England international James Maddison has stated that there was a genuine risk of Tottenham Hotspur being relegated to the EFL Championship if not for the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi during the crucial final stages of the season. He emphasized the positive influence of the manager, saying, “Credit to him.”
Maddison Praises De Zerbi’s Role in Tottenham’s Survival: ‘He’s Switched the Mindset’
Roberto De Zerbi was brought in to replace former Juventus boss Igor Tudor as the head coach of Tottenham in late March. At that point, Spurs were in 17th place with only seven Premier League matches remaining.
Although De Zerbi did not secure a win in his initial two games, he managed to lead Tottenham to victory in three of their final five league matches. The team ultimately secured their Premier League status by a two-point margin on the final day of the season.
Several Tottenham players have attributed the renewed ‘passion’ and drive that the squad needed for their crucial run of fixtures to De Zerbi’s arrival.
Among them is England’s James Maddison, who missed a significant portion of the 2025-26 campaign due to a knee injury.
“Since he came in, he’s been brilliant. Without him coming in, there is a serious possibility we would have gone down, yeah,” Maddison shared with Sky.
“He’s switched the mindset, the passion he shows every single day rubbed off on the players and I think you could see that in the last few performances. Yes, maybe we could still be better in terms of quality and the moments we were producing.
“I never questioned the group’s mentality, I didn’t see a group who weren’t willing to try, it just needed Roberto to come in and fine tune it and get it out of some of the players and he managed to do that, so credit to him.”
