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Tottenham were trying to become the first English team to win a European trophy, and Bill Nicholson was finding it difficult to be too positive in the dressing room because his team were going to play in the final without Dave Mackay.

The midfield warrior who many suspected to be the manager's favourite was injured and Nicholson's pre-match team talk was cautious, littered with warnings about Atletico Madrid players who posed a threat and must be stopped.

Once the boss had disappeared though, Spurs captain Danny Blanchflower took it upon himself to set about his teammates and gee them up again, reminding them there was no reason to worry when they had Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Smith up front, Cliff Jones and Terry Dyson on the wings and John White in midfield.

Spurs went out and won 5-1, and clinched their place in history and Blanchflower, who had played in the final despite injury, lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup in Rotterdam, the last major trophy of his glittering career.

Now, as they flirt with relegation, so desperately short of on-field leadership, it is tempting to wonder what their greatest captain would have made of it all. These may be very different footballing times, but Richard Blanchflower suspects his father would have made a beeline for those at the top.

'He'd have reflected on the owners and the board members,' says Richard, who has written a foreword to a new biography about his father. 'He wasn't one to mince his words with that sort of thing which is why they feared him and didn't want to make him the manager.'

When Nicholson stepped down in 1974, his desire for Blanchflower to take over was ignored by the board. By this time, the former Spurs and Northern Ireland captain had not played for 10 years and was forging a career in the media where he enhanced a reputation for speaking his mind.

Once, commentating live on a game in the United States, he declared that 'neither of these teams can play'. His producer whispered urgently into his earpiece, 'Danny, you've got to be more positive'. Blanchflower paused and then told his audience, 'I'm positive neither of these teams can play'.

For Richard, it is one of his favourite stories about his father, who died in 1993 at the age of 67. It captures his honesty. 'He couldn't sit there and say it was a good game if it wasn't,' says Richard. It also illustrates his waspish sense of humour and complete disregard for convention.

Blanchflower was first to reject the TV hit 'This is Your Life' in 1961, when at the peak of his fame as captain of the Double winners. He considered the show to be at best cringingly sentimental and at worst an invasion of privacy.

As a quick-thinking, ball-playing, tempo-setting midfielder, he was the brain of the team for club and country.

Off the pitch, he was opinionated and always open to potential for change and innovations to improve the game. He wanted to amend the offside rule, making it applicable only in the final 18 yards of the pitch, with a line extended across the pitch from the edge of the penalty area.

He claimed to have invented the defensive wall, albeit with a gap in the centre through which the goalkeeper could see the ball. Richard is certain, however, that his father would not have looked favourably on the advance of VAR. 'He would have ridiculed it,' he says without hesitation.

Blanchflower devised set-piece routines from throw ins, with simple signals for teammates hidden in the way he held the ball. If it was in his right hand, he was throwing it to his right. In his left hand, throwing to his left. In two hands, he was throwing straight.

He also came up with the idea of passing a penalty kick rather than shooting and gave it a try, when Jimmy McIlroy played a short pass his way from the spot during Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Portugal in 1957, years before Johan Cruyff did it while playing for Ajax.

Blanchflower would accompany Northern Ireland boss Peter Doherty on scouting missions and Nicholson was always prepared to listen to his views and applauded his influence even while omitting him from his all-time Spurs XI.

'I always say Bill cheated,' says Richard. 'When he named his best-ever Spurs side he had Ron Burgess, captain of the Spurs 'push and run' side which won the league in 1951 and which Nicholson played in, and Mackay in midfield. He cheated because he said Danny will skipper the reserves and they'll probably beat us.'

Blanchflower was twice voted FWA Footballer of the Year. First, in 1958 when he led Northern Ireland to the World Cup quarter finals and again in 1961 after the Double.

Perhaps his most famous words still echo through Spurs with his quote about glory.

'The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning,' said Blanchflower. 'It's nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.'

This used to crackle out over the speakers at White Hart Lane before the teams came out but not any longer, and the club has seemed unsure in recent years whether to embrace this as its raison d'etre or keep it at arm's length to be eyed suspiciously.

Still, for all he achieved, Blanchflower's standing as a true legend of British football in the 20th Century is easily forgotten.

Perhaps partly because he was Northern Irish not English. Or because his managerial career never really got going as expected to extend his legacy. Or because he passed away in his '60s, halfway through the first season of the Premier League era, having lived his final years with dementia.

His image certainly does not jump out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium despite him being central to their finest era and the last time Spurs were champions. Unusually, it is a modern venue without statues because former chairman Daniel Levy, who oversaw the stadium design, was never one for putting heroes of the past onto pedestals.

