in quality on the ball that he is only a step above Radu Dragusin as a midfielder.

De Zerbi is going to favor Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray heavily, which will leave Gallagher and Palhinha as clear afterthoughts. And once Rodrigo Bentancur comes back, Palhinha will really have no road to playing time, though he will probably be less hated than Gallagher.

Tottenham Hotspur have thrown the kitchen sink at Roberto De Zerbi, and they have successfully convinced one of the most high profile managers in world football to join them at a time when they are at grave risk of going down to the EFL Championship.

With his attacking minded 4-2-1-3 formation that is almost ubiquituous among the top teams in world fotoball, let's take a look at what his best starting lineup could be, using only the players who are currently available to Tottenham after the March international break.

GK Guglielmo Vicario

It's unclear if Guglielmo Vicario will miss any time at all from this hernia surgery, and although he's been poor this season, if he is pain free after the surgery, you'd have to back him to get back to playing well in goal again.

LB Destiny Udogie

Souza should actually get some play under Roberto De Zerbi and is very promising, but when he is healthy, which is sadly rarely ever, Destiny Udogie is the clear starting left back.

CB Cristian Romero

Cristian Romero will be one of the main beneficiaries of the De Zerbi appointment, in theory at least, and the captain is always going to be a starter for Tottenham.

CB Micky van de Ven

Although Micky van de Ven has been disappointing these last couple of months, there is simply no way he does not start for Spurs under any manager.

RB Pedro Porro

Who else is going to start at right back? Djed Spence? There is no realistic alternative to Pedro Porro.

CM Archie Gray

Archie Gray has been Spurs best player over the last couple of weeks, shining in games in which Spurs have been miserable, such as the 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace. He is one of the best young No. 6's in European football and wanted by a lot of big clubs on the continent, and De Zerbi is going to love having a player with his passing ability and technical quality.

CM Lucas Bergvall

Recently back from injury, Lucas Bergvall is a tremendous young footballer who can change the dynamic of this team alongside Gray. These are two top talents De Zerbi has to make the most of.

AM Xavi Simons

Likewise, Xavi Simons is another talented young midfielder with world class potential, and a big reason why Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham selected De Zerbi was likely a belief that he could bring the best out of these top young footballers in an attacking system.

LW Mathys Tel

Snubbed by Thomas Frank repeatedly, Mathys Tel is the best option Tottenham have on the left wing. He has been as impressive as Gray lately, and if De Zerbi can get him in real goal scoring positions tactically, then he could blossom.

ST Dominic Solanke

Richarlison merits serious consideration here, but Dominic Solanke may be preferred. He has been starting more often lately, and while Richy has more goals and guts, Solanke's all around play and stabilizing presence will give him the nod.

RW Mohammed Kudus

Mohammed Kudus's return could be the missing piece the attack needed. De Zerbi loved Kudus as a transfer target in the past, and he was Tottenham's best player in the first half of the season, by far. He is the one to watch in this front line under the new manager.

Tottenham Hotspur, as was fully expected, announced the hiring of Roberto De Zerbi to replace Igor Tudor, whom he also succeeded at Marseille in his previous coaching stop. De Zerbi enters the job with a lot of skepticism about his attitude and fit at the club, but there is also respect for what he can bring to the table as a tactician.

As Tudor repeatedly would go out of his way to point out at press conferences, De Zerbi steps into a rather unprecedented situation at Tottenham with so many key injuries and with Spurs at real threat of relegation, sitting just one points above London rivals West Ham United.

Although one key player will be coming back from injury in Mohammed Kudus and James Maddison may still be on his way back, too, Spurs could be down yet another important player when the Premier League returns in a couple of weeks with a key battle against Sunderland.

Pape Matar Sarr is injured

Center midfielder Pape Matar Sarr was held out of the match between Senegal and Gambia, with the outlet Press Afrik reporting that he had to miss the game with a shoulder injury. There is no word yet on the nature or severity of the injury, nor is there information on any expected time missed.

Now, there is sufficient time in this international break before Tottenham Hotspur face Sunderland for Sarr to recover, and he isn't a guaranteed starter for Spurs anyway. But he is strongly in the rotation for starts, as only Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall are ahead of him in the pecking order of midfield players. Though with Joao Palhinha recovered from his concussion, the blow of losing Sarr does not hurt as much, and Rodrigo Bentancur may be back relatively soon, too.

Still, Tottenham do not exactly have one of the best midfields in the Premier League, nor are they in a position where they can afford to lose any important players. Sarr works hard for the team and is a decent box to box midfielder who defends well, so a shoulder injury to the Senegal international is another tough blow to a Spurs side that already started the international break with French star left winger Mathys Tel nursing an injury.

Sarr's injury is a reminder that Tottenham have the worst luck in world football right now, and Roberto De Zerbi is going to be fighting against the odds here.

One normal day at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. That's all we ask for.

