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| Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi ahead of the Premier League match at the Stamford Bridge, London. Picture date: Tuesday May 19, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Mike Egerton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, |
Spurs will be safe if they can avoid defeat against Everton on final day
Roberto De Zerbi has reaffirmed he will be in charge of Tottenham next season and urged his squad to embrace the pressure of Sunday’s relegation decider with Everton.
Spurs start the final day of the Premier League season in 17th spot and two points above West Ham, who are at home to Leeds and must win to have any chance of staying up.
De Zerbi promised to be in charge of Tottenham for the 2026-27 campaign “no matter what” upon his arrival in March and even though his team slipped into the bottom three before a debut defeat at Sunderland, a run of eight points out of six games has put the north London club in control of their destiny on the final day.
“Yes, I confirm everything. For me, it’s still an honour to be a coach for Tottenham, even if on Sunday we play for the relegation fight. It’s not a problem. I consider football something more than the table, than the level of the game,” De Zerbi reflected. “Every one of us, we are fighting for the future of Tottenham.
“I didn’t come here in mid-table. The situation was this, more games but not too different a situation. If I came, it was because I thought there are the right conditions, the right qualities and players to achieve the target.
“Then the situation changed because we lost [Cristian] Romero, Xavi Simons, [Dominic] Solanke but I think in my time we made eight points and maybe we deserved more points. We are still fighting to achieve the target and we have to be ready and be strong.
“To manage the pressure you have to be clear and honest with yourself. The level of difficulty of the game is high, OK. We are fighting for something very important for everyone, but it is football.
“We have enough quality, we play in our stadium. If for us it will be a tough game, it will be a tough game for West Ham too.
“West Ham play Leeds and I’m sure Leeds will play like they did in the Tottenham stadium.
“To attack the pressure you have to find the valour [bravery] inside of yourself to understand the situation and to force yourself to give your best, because the pressure is nice if you know how to manage the pressure.”
De Zerbi reiterated his belief that this Spurs squad do care about the current predicament and “maybe suffered too much” the feeling of being the first team in 49 years to suffer relegation.
The Italian has tweaked his build-up for this fixture with the squad set to travel by coach after they stayed together at the training ground on Saturday night.
It is unclear if thousands of Tottenham fans will line the streets to welcome the team coach like it was the case for the Nottingham Forest fixture before De Zerbi’s arrival, but he would welcome that type of show of support.
“If the fans show their love to the players, it is not pressure, it is an honour, it is a great thing for the players,” De Zerbi insisted. “It is not a pressure, it is a good thing, it is a positive thing for us.”
“We are playing well. We deserve to stay up but we have another step and a very tough step but it’s possible for us.”
- The National
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