Richard, a season ticket holder at N17, understands. 'If you start there, where do you end?' he says. 'Jimmy Greaves was my favourite player, and Glenn Hoddle was magnificent. So many of the players we've had over the years have been terrific. Dave Mackay would have a good claim, and Bill Nicholson is the obvious one, having won the league as a player and then manager.'

Perhaps the new book published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Blanchflower's birth will help preserve a legend.

'Danny Blanchflower: A Glorious Life' by Mike Donovan with forewords by Pat Jennings and Richard Blanchflower is on sale now published by Pitch.

Andre Villas-Boas believes eight years of conflicting ideas on the touchline is the biggest reason that Tottenham Hotspur are now staring relegation from the Premier League in the face.

The 48-year-old was manager of Tottenham 13 years ago at a time when they were regularly challenging to qualify for the Champions League - and he even went on to set a club-record points tally during his spell in charge.

Since his departure in December 2013, the north London side have chopped and changed managers - Roberto De Zerbi is the ninth permanent hire since then - and while shocked at Spurs’ demise, Villas Boas concedes that too many poor decisions have finally caught up with them.

‘It's a real shock,’ he told Daily Mail Sport. ‘In eight years, you have totally different methods, totally different ways of thinking, totally different ways of implementing philosophies and probably this has led to the instability right now, which adds to the pressure of being in the relegation zone.

‘That pressure is second to none.

‘There are clubs and players that have experience in being in those places that can save themselves all the time.

‘But there are other ones like Tottenham which can find it difficult. It's really, really hard to see.’

Villas-Boas fully understands the complexities that come with entering a club wracked with instability and uncertainty over the future.

When he was elected as president of Porto, the club were in a particularly difficult moment financially and sticking to a plan that they believed in was key. They are now top of the Portuguese league, in the semi-final of the domestic cup and face Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night.

For Tottenham, the lack of foresight to stick to a plan has been their undoing.

‘Eight managers in five years doesn't help because all of them are very, very different to one another, different methods, different way of selecting players, so this leads to instability as well,’ Villas-Boas, speaking in his capacity as a Laureus Ambassador ahead of next week’s awards in Madrid, added.

‘What we have done at Porto, for example, when we found instability in the first year, we found stability right now in this year.

‘We opted to renew our manager. Not only because of the results, but because of the relationship he has with the structure.

‘Structure meaning scouting teams and youth-level teams in the way he promotes youth players coming through as well. So we believe in the stability going into the future.

‘With Tottenham, you probably never had that in any of the cases because there is the pressure of results.

‘But they have changed managers, they have changed the leading structures, they have changed also sports directors as well, from (Franco) Baldini to (Fabio) Paratici to the current sports director (Johan Lange).’

Asked if Roberto De Zerbi, a man who is in firefighting mode after losing his first game in charge away to Sunderland while their relegation rivals picked up crucial points, can finally set Spurs on a path to prosperity, Villas-Boas remained bullish.

‘De Zerbi has to deliver results,’ he concluded.

‘It’s a long term contract anyway, so probably they have found out that those things that I mentioned here (about instability of ideas), De Zerbi will be able to deliver to them.

‘And if eventually they go down, they can come back up because they have the infrastructure and the quality of the players and the resources to do it.’

Cristian Romero has been criticised by former England goalkeeper Ben Foster after he left the pitch in tears during Tottenham's catastrophic 1-0 defeat against Sunderland.

The Argentine defender, 27, hobbled off the pitch midway through the second half with a suspected knee injury after colliding with his own goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

The defeat left Spurs in the relegation zone with six games remaining, after West Ham's emphatic 4–0 win over Wolves on Friday night.

Roberto De Zerbi, who was appointed last week after Tottenham sacked interim boss Igor Tudor following a dismal run of form, will now be concerned about the possibility of losing his most experienced defender for the rest of the season, ahead of MRI scans on Monday.

Foster, who played for the likes of Manchester United, West Brom and Watford during his playing career, has questioned whether Romero's tears sent the wrong message to his team-mates, with Spurs already 1-0 behind after Nordi Mukiele's deflected goal fired Sunderland in front on the hour mark.

'Romero's probably the one player who has got a bit of character in that team, a bit of grit and determination,' the former Premier League goalkeeper said on Match of the Day.

'If I was one of his team-mates there, I want him to be walking off the pitch grabbing everybody, getting everybody firing.

