De Zerbi has nightmare Tottenham debut with first defeat

Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi lost his debut on the Tottenham Hotspur bench, leaving them in the Premier League relegation zone.

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The former Sassuolo, Benevento, Shakhtar Donetsk and Olympique Marseille boss was drafted in during the break for international duty following the dismissal of Igor Tudor.

De Zerbi is the third manager of the season at Spurs, which shows the extent of the task at hand to turn this situation around, but signed a long-term contract as a show of faith in their prospects.

Tottenham defeat on De Zerbi debut

It was the worst possible start to his Tottenham career, suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Sunderland, decided by Nordi Mukiele’s impressive strike.

https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/2043336922232156206

The team is now without victory in 14 Premier League games, since beating Crystal Palace on December 28, and the club’s longest winless streak since 1935.

To add insult to literal injury, former Serie A defender Cristian Romero went off in tears with a fitness issue and that could well be the end of his season.

Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho have struggled here before, now De Zerbi is the latest coach to take on a club with seemingly endemic problems.