Roberto De Zerbi makes relegation admission after debut defeat

Roberto De Zerbi has admitted that the fear of relegation is one of the problems facing Tottenham in their fight for survival after they fell to a 1-0 defeat away to Sunderland in the Italian’s first game in charge.

The pressure was on the new boss to deliver Spurs’ first league win of the calendar year at the Stadium of Light after West Ham’s victory over Wolves had seen the north London club fall into the bottom three.

But despite a bright start, Spurs were second best against Regis Le Bris’ side and found themselves behind after 61 minutes as Nordi Mukiele’s effort deflected off Micky van de Ven to hand the hosts a deserved lead.

Several Spurs players slumped to the ground at the full-time whistle, and in his post-match press conference, De Zerbi revealed that his players were struggling with the fear of relegation.

Asked if one of the problems befalling his squad was the looming threat of relegation, De Zerbi said, “I think so” before adding that he remained positive in his players’ ability to turn things around.

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“I am 46 years old, I have much [more] experience than the players and I am positive absolutely because I know them as a guy and as players,” De Zerbi said.

“And for that, I am positive.

Not because we are Tottenham or because I have to do positive.

No.

They have the quality enough to win one game and the target now, the closer target is to win one game because if we win a game we can see everything in a different way.”