'They've still got 25 minutes there until full-time. But the tears, I feel, send the wrong message. As a captain you shouldn't be doing that.'

The threat of relegation has tightened on Tottenham following Sunday's poor defeat, which spans a run of 14 matches without a win for the north London side.

Still winless in 2026, De Zerbi's side are now two points adrift of safety with just six games to go.

The Italian takes on his old side Brighton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend before Spurs travel to bottom side Wolves at the end of April.

The struggling club then take on Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton to round out the season.

After Sunday's defeat, Romero's centre-half partner Micky van de Ven told Sky Sports: 'Every manager has their own opinion of the game and Roberto wants us to play out more from the back. That's what he asked.

'He wants us to play with confidence and that is what we need to build but we don't have a long time left. We need to do it now. You don't want to look at the other results and just need to win. You can't say you don't look at the other team.

'Six games left to get as many points as possible. There is pressure now as we are in the relegation zone but we need to make sure we get out of this situation.'

Roberto De Zerbi fears Tottenham are struggling to halt their slide because players are haunted by the spectre of relegation.

Spurs were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland in De Zerbi’s first game in charge, a result which leaves them in the Premier League’s relegation zone with six games to play.

They have not won for 14 league games and De Zerbi nodded in agreement when asked if the fear of relegation was inhibiting his players.

'Yes, I think so,' he said. 'The players are all good guys and suffering for this moment. They are not happy when they lose. They are not happy to see Tottenham at the bottom of the table.

'During the week they play better because their heads are more clear, during the game it is different for sure.

'I know them as people and players and because of that, I am positive. We will not win the game just because we are Tottenham. You cannot win the game on paper. You need to win by fighting on the pitch. You need to score a goal.

'They are human, and they are suffering maybe too much and altogether we have to stay close, to be positive, to work, to improve in the details in the football, but to be better in the mentality.

'My job is to help them. We have quality to win one game and that is the target now, because one win and we can see everything is different.'

Nordi Mukiele scored Sunderland’s goal with the help of a deflection from Micky van de Ven. Spurs lost captain Cristian Romero, who left the pitch in tears after he was injured in a collision with his own goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

De Zerbi thought it was a knee injury but refused to elaborate. A report from Romero's native Argentina suggested that he has some instability in his knee and that physios would test for a medial collateral ligament injury.

'Maybe yes knee but I don’t want to say nothing until we know more,' said the Spurs boss. 'We have to see in the next days. I hope for us not important problem because he is a crucial player. A good guy, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season.'

Whether or not Roberto De Zerbi required a brief example of the self-destructive tendencies that have plunged Tottenham into relegation peril he got one.

First the goal scored by Sunderland. It started with Nordi Mukiele collecting the ball on the right, advancing on an angled run towards goal, meeting with very little resistance and opting to have a swing from distance with his left foot.

Mukiele’s effort clipped Micky van de Ven to leave goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky marooned in mid dive to his left as the ball spun and looped into the other side of the goal.

Then, the next Sunderland attack ended with Kinsky involved in a high-speed collision with Cristian Romero which forced the Spurs captain off injured and he was in floods of tears as he trudged down the tunnel.

The goalkeeper soldiered on with a bandaged head, a heroic effort considering the ignominy of his previous appearance, and yet unable to do anything about the result. Spurs seldom looked likely to fight their way back into it once behind. Just one of their plentiful worrying traits.

Another defeat and with six to play, De Zerbi’s team are now cut adrift in the relegation zone, two points behind West Ham. Now winless in 14 Premier League games, a dismal run stretching back to December.

In case they were unsure, the Sunderland choir serenaded them through the last knockings of 11 minutes of added time. “You’re going down, you’re going down,” they sang. So much for another fresh start.

If there was a positive to take it was that Kinsky had coped well with his test of character. He was solid in the first half from composed early touches on the ball to a strong save to block a shot by Brian Brobbey just before half time.

Spurs went straight back to the goalkeeper from kick-off, which might have been designed to soothe any nerves on his first appearance since the debacle at Atletico Madrid, when he was replaced after only 17 minutes having made two costly mistakes with the ball at his feet and his team trailing 3-0.

Here, his first touches were to control the ball and launch it long towards Richarlison on the left. The long diagonal towards Richarlison on the left wing had been a feature towards the end of the second season under Ange Postecoglou.

Although, this is not what most had in mind when De Zerbi claimed he wanted to bring back the thrill of Ange Ball.

Spurs made a fluent opening and the game’s first saves were made at the other end by Robin Roefs, back after a month out, to deny Pedro Porro and Richarlison, but Sunderland soon assumed control of the first half.

