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Tottenham Star Will be Furious After What De Zerbi Did This Week
via Reuters

Oct 21, 2026, 7:15 PM GMT+1

James Beavis is a Senior Editor at GIVEMESPORT and has worked in the online football media industry for more than 10 years, having graduated with a Sports Journalism degree from Southampton Solent University in 2012.

James joined Football FanCast in 2016 following a three-year spell working for Shoot Magazine, working his way up from freelance writer to editor, before moving across to GMS in 2020.

James has created exclusive, opinion and news content on GIVEMESPORT, with a predominant focus on the Premier League.

He has also developed strong working relationships with top tier journalists such as Fabrizio Romano, Dharmesh Sheth and Ben Jacobs, regularly chatting to them as part of an exclusives initiative.

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Tottenham Hotspur finally picked up their first Premier League win of the season against Coventry City on Monday night, but not everyone connected with the club will be fully satisfied with this week.

Tottenham have probably played better in other league games this season, such as Aston Villa and Manchester United, but it was the visit of Frank Lampard's side to north London that finally yielded all three points.

Spurs moved up to 16th as a result and it prevented Roberto De Zerbi's job coming under serious pressure if they had only drawn, or lost.

The Italian probably would have been at risk of an immediate sacking if the latter had happened, but he will now be hoping that this is the turning point in their season, ahead of the trip to London rivals Chelsea on Saturday.

The other big positive aside from the result was James Maddison returning to the starting XI and scoring the opening goal, while Dejan Kuluesvki made his first appearance for the club in 526 days following injury hell.

With Sandro Tonali looking much better since the international break and Omar Marmoush scoring his first goal for the club, things are looking more positive for Spurs fans and De Zerbi.

Tottenham's Next Five Fixtures:

  • Chelsea away
  • Crystal Palace home
  • Leeds United away
  • Ipswich Town home
  • Sunderland away

An injury to Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur being ruled out through injury meant it was expected that Tonali would finally line up alongside fellow big-money summer addition Mateus Fernandes in the middle of the park against Coventry.

However, the one-cap Portugal international instead started from the substitutes' bench, with Archie Gray preferred in midfield alongside the Italian.

Last week, Fernandes' partner gave birth to their first child, but it was still something of a surprise that he wasn't named in the starting line-up, especially as he did take his spot on the substitutes' bench.

Fernandes' Tottenham Career Not Going as Expected

Tottenham Hotspur's Mateus Fernandes and manager Roberto De Zerbi look dejected
Reuters/Andrew Boyers

After what we saw from Fernandes at Southampton and then West Ham, and then costing Spurs £85m, it was expected that he would quickly become a regular in the XI alongside Tonali this season.

The fact that the £185m duo still haven't started alongside each other is surprising, and Fernandes will surely have been furious with how things played out on Monday night.

Yes, he may have just welcomed a new baby into the world, but it didn't stop him from being named on the bench, so it shouldn't have affected him playing from the start either.

Mateus Fernandes for Tottenham

Appearances

9

Starts

4

Minutes

393

Goals

0

Assists

0

If that is the reason, you can maybe understand it from De Zerbi's point of view, if he's missed a training session or two, but given his lack of consistent starts this term, there is every chance it may also have been a tactical decision.

Fernandes still has plenty of time to turn his Tottenham career around, but it hasn't gone as he may have expected it to go so far.

Premier League Era Before or After

Did it happen before or after?

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He has largely played in the No.10 position despite looking better in a deeper role than that at Saints and West Ham, and we may not see the best version of the Portuguese star unless he is given consistent starts alongside Tonali.

With Bentancur and Bergvall still sidelined through injury, Fernandes must use any anger on the training pitch to force his way into the XI, and then perform to the best of his ability and prove a point when he does get that opportunity.

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