Analysis: How will Spurs look under De Zerbi?

We look at the formation and tactics the new Tottenham Hotspur head coach is likely to use Following the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham Hotspur, Alex Keble looks at what the new head coach will bring to the club. Roberto De Zerbi lives and breathes the Tottenham Hotspur motto: “To dare is to do.” He is unusually expansive in his approach, taking the idea of attacking football to its extreme. Why Spurs have turned to De Zerbi There are those within the game who see De Zerbi as football’s next great innovator; as the man whose complex man-to-man pressing and unusual structure of press-baiting possession football (detailed blow) will provide the next big leap forward. After stints at Italian sides Palermo and Benevento, De Zerbi was a success at Sassuolo, taking them from 11th on his arrival to successive eighth-place finishes. He made a strong start at Shakhtar Donetsk but the war in Ukraine forced his departure before a full season in the job, at which point he took Brighton & Hove Albion to sixth in the Premier League in 2022/23 and then 11th the following season. A career high came in 2024/25 when De Zerbi’s Marseille finished runners-up in France's Ligue 1, receiving praise for an attractive, attacking style of football.How teams play under De Zerbi De Zerbi teams try to dominate possession in a 3-2-5 formation. But not like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who looked to suffocate the opposition or keep the ball away from their own goal. For De Zerbi, the aim is to manipulate the opponent, pulling them into uncomfortable positions through different ultra-detailed strategies. This includes “press-baiting”, whereby De Zerbi teams encourage the opponent to come on to them to split their lines and spin players in behind, yanking the opposing team to one flank through slow possession, before using a quick diagonal to set wide wingers away. If that sounds unwieldy or confusing, that is because it is meant to be. Suffice to say the central tenets are to hog the ball, use touchline-hugging wingers to charge at goal, and try to win possession back with aggressive man-to-man pressing. Watch: The BEST of De Zerbi-ball at BrightonAnalysing a typical example of Brighton’s football under De Zerbi on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher highlighted how Brighton went from slow possession, looking to bait Manchester United’s players to press them, to suddenly flicking the switch to move the ball more directly into the wide areas. “They try and entice the opposition on to them and then they try and play around them,” Carragher said, after Brighton dismantled Man Utd 3-1 at Old Trafford in September 2023. “So [Brighton defender] Lewis Dunk holds on to the ball and what they’ll do is – then – play that pass that cuts through them [United]… And that’s a normal way of how Brighton play”.It tends to lead to frantic and often brilliant football, to streaks of superb attacking football but also the occasional collapse. De Zerbi’s Brighton team were very good going forward, but were also leaky, the high numbers of attackers pouring forward leaving them vulnerable to counter-attacks. How De Zerbi’s teams fared Brighton (league rank) Marseille (league rank) Possession 60.9% (2nd) 63.9% (2nd) Expected Goals 122.37 (5th) 67.97 (3rd) Chances created 850 (5th) 381 (3rd) Goals conceded 110 (6th) 47 (10th) Fast breaks faced 65 (1st) 40 (=5th) Direct attacks leading to goals against 13 (1st) 8 (1st) It’s worth breaking down what that table shows. Brighton and Marseille were top five on attacking metrics – but both clubs conceded more goals from direct attacks than any other club in their respective divisions, while Brighton conceded the most fast breaks overall. For a perfect example of how this kind of thing plays out, just look at De Zerbi’s first game at Brighton, a frantic 3-3 draw at Liverpool. Highlights: Liverpool 3-3 Brighton, 2022/23Which Spurs players may benefit most? Players like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall could come to the fore, given that the sheer positional complexity of De Zerbi’s assertive football requires elastic, technical, and smart midfielders to pull the strings. At Brighton he had Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo to dictate things, although Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was paired alongside Adrien Rabiot at Marseille last season, suggesting De Zerbi may look to feature a hard tackler (like Joao Palhinha) alongside a more elegant player like Bergvall. Djed Spence should be very useful to shuttle from full-back into central defence when Spurs move to a 3-2-5 in possession; Pedro Porro has experience inverting into midfield as De Zerbi prefers; Xavi Simons is the silky No 10 that De Zerbi teams need; and the manager will appreciate the aggression of Cristian Romero and Richarlison. However, identifying at Spurs the direct one-on-one dribblers who are essential to the De Zerbi system is more difficult, although Mohammed Kudus’ imminent return from injury is good news. How Spurs could line-up against SunderlandDe Zerbi’s expansive football is a big shift from what came before, yet he does not have much time to implement his ideas.Only once before has De Zerbi taken a job without a summer to prepare, at Brighton, where he replaced Graham Potter in September 2022 after four wins from their first six Premier League games of the campaign. De Zerbi took time to introduce his successful way of playing, not winning his first five matches. But De Zerbi’s style might be familiar to the Spurs players who featured under Ange Postecoglou in his early days of 2023. Possession, an expansive shape, attacking with gusto down the wings, and pressing hard with a high line: those are the De Zerbi traits - and the traits of Postecoglou, who won eight of his first ten Premier League games in charge.