The home team could be forgiven if they had put their feet up. Safe in mid-table having completed a double over Newcastle there is little left for them to achieve in their first season back in the Premier League, but they dominated the first half.

Granit Xhaka and Noah Sidiki controlled the ebb and flow of possession (strength and experience?) against a Spurs midfield with Archie Gray and Conor Gallagher deep and Lucas Bergvall advanced in the No 10 role.

This was the most interesting part of De Zerbi’s first team selection, featuring five changes from the last team picked by interim boss Igor Tudor, against Nottingham Forest.

This back four is the first choice back four with Destiny Udogie fit again, and with all of the natural wingers injured De Zerbi went with three established forwards. Balancing the two ends of the team has been the problem all season.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs 6.5; Mukiele 7 (Hume 82), O’Nien 7, Alderete 7.5, Reinildo 6.5; Xhaka 8, Sadiki 7.5; Diarra 6.5, Rigg 6 (Talbi 82), Le Fee 6; Brobbey 7.5 (Isidor 90+8).

Subs not used: Ellborg, Geertruida, Cirkin, J Jones, H Jones, Mayenda, Isidor

Goal: Mukiele 61

Booked: Brobbey, Rigg, Hume

Manager: Regis Le Bris 6.5

Spurs (4-2-3-1): Kinsky 7; Porro 5.5, Romero 6 (Danso 70, 6), Van de Ven 6, Udogie 6; Gray 5 (Palhinha 62, 6), Gallagher 5 (Simons 85); Kolo Muani 5.5, Bergvall 5 (Sarr 62, 5), Richarlison 5 (Tel 62, 6); Solanke 5.

Subs not used: Austin, Dragusin, Bissouma, Spence

Bookings: Romero, Van de Ven, Porro

Manager: Roberto De Zerbi 5.5

Ref: Rob Jones 5

Att: 47,010

When they erred towards protecting the defence and they lost cohesion going forward. When they packed in the technical quality, they often lack physical presence in the centre of the pitch and are vulnerable at the back.

As they were at times here. De Zerbi had substitutes ready to come on when his team conceded in the 61st minute and made three changes before the restart, with Joao Palhinha and Pape Matar Sarr sent on to bolster the midfield.

Brobbey posed a threat throughout. The Spurs starting centre halves were booked for fouls on him before half time, and Sunderland’s Dutch centre forward picked up a yellow card in comical fashion as he held off Porro while protecting the ball.

Porro flung himself onto the floor like a child claiming he had taken an arm in the face. It wasn’t the only wrong decision of the day by referee Rob Jones.

He also awarded Spurs a penalty midway through the first half for a foul by Luke O’Nien on Randal Kolo Muani which was overturned after a VAR intervention. O’Nien was rash to slide in but clearly took the ball as Kolo Muani jostled with Omar Alderete.

Spurs were bright again at the start of the second half. Richarlison flickered and the contest more even until they were rocked by the cruel misfortune of the deflected goal, quickly followed by the collision between Kinsky and Romero.

Kevin Danso came on for his captain but Sunderland managed the game out well to move onto 46 points. Spurs wallow on 30 and next for De Zerbi, a reunion with Brighton on Saturday.

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In what could prove to be one of the most pivotal league fixtures of the season for Tottenham Hotspur, the relegation-threatened side travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland.

With points now at a premium, the stakes could hardly be higher for Spurs. Adding further intrigue, the match marks Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the north London club.

Will it herald the beginning of a successful new era, or simply more heartbreak under fresh leadership? Only time will tell.

De Zerbi's first game as Spurs manager is expected to end in defeat when looking at the betting lines, with the visitors priced as 8/5 favourites according to Sky Bet.

Conversely, hosts Sunderland are marginal outsiders at 13/8, while a draw is valued at 11/5 odds.

It is worth noting that both of these sides had to settle for a point in the reverse fixture, with 1-1 the result in north London.

In addition to the head-to-head odds outlined above, read on as we take a look at the Goalscorers market on offer with Sky Bet.

At the time of writing, Sunderland's Wilson Isidor is the shortest-priced in the market, with the forward 7/4 to score anytime and 5/1 to score first.

Meanwhile, Isidor's teammate Brian Brobbey is second-favourite, with him priced at 2/1 to score anytime and 6/1 to bag the opener.

Brobbey has netted six goals for Sunderland this season, including in the reverse fixture.

