De Zerbi’s ‘passion’ and ‘good energy’ key for Tottenham, says Van de Ven

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Micky van de Ven has hailed Roberto De Zerbi’s “passion” and “good energy” as he predicts a much-improved season for Tottenham.

Spurs have finished the last two seasons in 17th place in the Premier League, only securing their top-flight status in 2025-26 with a final-day win over Everton.

De Zerbi, who was Spurs’ third manager last season, was the catalyst for them staying up; he took charge of just seven games but earned 11 points (W3 D2 L2).

His 42.9% win rate was higher than both Thomas Frank’s (26.9%) and Igor Tudor’s (0%), while his 1.6 points per game was also higher than both of his predecessors.

And Van de Ven is convinced Spurs will only continue to improve under De Zerbi, especially due to having a full pre-season with the squad.

“It’s going to be different compared to the manager we had last season,” Van de Ven told BBC Sport.

Our first training session in Sydney

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 27, 2026

“It’s going to be more with the ball, I think, more about playing football. I think it’s also going to be more enjoyable for people to watch because we’ll be playing offensive football.

“You can see he [De Zerbi] has brought a lot of passion into our group, a lot in terms of mentality and passion on the pitch.

“It is something we needed because everybody was a little bit down.

“He brings a lot of good energy, and, from pre-season, we have really had the time to bring his football into the team. That’s really enjoyable.”

Spurs will begin their Premier League season away to Brentford on August 22.

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