Difficult and demanding: Is De Zerbi right for Tottenham?

Interviewing Roberto De Zerbi was always a tricky challenge. The 44-year-old ex-Brighton and Marseille boss is a man who believes in himself and his style and he comes across as arrogant and difficult and he almost looks down on everyone as he sees himself on a higher plane. He can also be explosive, tends to […]

Interviewing Roberto De Zerbi was always a tricky challenge. The 44-year-old ex-Brighton and Marseille boss is a man who believes in himself and his style and he comes across as arrogant and difficult and he almost looks down on everyone as he sees himself on a higher plane. He can also be explosive, tends to display anger, and is often downright impossible to deal with. That is why he fell out with the Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, who is, more than anyone else, responsible for the club’s rise into the elite ranks of the Premier League. De Zerbi wanted more money and a bigger squad, and the chairman disagreed.

Is De Zerbi the right man to save Tottenham from relegation? He said he would only take the job if he believed he could turn things round. At first, he said he would not take over for the remaining games and would only join if the club avoided relegation. He has no desire to work in the lower Championship league.

The bigger question is whether he could take Tottenham’s talented group of players and train them in seven matches to play to his tactics, his methods and would he be able to make them a team difficult to beat and return them to the glory days of Kane and Son?

De Zerbi believes in himself and he also realises that managing Tottenham in their £1billion new stadium is a golden opportunity for him but he does not want to damage his reputation.

 

Cole Palmer wants return to north of England

The rumours surrounding a Cole Palmer exit from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge at the end of the season are getting stronger.

I understand he has become increasingly disillusioned with life at the Bridge and it has affected his form.

Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Real Madrid are all interested in the playmaker and at Madrid, they are still searching to replace their attacking midfield duo of Luka Modric and Tony Kroos, who were for so long the beating heart of the squad.

Palmer is not happy with Liam Rosenior’s tactics, which he thinks is denying him space on the pitch. He also misses playing with Nicolas Jackson, who is on loan to Bayern Munich, and together they provided 14 assists last season. He was loaned out after Chelsea signed Joao Pedro and Liam Delap for the current campaign.

23-year-old Palmer has also been fighting with injury problems this season with his groin and toe.

Palmer is worried that the Blues are at serious risk of missing out on a Champions League place as they currently sit in 6th place behind Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Chelsea considers Palmer to be one of their ‘untouchables’ and his contract runs until 2033, but as is so often the case, contracts can be broken.

 

Bruno Fernandes will only stay at United if…

It would seem that Manchester United have to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League next season if they want to hang on to their captain, Bruno Fernandes.

The Portuguese playmaker has 16 Premier League assists already this season, and if he makes another five in the final seven games, he will break the record held by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. He is in contention for Player of the Year and will appear in the World Cup with Portugal this summer.

Saudi Pro League clubs are once again preparing to move in with an offer after failing to sign him last summer despite offering a staggering £100million and wages of £35million per year. It was only after long discussions with his family that Bruno rejected the offers. United did not deny that they wanted him to leave because that kind of income would help rebuild the team squad.

Some of my sources inside the club believe that with Michael Carrick doing a superb job turning United around this season it has influenced Bruno to stay well into his thirties.

 

Zirkzee looking to return to Italy

Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee has told his agent Kia Joorabchian to contact European clubs after requesting a move at the end of this season.

Zirkzee was a product of Bayern Munich’s academy and caught the eye of United when he reached double goal figures in 2023/4 playing in the Italian league with Bologna. He was signed in 2024 for £36.5m when Erik ten Hag was in charge. 

The Dutch international has not been a success at Old Trafford scoring only five Premier League goals over the past two seasons. He was linked with Roma and could have moved last summer and again in January, but decided to stay and fight for his place when Rasmus Hojlund left the club.

Ruben Amorim was not a fan of Zirkzee, and he enjoyed little playing time. He was selected only when Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko were both injured in November and December. Since Michael Carrick took over as interim manager, he has not selected Zirkzee to start even one game.

Roma say they are still interested, but Serie A rivals Juventus are also keeping a watch on how things progress. 

I understand that United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is willing to take a hit financially and has suggested a price of only £20m.

 

Brentford fans believe they can play in Europe

The proud Brentford supporters’ chant of “We are only a bus stop in Hounslow” (Hounslow is a London suburb and home to the club) dates back to a win by Queens Park Rangers in 2021, and their fans mocked the Bees by shouting the insult after beating them in a rival derby match. Since then, Brentford have risen to the Premier League whilst Queens Park Rangers have fallen behind. Now the Bees fans have adopted the words as their official chant.

Those same Bees fans are hoping that their bus stop in London’s Hounslow will lead them on a path to Europe, where this humble little club could take on the might of Real Madrid, Bayern, PSG or Barcelona.

Brentford have a crucial part to play in the final Premier League run-up to see who plays in Europe next season. Five of their seven remaining games are very important to several clubs seeking European glory. However, when you speak to anyone connected with the club, it is obvious that the only thing on Brentford’s mind is being up there with the elite.

