Paul Merson Warns Spurs Fans Over De Zerbi's Public Criticism

Paul Merson has sounded the alarm over Roberto De Zerbi’s early-season rhetoric at Tottenham, warning that the Italian’s public criticism of his forwards and medical staff should worry Spurs fans.

Spurs laboured to a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest, failed to register a shot on target and are still waiting for their first Premier League goal of the campaign. De Zerbi did not hold back afterwards. He questioned his attackers’ decision-making in the final third and openly blamed his medical team for forcing him to substitute Savio and Destiny Udogie after an hour, a double change he felt stalled Spurs’ momentum.

For Merson, that’s a big red flag.

‘You keep that in-house’

“I thought Spurs were fortunate against Nottingham Forest – if Neco Williams is a little bit braver, then Forest win,” Merson wrote in his Sky Sports column. “But it's a start for them.”

The performance was one thing. De Zerbi’s reaction was another.

The Spurs head coach went after his forwards for failing to make the right choices near goal and then turned his fire on the medical department for dictating when Savio and Udogie had to come off. That, Merson says, crosses a line.

“You say that in the dressing room; don't come out and say it. You need to keep that in-house,” he insisted.

“That would worry me as a Spurs fan. De Zerbi does fall out with people.”

Merson questioned whether De Zerbi was already trying to protect his own reputation by pointing at the medical staff.

“I don't know if he's covering himself there with those comments about the medical staff, because that could be kept quiet. He's having a go at them – and you saw what happened with Enzo Maresca at Chelsea when he started calling out the medical team for dictating his substitutions. He left a few weeks later.”

Merson accepts that a manager has the right to be frustrated if he feels others are controlling his changes, but he still doesn’t like the public airing.

“At the same time, if he's being told to take a player off, he's the manager. He's in charge. If it's not up to him how long his players get on the pitch, why shouldn't he cover himself?”

Confusion over criticism of forwards

Where Merson really struggles to agree with De Zerbi is the attack on his front line.

“I don't understand having a go at the forwards, though. They didn't have 20 chances. It's not as if the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper was man of the match. I didn't see that at all.”

De Zerbi, though, was clear about what angered him. He felt Spurs repeatedly chose the wrong option in promising positions.

“I think we played well but in the last third we have to improve. We have to take the better decisions. We have to keep more calm when we are very close to doing something important in the last third,” he said.

He picked out specific moments: Omar Marmoush shooting instead of slipping in Andy Robertson on the overlap, with Mohammed Kudus waiting at the back post; overhit crosses from Mathys Tel and Savio; and a move where Mateus Fernandes, he felt, should have driven through on goal rather than combining for a Dominic Solanke header.

For De Zerbi, it was a pattern. For Merson, it wasn’t enough to justify a public blast.

Medical row and substitutions

De Zerbi’s irritation with his medical team was just as pointed. He revealed they had “pushed” for Savinho and Udogie to be withdrawn after 60 minutes, despite his sense that the timing hurt Spurs’ rhythm.

“The second half, I'm sorry because the medical staff pushed to change Savinho and Udogie after 60 minutes,” he said. He praised Kudus and Robertson for their performances off the bench but argued that making two changes at that moment “was not so good” and that Spurs “maybe lost some balance, some connection”.

De Zerbi accepted the logic of not risking further injuries to two “crucial” players, stressing Savio’s lack of full match fitness and Udogie’s importance, yet his irritation at having to deviate from his plan was obvious.

“I'm not happy when we have the plan, but it's for my advantage, for my business, the management of the players after injuries,” he added.

That kind of public friction with the medical department is exactly what Merson believes can snowball inside a club, especially when results are fragile.

Mentality and expectations

Merson’s bigger concern, though, lies with the mindset around Spurs and the scale of the task facing De Zerbi.

“It's a long way to go for Spurs. But my problem is the mentality. You don't come 17th two years on the trot and expect to turn it around in a New York minute,” he warned.

He urged patience and a realistic target.

“I think people have got to be patient. Spurs shouldn't worry about being eight points behind Arsenal – all they've got to worry about is who's fifth, and how many points they're behind fifth.

“They're not finishing ahead of Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.”

That is the landscape De Zerbi has walked into: a squad trying to shed a relegation fight mentality, a fanbase desperate for lift-off, and a manager already choosing to challenge his own players and staff in public.

If this is how the first few weeks sound, what happens when the pressure really bites?