Stuck in a frightening relegation battle, the decision-makers in N17 have opted for one last huge roll of the dice. Igor Tudor's brief reign simply had to draw to a close after we were beaten so soundly by Nottingham Forest, but the direction they'd opt for next was hotly debated and ultimately unknown.

Most clubs in our current state would opt for a manager with an intimate knowledge of their surroundings; a crowd-pleaser who'd be able to reconnect supporters and playing staff through their presence alone. For Spurs, the elusive "Tottenham man" forced them down an alternate route.

Sean Dyche was reportedly considered but never seriously pursued, and it became clear before Tudor's departure was confirmed on Sunday that they were going to bring forward their next 'long-term' appointment.

Their punt on Tudor backfired drastically, but the mightily unpopular tandem of Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham have doubled. They’ve gone all in. Roberto De Zerbi is our new manager; a move that has left factions of the fanbase aghast and is more likely to divide than unite at a perilous juncture.

No relegation clause in De Zerbi contract points to commitment

I certainly understand why some supporters are so uncomfortable with De Zerbi's arrival, given the backing he offered Mason Greenwood at Marseille.

Manchester United washed their hands of the once-precocious English forward after he was arrested on suspicion of rape and assault in January 2022. Greenwood received multiple charges, including attempted rape, in October of that year, but they were subsequently dropped five months later.

His football career has since blossomed in France, with the extent to which De Zerbi backed Greenwood irking Spurs supporters. He'd be wise to address those concerns right away, at least opening the door for potential understanding and conciliation.

Besides the moral concerns, De Zerbi is known to be combustible and seldom stays in the same job for more than a couple of seasons. Think of him as Antonio Conte without the silverware.

He'd been hesitant to take the job on with seven games of the season remaining, with many suggesting, once talks started to progress positively, that De Zerbi would exit with a hefty payout in the event of our relegation.

However, BBC Sport are among those to report that no relegation get-out clause has been included in his five-year contract. They've also suggested that the Italian is committed to a long-term project in north London, even if Spurs are forced to spend 2026/27 in the second tier.

I'll have to see it to believe it, but what the aforementioned details mean is that De Zerbi is contractually obliged to stick with the club in the Championship. Perhaps it evokes conviction that there's no chance of our demise despite the current peril, or is De Zerbi merely confident that one of his tantrums will be enough for the hierarchy to cut ties?

The financial gamble here can't be understated, even if we won't have to pay out the entirety of his contract if he's only here for a few weeks, but those in charge view De Zerbi as their best chance of escaping the humiliation of a first relegation in almost 50 years, and the monetary issues that'll arise in that apocalyptic event.

Although Roberto De Zerbi was not initially interested in joining Tottenham Hotspur as their manager and preferred instead to wait until after the season ended, Spurs have seemingly been successful in getting the former Brighton and Marseille manager to change his mind simpy by throwing a ton of money at him.

De Zerbi is now willing to join Tottenham immediately to help them avoid relegation from the Premier League, even though part of the reason why he was initially uninterested in the Spurs job was because he wanted to see if the club could manage to stay up in the top flight.

Tottenham's Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange, left with very little alternative options in the short term, believe that De Zerbi is both the guy who can save them from the EFL Championship and also lead the team into the future. They are willing to spend big on De Zerbi and take themselves off the table for a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino, who is the fans' No. 1 choice to coach Spurs.

Roberto De Zerbi may not get immediate results

Well, the last time Roberto De Zerbi freshly joined a Premier League team, he took over for Brighton in late September and early October in the 2022/23 season for Graham Potter, who went to Chelsea. De Zerbi drew his first game 3-3 to Liverpool, but he did not win a single of his first five games until he battled Chelsea's Potter and beat him 4-1.

De Zebri eventually got into the swing of things and had a strong first season with the Seagulls, but it took him a handful of games to get his ideas properly implemented before the flourished. In those first five games, he only got two points, including shutout losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Thomas Frank's Brentford.

Although De Zerbi has good tactical ideas, they are not basic principles that can be implemented immediately in a squad that has struggled to maintain possession and create chances this season. He has also never been asked to turn things around at a club in trouble; this is going to be the first time De Zerbi is tasked with being a relegation specialist.

Tottenham will be paying him handsomely for his efforts, but money spent is not always proprotional to results. Spurs are missing an important point about De Zerbi's track record. Results may not be as immediate as what they want or what they are paying for, and if they go down, he could easily leave with all his earnings.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the precipice of hiring Roberto De Zerbi as their next manager to replace Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, as the latter mutually agreed to part ways with Spurs over the weekend, having just lost his father.

De Zerbi has been the No. 1 choice of upper management duo Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange, ostensibly for months. But decisively, he is not the top choice for the fans, who bristle at his record of signing players with grave allegiations of criminal activity at Marseille and know that he only ever lasts a year or two at clubs because of his volatile personality.

No, for the fans, the choice has clearly always been Mauricio Pochettino, who was willing to join Tottenham Hotspur as their manager regardless of whether or not they stayed up in the Premier League. It's just that he could not leave immediately or even help coach the team in the interim due to his duties with the United States national team.

