Tottenham have failed to win any of their first five Premier League matches, and the 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa has left them bottom of the table for three weeks. According to one well-sourced journalist, Roberto De Zerbi’s position may not be formally assessed until the club finally appoints a sporting director.
A poor start has increased the pressure on De Zerbi
Two points from five games is the kind of record that gets managers sacked at most clubs, and Tottenham are no exception to that logic even if they’re currently choosing not to apply it. The Villa defeat was the low point, and De Zerbi looked exactly as frustrated as the situation demanded.
He didn’t hide it afterwards either, admitting he chose silence over saying something he might regret.
After the Villa defeat, De Zerbi said he had not spoken with the players because he did not want to say something he might regret, while adding that players leaving for international duty have to play and work.
That’s not a manager pretending everything is fine. It’s a manager who knows the calendar doesn’t care about his excuses, even reasonable ones.
Why the sporting-director vacancy matters
Journalist Ben Jacobs, speaking on GiveMeSport’s Market Madness podcast, offered a theory that will either reassure or infuriate you depending on your patience levels: Tottenham simply don’t have the sporting infrastructure in place to make a call on De Zerbi right now.
Tottenham’s sporting infrastructure has become a focus after a summer in which the club spent over £300million. The club’s recruitment structure is part of the wider discussion around the sporting infrastructure Jacobs said is not yet in place.
Jacobs says the club remain relatively calm behind the scenes, and that the intent is to explore whether a co-sporting director or some other senior executive is necessary. His conclusion was blunt.
Jacobs said the club may only begin to assess De Zerbi after identifying an appointment in whatever capacity.
Ausilio reports show the uncertainty around the appointment
The obvious candidate, at least according to a month of Italian reporting, is Piero Ausilio following his exit from Inter Milan. Some sources in Italy have gone further, claiming talks are advanced and that the 54-year-old is willing to take the job, though the exact shape of any Piero Ausilio appointment at Tottenham remains unresolved.
Not everyone agrees on where things stand. The Sun’s Tom Barclay reported earlier this month that Tottenham sources have played down suggestions that Ausilio has been offered the sporting director role, which is the sort of contradiction that tends to define this club’s off-field business. Advanced talks and a flat denial can’t both be entirely true, and Spurs fans have learned not to bet on which one is closer to reality.
The decision is postponed, not avoided
Jacobs isn’t expecting a surprise departure during the international break, and the primary reporting is consistent that De Zerbi’s role won’t be scrutinised internally until a director is actually in place. That’s not the same as a vote of confidence. It’s a club admitting it doesn’t yet have the mechanism to make the call.
The catch is obvious: if results keep going the way they have, even well-run clubs eventually have to think about succession regardless of whether the paperwork is sorted. Tottenham don’t look any better than they did last season despite the outlay, and in a results-driven business, that’s the only stat that matters. De Zerbi and Michael Carrick are, in that sense, in the same boat, and boats without a sporting director on board tend to drift rather than steer.
