The 2025‑26 campaign will be remembered in north London as a season of crisis, with Tottenham Hotspur slipping into the lower half of the table and enduring a woeful home record that yielded just two victories before a final‑day win over Everton.
When Roberto De Zerbi took charge, the club was on the brink of relegation, but the Italian coach’s pragmatic adjustments sparked a remarkable recovery.
Central to the turnaround was a reinvention of the midfield, where injuries to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski left a creative void that the squad struggled to fill.
The arrival of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig offered a glimpse of promise, yet the Dutch winger’s season was cut short by a serious injury that forced the team to rely on alternative solutions.
Set‑piece mastery and defensive stability
De Zerbi’s emphasis on corners paid immediate dividends, with the side scoring 18 goals from set pieces, a statistic that highlighted the tactical shift toward aerial threats.
Captain Cristian Romero’s disciplinary record also came under scrutiny, as his four red cards added pressure, but the defensive partnership featuring Kevin Danso provided the steadiness needed to limit further chaos.
The lack of natural wingers forced the club to lean on youngsters Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert, while goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky emerged as an unexpected playmaker, delivering world‑class saves and orchestrating attacks from the back.
Kinsky’s confidence‑boosting performances, coupled with De Zerbi’s focus on ambition and courage, helped the squad control games and avoid the pitfalls that had plagued them earlier in the season.