Pochettino still backs Spurs

As Tottenham draw closer to De Zerbi, they move further away from Pochettino. And every little quote or detail about this impending hire is only making Spurs feel even more sad about the decision. Pochettino just spoke to insider Ben Jacobs at Give Me Sport about Tottenham's current relegation plight, and his words will both give fans strength and more bitterness about Lange's and Vinai's decision to roll with RDZ.

The former Tottenham manager said when asked about Spurs relegation fight and their chances of survival, “Yes, they can stay up. Of course, it’s a difficult time, but they have the capacity to win, with or without a new coach.”

Now that is the mentality Tottenham need. They need a guy like Mauricio Pochettino who loves the club and believes in the club, and even though he knows he won't be the one they hire with the task of staying up, he is still publicly and unequivocally backing them to stay up because he believes in them.

In what could be as little as hours, Tottenham Hotspur are likely to announce Roberto De Zerbi as their next manager with many transfer insiders like Fabrizio Romano reporting that Spurs are very close to reaching an agreement with the former Brighton manager.

De Zerbi had seemed to be off the table since there was a sense that he only wanted to join a club at the end of the 2025/26 season and that he would only be interested in the Tottenham job if they were able to stay up.

However, Tottenham are apparently throwing enough money at the Italian manager that they are changing his mind. Now, the high salary in and of itself is concerning, but Spurs fans were trying to reconcile how De Zerbi would suddenly be willing to coach a team at risk of relegation. Implicitly, they knew the answer would be some sort of a clause enabling De Zerbi to leave, even if he were the one who got relegated.

Roberto De Zerbi will not be loyal to Tottenham

Well, it looks like all the Tottenham Hotspur suspecting this little wrinkle were on the right track. ESPN analyst and insider Julien Laurens said on BBC Sport's Monday Night Club that he was told today that there would be a clause in Roberto De Zerbi's contract enabling him to leave Tottenham and avoid managing them in the EFL Championship if they were to go down.

Laurens said, “He’s not a Championship manager. There is no doubt in my mind, and I was told that again earlier, that there will be a clause for him to walk away. “There’s a break clause obviously if they do go down from the club’s point of view, but he would not stay in the Championship if they were to go down.”

Nothing about this quote from Laurens is surprising, but it is further confirmation for Tottenham fans apprehensive about hiring an abrasive manager with several spells less than two years at his previous stops that De Zerbi is a hired gun who does not fit the culture of the club like Mauricio Pochettino.

Whereas De Zerbi is the choice of Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange, the fans are clearly more behind a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino, who had Spurs competing for Premier League and Champions League titles before being fired under questionable circumstances. Poch would have stayed regardless of Spurs being in the Premier League or Championship, and yet De Zerbi would not have that same loyalty.

As Tottenham Hotspur close in on Roberto De Zerbi, whose appointment is coming any minute now, fans are left wondering how long it will be until they have a chance at seeing Mauricio Pochettino back in the dugout again. And the cynics in the fan base - and with this club, the cynics have usually been spot on - will say that it shouldn't be too long until De Zerbi blows it all up again.

Pochettino is the clear frontrunner in the eyes of the fans as the best manager to take over for the disaster that Thomas Frank brought to Tottenham during the 2025/26 season, which Igor Tudor was unsurprisingly able to fix in a few weeks.

But the management team of Johan Lange and Vinai Venkatesham has been bamboozled by the charismatic De Zerbi, whose intentions of winning and love for the game easily shroud a volatile attitude that is quick to turn the minute things don't go the way he wants.

Tottenham didn't even try

Pochettino, meanwhile, is a level headed, almost saintly figure whom many Tottenham Hotspur supporters feel was wronged and should have never been fired in 2019. Well, it looks like Spurs have wronged him again by choosing Roberto De Zerbi over him.

Worse yet, Mauricio Pochettino has told reporters that Tottenham have never actually reached out to him at any point in this process. He said, via The Spurs Watch, “No one has approached me, but who knows what is going to happen."

You can feel the pain behind that quote. While Pochettino obviously cannot coach Tottenham immediately and drop everything and leave the United States before the World Cup, nor can he coach both teams at the same time, it is unfathomable that Lange and Vinai would not even make an approach or discuss what having Poch back would look like.

No, they have instead only gone after De Zerbi with laser focus, not even realizing that Pochettino's worst seasons as a manager have been better than De Zerbi's best seasons. They have fallen for the empty charisma and "ideas", which, while clever, have not yielded the level of success that Poch brought as someone who literally competed for Premier League and Champions League titles.

Maybe it won't be long until Tottenham are going back for Pochettino again, but it is telling that the judge of character of Lange and Vinai was to throw a ton of money at a guy who had to be convinced to join Spurs over a guy whom the fans loved that was willing to join Spurs regardless of their status as a Premier League side in 2026/27.