The organized Tottenham fans reacted angrily to the signing of Roberto de Zerbi as the new coach. This has to do with comments from the past – for which he has now apologized.
How much Roberto de Zerbi believes in his job at Tottenham Hotspur is shown by his contract: although Spurs are stuck deep in the Premier League table, the new coach signed a five-year contract – with no exit option in the event of relegation. “I will be Tottenham coach next season – no matter what happens,” he declared in his first interview on the club’s website.
However, this did not make waves in England: De Zerbi started his tenure with an apology. Shortly after his appointment as Igor Tudor’s successor became public on Tuesday, Spurs’ largest fans’ association published an angry statement. The reason: de Zerbi’s statements about Mason Greenwood from 2024.
Greenwood had moved to Olympique Marseille, coached by de Zerbi. And the Italian had publicly spoken favorably about the winger, who had been charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behavior and assault in 2022.
Greenwood was “a good person”, de Zerbi had said. “It saddens me what happened to him because I know a very different person to the one portrayed in England.” At this point, the case against Greenwood had already been dropped after key witnesses withdrew their statements.
“I never wanted to play down the issue of violence against women”De Zerbi’s statements were “unnecessary, ill-considered and deeply offensive to a significant number of fans”, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) said on Tuesday and warned: “We believe that these comments, if left uncommented on, will cause division among fans.”
Two days later, de Zerbi did indeed apologize. “I’m sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings with this issue – I have a daughter and I’m very sensitive about these things, I always have been. I hope that people will get to know me better over time and understand that I had no intention of taking sides at that moment,” he replied in the interview in question to the question, which he deliberately answered in Italian. He had “never wanted to play down the issue of violence against women – or violence against people in general”.
The extent to which he was able to appease the critical part of the fans will probably only become clear on April 12. Spurs will then return after a three-week break with de Zerbi’s debut at AFC Sunderland.
