De Zerbi’s at it again – Spurs manager has TWO giants in relegation danger

21 Sept 2026 07:23 BST | 5 min read

Roberto de Zerbi, Tottenham, 2026/27 — © IMAGO

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

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Bottom of the Premier League table, Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham have endured a nightmare campaign to date – but going into the first international break of the season, the Italian is also to blame as Marseille find themselves in trouble in Ligue 1.

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This season is quickly turning into a battle for De Zerbi to save his reputation. After a record summer spend at Tottenham, the mayhem that the manager left behind in the south of France has also left Ligue 1’s best-supported club struggling in the relegation zone.

There are parallels between the two cases, where big spending has left the two clubs in trouble. It would, nevertheless, be a huge shock if either were actually to be relegated, but the very fact the possibility is being discussed leaves huge questions over the Italian’s coaching style, which has been criticised for leaving his teams lacking in spontaneity and bogged down in sterile possession.

De Zerbi’s big spending has left Spurs in a relegation fight

Tottenham invested heavily in the squad over the summer, but the rewards are not yet evident, with the club’s willingness to back De Zerbi in the transfer market not yet having paid off.

Indeed, Spurs’ summer transfer business should have been an early red flag. Three of the nine most overpriced players in the whole market based on FootballTransfers’ analysis were bought by Spurs.

Savio was bought for €42.8 million more than his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), Sandro Tonali was signed for €49.1m more than his worth while Mateus Fernandes ranked as the Premier League’s most overpriced player when he went for a staggering €70.3m more than his valuation.

It’s early days in the campaign, yet the fact Spurs have managed to score just one goal and have yet to deliver a single victory has done little to disprove this brutal analysis.

De Zerbi has criticised the physical condition of his players, including Savio, while he also hit out at the “fragile” nature of his squad following the 3-2 home loss against Aston Villa on Saturday – a result that leaves Spurs bottom of the table.

He may have dragged the club out of the relegation zone late last season, but the early evidence is that it was only a temporary reprieve.

Joe Cole is of the same opinion, with the former Chelsea player telling TNT Sports: “I feel they have overpaid for every player they bought this summer - you can't rule them out from being in and around the relegation battle.”

© IMAGO - Sandro Tonali: Yet to make an impact at Tottenham

Marseille are paying the price for the De Zerbi era

De Zerbi found his way to Spurs having left a trail of carnage behind him in Marseille. And the impact of the Italian’s 18-month tenure is still being felt in the south of France, where OM lie second from bottom of Ligue 1 having experienced a very different summer to Tottenham.

While Spurs were spending big, Marseille failed to add a single new player to their squad as they paid for the excess of the De Zerbi years, during which big spending was not matched by a necessary return to the Champions League.

Owner Frank McCourt decided to pull the plug on any further investment and OM were forced to offload key figures like Mason Greenwood, Facundo Medina, Leonardo Balerdi and Quinten Timber.

What they have been left with is a team of players De Zerbi didn’t want or had on the fringes of his thoughts. OM are still getting to grips with their new status as a mid-table club – something a side with an average home gate of over 60,000 hardly merits.

De Zerbi is facing another crisis - and this one could cost him his job

De Zerbi’s stint at Marseille ended disastrously as he failed to drag the club away from the first real on-field crisis he faced at the Velodrome. Problems compounded on problems, and following his departure, OM contrived to miss out on the Champions League having appeared comfortably on course for qualification for much of the season.

Now with Spurs, he faces a crisis of similar proportions. Following the international break, he takes his side to Manchester United before hosting Coventry. Should they still be propping up the Premier League after those two games, his job will be in grave jeopardy indeed.