Finally, for those anticipating Tottenham to get on the scoresheet first, Spurs' Richarlison is the best-backed for the visitors at 6/1. He is also 9/4 to score anytime.

Richarlison is Tottenham's top goalscorer in the Premier League this season with nine goals.

Roberto De Zerbi will set Conor Gallagher the challenge of recapturing his prime Chelsea form to help Tottenham clear of relegation.

Gallagher’s career has lost its way since he left Stamford Bridge two years ago and his £55million move to Spurs from Atletico Madrid in January has not gone to plan for either the club or the England midfielder.

The 26-year-old hoped his return to London would enhance his World Cup ambitions but arrived with Spurs descending deeper into crisis, made little impact in his early appearances and was dropped by interim boss Igor Tudor.

His last England appearance was in June when he collected his 22nd cap in a defeat in a friendly against Senegal.

'For Gallagher it has not been easy,' said new boss De Zerbi, who made it a priority to restore the battered morale of the squad he inherited from Tudor.

'He left Chelsea after I don’t know how many seasons, went to Atletico Madrid, and now in Tottenham, in this moment for Tottenham.

'He was a leader in Chelsea, and now he has to adapt to a new club, to new teammates, to a new stadium, to a new everything. I have to help him to put as a target the Gallagher he was at Chelsea.'

De Zerbi was in charge at Brighton when they tried and failed to sign Gallagher from Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

They had sold midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister and he was seen as a good fit for the high-energy style De Zerbi will now try to impose on Spurs.

The 46-year-old Italian believes there are players already in the squad to fit his style of play.

They include Gallagher and others such as Xavi Simons, another £55m investment, who signed from Leipzig in August but has rarely been played to his strengths under Thomas Frank or Tudor.

'The DNA of these players, of this club, is to keep the ball and to try to score,' said De Zerbi ahead of his first game as Spurs boss, at Sunderland, tomorrow.

Spurs, plunged into the relegation zone by West Ham’s win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, are still leading race for Liverpool left back Andy Robertson who has confirmed he will leave Anfield when his contract expires at the end of the season.

They were close to signing 32-year-old Robertson in January when Frank was Spurs boss and keen to add experience and leadership to the dressing room.

The deal fell through because Liverpool suffered injuries and were unable to find replacements.

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Compared to the frenzy of his last game on the touchline, a 5-0 thrashing with Marseille at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc des Princes, Tottenham’s training ground must have seemed like a sea of tranquility for Roberto De Zerbi.

Not only its high-security fences, trim manicured lines and tasteful borders, but 10 days of peace to find his bearings, get to know key personnel as his players filtered back from international duty.

Then came the meetings. 'A lot of meetings,' said De Zerbi, who has met individually with all his players in his office as well as holding team meetings between training sessions as he tried to quickly instil his key messages into his new squad. 'Just football,' he explained. 'Just meeting the players, organising, transferring and finding the best way to transfer my ideas. Two or three. Not too many ideas that I want to see on the pitch on Sunday.'

De Zerbi is 10 days into the job and yet to play a game, a factor he referenced yesterday in his first press conference when asked why he accepted the job this time and not in February when he left Marseille on the same day Spurs sacked Thomas Frank.

'For me it was important to have time,' said De Zerbi. 'Not too much time but 10 days, more than one week and I thought it could be important to understand the problems.'

Much has been made of his five-year contract, understood to come with a £12million annual salary, and his power to influence recruitment targets but the 46-year-old Italian insists he is not in north London for the money. 'You can find the right answer in my history, because I left a lot of money in my life,' said De Zerbi. 'The money never changed my focus on my work.'

Ten days gave him time but De Zerbi, a self-confessed football obsessive who is living in the Lodge, the on-site accommodation at the training ground, enabling him to work long hours, has been careful to limit the instructions he has passed on.

All the players were back last Friday apart from Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro who had been given an extra two days off by interim boss Igor Tudor, a privilege honoured by De Zerbi. With Romero and Porro back on Monday, De Zerbi’s early focus has been on confidence.

He wants his players to display courage on the ball, keep possession and play in an attacking style. He spoke about recapturing the attacking flair Spurs had in their first season under Ange Postecoglou, and believes they still have a squad to play in this style.

His first fight, however, is to stay up. To do this he needs to squeeze everything from the players available. So, his messages both in public and private have been to remind players of their talent.

Some needed building up again after the psychological rigours of this season under a barrage of criticism having failed to win a Premier League game in the first 100 days of 2026. Although De Zerbi claimed to be pleasantly surprised by the spirit inside the camp and detected clear improvements after his first week in charge.

