Tottenham have struggled to hit the heights they did under Mauricio Pochettino and have burned through multiple coaches in the hope of getting back there. But what does success look like for Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham Hotspur in 2027?
While finishing 17th under Ange Postecoglou in 2024-25, Spurs ended a 17-year wait for a trophy, triumphing in the Europa League and by all accounts many would have been happy to have seen the likeable, Aussie remain in charge. Daniel Levy saw things differently.
In came Brentford’s Thomas Frank and things never really clicked. Into February of 2026 and Tottenham were without a win for the calendar year. Fan pressure had been mounting for some time. And a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle proved a bridge too far.
Frank was given his marching orders, with Spurs five points above the drop zone after 2 wins in 17 games.
After trying – and failing – to get Roberto De Zerbi in charge, fresh from leaving Marseille, the Tottenham hierarchy to Igor Tudor instead. It proved a disastrous appointment. No wins and a growing prospect of relegation.
De Zerbi did answer the call this time and led the club to safety, despite losing his first game in charge.
Now, things are moving this summer. Tottenham have already added three new faces to their ranks in Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, promising a new-look defence going into 2026-27. It’s highly unlikely things stop there, either.
While the World Cup is still in its early stages, it’s never too soon to look ahead to the new season. The fixtures are out now, after all. So, what does success actually look like for Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi next season?
Have Tottenham made bad appointments, or been too impatient?
Stability is not something you can say about Tottenham in recent years.
Since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure in 2019, Tottenham have only had two seasons where they’ve ended the season with the same coach they started with – big Ange across 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Joining in 2014, Pochettino saw Tottenham regularly qualify for the Champions League.
In his five full seasons in charge, they finished outside of the top 4 once. They came 5th in his first campaign, before finishing 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. That’s an average finishing position of 3.14.
In contrast, since then, Tottenham turned to Jose Mourinho for the 2019-20 season. They finished 6th. Mourinho’s reign would end the season after, replaced by Ryan Mason towards the end, finishing 7th.
In came Nuno, who didn’t last long, soon replaced by Antonio Conte – that season saw Spurs finish 4th.
But Conte too would leave the following season, with Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason shepherding the team to the end of the season.. That saw them finish 8th.
Then came Postecoglou and a 5th-placed finish – the first time since Pochettino where Tottenham ended the season with the same coach they started with.
Of course after that there were the consecutive 17th placed finishes, with Tottenham burning through three coaches on t,he touchline for the second time in recent years during 2025-26.
Are these bad appointments? Mourinho and Conte are among the best coaches in Europe, Nuno had done a very solid job with Wolves, Postecoglou had excelled at Celtic and brought home the Europa League.
Even Frank had worked wonders at Brentford. Tudor was perhaps more questionable, but mostly got the job owed to Tottenham buying time until De Zerbi would take charge.
Perhaps Postecoglou was owed another season after Europa League success – with a tumble down the league arguably down to focusing on European competitions. Perhaps Pochettino should never have left.
Either way, they now have their 10th manager since the Argentine left the club. But history shows us he shouldn’t need long to make his mark.
Roberto De Zerbi has a track record of improving clubs near instantly – but hasn’t stayed anywhere too long
Roberto De Zerbi has been on Tottenham’s radar for a while.
He was reportedly in the running before Thomas Frank was appointed. He was the man they wanted when Frank left. Finally, at the third time of asking, they got him.
At Brighton, Graham Potter had led the Seagulls to a 9th-placed finish in the 2021-22 season. He left for Chelsea and was replaced by De Zerbi.
The Italian would go on and take Brighton to 6th and European football for the first time.
In his most recent role, at Marseille, they had finished 8th the season before him.
He arrived. There was a very busy summer window. And they finished 2nd.
Even at Shakhtar Donetsk, they had finished as runners-up the campaign before they brought in De Zerbi. At the time of the season being suspended, he had them on course to win the league.
So, there’s no doubting he doesn’t necessarily need time to make his mark and implement his ideals.
But considering the chopping and changing since Pochettino’s departure, is De Zerbi the man for the longer-term?
On average, he tends to stay at clubs for around 2-3 years. Marseille was less than two, as was Brighton.
However, signing a five-year contract feels like a statement of intent from both the club and the Italian. Plus, the summer business so far suggests that Spurs are going all in.
Tottenham look like they’re committing to an overhaul of the squad
Building from the back is a big part of De Zerbi’s philosophy and three signings in that area of the pitch suggest the Tottenham hierarchy are firmly behind their man.
Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke have all joined. The latter cost £52 million. It’s unlikely things will stop there, either, with links to the likes of Sandro Tonali still out there too.
An overhaul like this is exactly what he did at Marseille.
In his first summer, 11 players were signed, with 14 leaving. It’s not hard to envisage something similar unfolding at Tottenham now.
With three reinforcements at the back and links to midfielders and wingers, the squad surgery feels like it’s just beginning.
But should it play out like this, it gives us some indication of what success may look like this coming season.
It’s not impossible to bounce back after a bad season
Two consecutive 17th placed finishes for Tottenham go against the grain of what one would expect from the club.
Spurs have been regular challengers for Europe and were even title contenders under Pochettino.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium playing host to Championship fixtures this coming season would have been a sign of things going catastrophically wrong.
Still, usually when a team stays up, the hope for the coming season is survival. That’s unlikely to be enough for Tottenham and certainly will not be what De Zerbi is targeting.
There are examples, too, in recent seasons of teams bouncing back emphatically from a poor season.
Nottingham Forest narrowly avoided relegation in 2023-24, ending up 17th, and went on to secure European football the following year, finishing 7th.
Even better is to look at how Manchester United, under Michael Carrick, went from a lowly 15th in 2024-25 to an impressive 3rd last season.
The hope will be De Zerbi can mastermind a similar leap. His track record suggests he’s capable. But the best sign of success will be something else.
Finishing lower with an established identity will be a better season than finishing higher without one
Back in February, Sporting Director, Johan Lange reflected on what sort of playing style they envisaged for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
“We are very ambitious to create a team that can play dominant football,” said Lange. “That can control the matches with the ball for a few reasons.
“If you look across almost every league in the world, that is how you can say the top teams are normally successful – that is being able to dominate possession, create chances, be aggressive without the ball and so that is of course the football.”
Step 1 for De Zerbi was survival. He’s accomplished that.
Step 2 is building that identity.
Under Pochettino, there was an established way of playing and an expectation of what you were going to get from a Tottenham Hotspur side. As a result, they were also very successful – finishing outside the top 4 just once.
In the years since, with a myriad of coaches, a constant push and pull in different directions, and the departures of key players without anyone really stepping up to replace them, it’s felt like a football club that hasn’t really known what to do with itself.
That has to stop now.
Should the solid transfer work so far continue up into midfield and the final third of the pitch, De Zerbi should undoubtedly have the tools to implement his philosophy. A philosophy that has worked at many clubs. A philosophy that has brought success.
Bringing that identity to N17 is what success looks like in 2026-27. And if De Zerbi is successful in doing so, there’s no doubt points and positions will follow in the Premier League.
- READ MORE: The Pochettino Era is finally over, and that’s actually a good thing for Tottenham Hotspur