Honestly, there is something quite refreshing about Roberto De Zerbi just coming out and saying it. Everyone knows it, everyone feels it, but most managers would wrap it up in diplomatic nonsense about focusing on themselves and respecting opponents. Not De Zerbi. He looked at the noise from rival fans willing Spurs into the Championship and basically said yeah, we see you, and it's making us angry enough to do something about it.
And look, he is not wrong. There is nothing quite like knowing someone wants you to fail to make you dig a little deeper. Rocky did not start doing one armed press-ups because things were going well, did he. Sometimes the hunger comes from outside, and right now Spurs have got plenty of people outside throwing fuel on that fire.
The brutal honest truth though is that Spurs should not be anywhere near this conversation. A club of that size, that stadium, that history, scrapping around looking over their shoulder at the bottom three is genuinely embarrassing. De Zerbi took on a job that was already on fire when he walked through the door, and he knows it. Using external pressure as motivation is smart management but it only gets you so far. The performances and the points still have to follow.
What is interesting is whether the players actually respond to that kind of messaging. Some squads hear the manager talk about outside noise and it genuinely galvanises them. Others hear it and quietly think about whether their agent has had any calls lately. Spurs fans will be hoping it is the former because the margins right now are absolutely tiny.
De Zerbi is a proper football man and a quality coach, nobody serious disputes that. But he has inherited a squad that has been mismanaged for years at every level and no amount of motivational framing fixes that overnight. The work is real and it is hard and a few nice words about using rival fans as fuel is just the start of it.
Spurs need wins, not vibes. Let's see if the anger translates.
Let me know your thoughts.