Coach Keith Andrews was not given much of a chance of success when he took over from Thomas Frank, who made his disastrous move to Tottenham and was fired. But Andrews has not only matched Frank’s success at Brentford but has taken the club to new heights. If his team beats Everton on April 11, they will be level on points with Liverpool and ahead of both Everton and their west London rivals Chelsea. Liverpool will have a fight on their hands away to Fulham on the same day and Chelsea host Manchester City on Sunday.

The Bees returned to Premier League status in 2021 after 74 years and just over ten years before that, they were in league two and have never played in Europe. In 2024, Andrews was the club’s set piece coach, and Brentford is his first managerial appointment, which demonstrates how clever this likeable west London club is.

­Yoanne Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo scored 39 of Brentford’s 66 goals last season, and along with goalkeeper Mark Flekken and club captain Christian Noorgard they moved out in June last year. Brentford, as usual, studied their research data and came up with such gems as Igor Thiago and the Brazilian has turned into a goal machine.

Keith Andrews is in the running for manager of the season and the Bees’ fans are looking towards Europe. It is a fairy tale come true.

 

The big question is, do the Gunners need Tonali?

Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali has been heavily linked with Arsenal, but many people, both inside and outside the club are asking why they would want him?

Tonali would have become a Gunner’s player in January when the club tried to sign him after Mikel Merino was injured and faced some time on the sidelines. However, Newcastle fought to keep their star midfielder, and the deal fell through.

Now Arsenal are again lining up a strong case to sign him.

The question is: When you have Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi why would the club need Tonali when his playing style is similar to Declan’s?

He has a good pass ratio, a strong shot for goal and works with boundless energy but so does Rice. Admittedly, he has improved dramatically under Eddie Howe and has enjoyed two good seasons, which have seen his value rise to over £100million.

 

Saka lacking service

Arsenal have come in for more criticism this week, with the club being accused of not playing to the strengths of Bukayo Saka. The highly talented winger’s form has dropped off considerably this season, and he has attributed to only nine goals, which is well below his performance levels of the previous four years.

During Arsenal’s Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City, Saka was hardly in the game. The finger of blame has been pointed at Mikel Arteta, who is criticised for not working strongly enough with his defence to start attacking moves and they are starving Saka of the ball. Ben White or Jurrien Timber should be moving the ball up to Martin Zubimendi, who in turn should set Saka running up the wing to allow him to take on defenders and either go for goal or pass inside to Viktor Gyokeres. But it isn’t happening this season, and like Mo Salah at Liverpool, Saka isn’t receiving the service he deserves.

 

Rashford’s future in the balance

Marcus Rashford has enjoyed a successful season at Barcelona and the England manager Thomas Tuchel has spoken of his belief in the man he believes still has plenty to offer at only 28 years of age.

Barcelona have the option to purchase Marcus for £26million but I have heard the Catalan club want to negotiate a lower price due to financial problems. After I investigated this I was informed that United would not take a lower offer. That could open up the opportunity for several other Premier League clubs to join in the bidding. The other possibility is Marcus returning to Old Trafford now that Michael Carrick has turned the club around and is in the running to take over at the end of the season. He likes Marcus, and they get on well; however, much has happened over the last two years between the club and the player, and a move back would not be welcomed by everyone. If the Barca deal falls through, Marcus will definitely return to Manchester for a while because he is still their registered player, but how long he stays depends on what bids are received.

 

Fans say no to VAR

A new survey by the FSA (Football Supporters’ Association) shows that 75% of fans do not want VAR in the Premier League.

Unfortunately, after years of investment football’s governing bodies, club directors of the top-flight clubs do want to keep VAR even if the match officials call wrong decisions on the spur of the moment.

Why ask fans, do officials sitting sometimes a hundred miles away tucked in a small studio, get to judge what is right or wrong? They are often accused of taking too much playing time to reach decisions and coming up with incorrect verdicts, which horrify coaches and players. The fact is that one wrong decision could cost a club hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Football’s ruling body IFAB (The International FA Board) have commissioned a two-year review of VAR, which will highlight the failure problems after seven years of using the system.

UEFA has announced that after the World Cup, they will meet with the top European leagues in order to find ways of improvement.

Wolverhampton Wanderers tabled a motion in 2024 to scrap VAR and were outvoted by 15 Premier League club boards of directors.

Only last month, a masked fan watching a Bundesliga 2 match in Germany jumped a fence and pulled the plug out of the television monitor when the referee was asked to review a penalty decision. At the same time, a banner was lifted in the crowd which read “Pull the plug on VAR”…the fans have spoken.

 

Sean Dyche the joker

I often like to finish with a humorous item to make you laugh. Sean Dyche says he told Tottenham he was not interested in taking over as interim coach after Igor Tudor’s departure.

54 year-old Dyche was sitting in a London pub and a man came over and said to him, “You are meant to be in talks with Spurs tonight aren’t you?”

Dyche replied with a smile on his face, “I’m sat next to you having a Guinness so it’s unlikely…unless you work for Spurs!”