'They are working very, very well,' he added. 'It’s not normal after we didn’t win too many games in 2025 and we haven’t won any game so far in 2026 so you imagine the atmosphere inside the dressing room or the training ground, but it's not like this. I saw players with energy, with passion when we were in the meetings speaking about football, about the two or three principles. They came with the right focus, so I’m positive for that.'

Tottenham’s senior stars have been in the front line for criticism and De Zerbi made a point of hailing his captain Romero and his central defensive partner Micky van de Ven, both of whom have been heavily linked with summer moves away, as ‘crucial’ to his plans.

He called Xavi Simons ‘a big talent’ and applauded the ‘attitude’ and versatility of Richarlison. He purred about the prospect of reviving Randal Kolo Muani to his pre-Spurs levels and how he had tried to sign Mathys Tel when he was at Marseille.

While at Brighton, De Zerbi was keen to sign both Conor Gallagher and Mohamed Kudus, although Kudus now faces an extended absence after suffering a setback in training and might not play again this season.

Training sessions have been slightly longer than they were under Frank or Tudor but always with the ball and limited to one per day. There were no double sessions with everyone aware of the cumulative physical strain at this stage of the season.

They were given a day off on Wednesday when De Zerbi had an English lesson to boost his linguistics before he faced the live cameras yesterday and called in at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to meet those working on site.

He made it clear at Brighton that his coaching principles came second to his principles of life, and that treating people with respect and making human connections was vital if he expected them to listen to his tactical advice.

Most coaches would say the same. It is about communicating. Early feedback filtering out of his training sessions from the players has been positive.

De Zerbi is a vocal coach who likes to be on the grass at the heart of training sessions, which is just as well because he will start with a streamlined coaching staff and only two or the seven who worked with him at Brighton and then Marseille. Perhaps there will be scope for this to evolve if relegation is avoided.

The true test of another new era and his attempts to restore confidence however comes on the pitch in the heat of battle. Spurs have gone under when things have gone against them in recent times.

Under Tudor, they collapsed after the red card for Van de Ven at home against Crystal Palace. And against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of a last-16 Champions League tie, when beset by defensive errors, two made by stand-in goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and one by Van de Ven to go three down inside quarter of an hour.

The young Czech was substituted after 17 minutes in Madrid’s Metropolitano but Guglielmo Vicario had hernia surgery during the international break and Kinsky looks set for a recall at Sunderland.

'I have confidence,' said De Zerbi when asked if he had spoken to Kinsky about Madrid. 'He has to be strong, but he is strong enough to show what he can do. Not more, not less. His qualities are enough to play at Tottenham. The other players believe in him. He has to stay calm and confident. He is playing at Tottenham, so has to be stronger than the mistakes, and to move on.'

Nobody will face a greater test of their character inside the Stadium of Light. And yet they will all come under scrutiny, including De Zerbi as he promises to take Spurs back to the top.

He is renowned for his volatility, and the serious business for him starts in Sunderland. Not in the sea of tranquility near Enfield.

Roberto De Zerbi has promised to restore Tottenham’s pride, to stay for years, to take them to the top - and to thrill fans with the sort of football they played under Ange Postecoglou.

De Zerbi, whose first game as Spurs boss will be at Sunderland on Sunday, has signed a five-year contract without a relegation escape clause.

'In my plan for sure there is the idea to stay for a long time,' said the 46-year-old Italian as he field questions for the first time in his new role.

'To try to put Tottenham - and I’m not speaking about the titles because it’s not the right moment now - but to put Tottenham to stay in the first position in the Premier League because everything is here to reach that level.'

De Zerbi wants to play attacking football and believes the players are available to do that successfully.

'I want to keep the ball,' he said. 'I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou. In my second season in Brighton, there was Postecoglou here with a lot of these players and it was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play.

'With Pedro Porro, with Destiny Udogie, with Micky van de Ven, with Cristian Romero, with this squad, and I would like to see it again.

'The DNA of this club, of this squad is to find the goal, to score!'

The most urgent priority for Spurs however is to escape relegation. They are winless in 13 Premier League games, a dismal run stretching back to December and are onto their third boss of the season after sacking Thomas Frank in February and Igor Tudor six weeks later.

'I do not think I am better than Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor, because I consider them very good coaches,' said De Zerbi. 'I try to bring my style, myself, my character, my personality, my passion, to help the players first to show their qualities, because they have a lot of qualities.

'And then to achieve our target, because the most important part now is our target. Now I have to work. Now we have to make points.'