Roberto De Zerbi Credits Marbella Trip and Clear-the-Air Meeting for Spurs Win

• Roberto De Zerbi says a clear-the-air meeting the day before Manchester United and a bonding trip to Marbella have made Tottenham play “like a family”.
• Spurs drew 1-1 at Old Trafford with 10 men, then beat Coventry 3-1 for their first Premier League win of the season, which lifted them to 16th.
• James Maddison says he has “so much more to give”, and Dejan Kulusevski returned after 526 days out with injury.

A Meeting the Day Before Old Trafford

Roberto De Zerbi has pointed to a clear-the-air meeting and a week away in Spain as the reasons Tottenham finally look like a team. The Spurs manager spoke after the 3-1 win over Coventry, the club’s first in the Premier League this season, which took them out of the bottom three.

The meeting came the day before the trip to Manchester United. “The day before Old Trafford we had a big meeting and spoke about the situation,” De Zerbi said. “We can’t accept and can’t move on if we don’t accept responsibility.” Spurs went on to draw 1-1 at United with 10 men.

Last week De Zerbi took his squad to Marbella for a bonding trip and warm-weather training. He called the week important, saying “we spend time together and want to be like a family”. He wants that bond to show on the pitch: “You have to play for your friend and your brother, not like 11 robot players on the pitch.”

De Zerbi did not claim the Coventry performance was perfect. He felt it could have been better but said he was happy with the attitude of his players. His first priority was what the win proved: “We are able to realise we can win a game like other teams in the Premier League.”

Two Returns Change the Mood

Two players who have spent long spells out gave Spurs a lift. James Maddison made his first start in 536 days and opened the scoring after 14 minutes with a curling strike from range, set up by Mohammed Kudus. Dejan Kulusevski came off the bench to play a competitive game for the first time in 526 days, after the serious knee injury he suffered in May 2025.

De Zerbi said the pair change the dressing room. “They are different players,” he said. “Different talent, different experience, different personality. With them in the dressing room there is another atmosphere.”

Maddison, 29, told Sky Sports he asked De Zerbi to start him. “I spoke to the gaffer about this week and feeling like it was the right moment for me to go back into the starting XI after a stop-start start to the season,” he said. He described his goal as the kind “you dream of” in his recovery from an ACL injury. “I have so much more to give for this club,” he said. “I’m 29 and I still have plenty of years left.”

Maddison also spoke about Kulusevski. He said he felt “really emotional and proud” of his teammate and “knew exactly that feeling he had stepping back onto the pitch after that amount of time out”.

Carragher Sees a Dressing-Room Lifter

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was asked whether Maddison can be the glue that links the squad. “I think he is seen as that type of player,” Carragher said. “He’s naturally one of those people in the game who is always laughing and joking, trying to lift people around the dressing room. I think he will have a big impact. He’s captained the club in the past.”

Carragher added that Maddison has “that football arrogance that I like in players”. He also pointed to a selection puzzle for De Zerbi: He said it will be “interesting to see where he fits in eventually”, with “a lot of players at Tottenham in the attacking positions, especially with Kulusevski back”.

A Win That Leaves Questions Open

Spurs spent £334m on new signings in the summer after narrowly avoiding relegation last season, and the new players had struggled to have the desired impact. Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe wrote that the team looked “disjointed and uninspiring” across the opening six games, and that keeping Maddison fit and firing is now “essential” to building on the win.

Coventry were not beaten easily. Jack Rudoni equalised before Omar Marmoush, scoring his first goal after leaving Manchester City, and Ben Davies sealed the result. Coventry manager Frank Lampard was happy with the fight his side showed but was surprised that Marmoush’s goal stood after the Egyptian elbowed Milan van Ewijk. “I thought VAR would cancel it,” was his view of the incident.

For De Zerbi, the team talk and the trip to Spain are the explanation he is offering for the change. Spurs are 16th, and the next few games will show whether the family he describes can hold together when results do not go their way.