Roberto De Zerbi has chosen to move away from London in an attempt to get Tottenham back on track. As announced before the trip to Manchester United, the Italian technician planned to take his group to Marbella, in the south of Spain, in order to take advantage of a long break in the calendar. Spurs have nine days before hosting Coventry, scheduled for October 19. An ideal window to work in more favorable weather conditions, but above all to bring the players closer to a squad that has been completely overhauled this summer. Tottenham invested more than 250 million euros to attract ten recruits. Several of them, including Savio, Tosin Adarabioyo, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Omar Marmoush, arrived late in the transfer window. The group still lacks benchmarks and the results are not following. After five days without a victory, the London club hoped to take advantage of their trip to Old Trafford to finally launch their season.
The match against Manchester United, however, confirmed the difficulties of De Zerbi’s men. Clumsy for a long time in the last gesture, the Spurs missed several opportunities to take the advantage, notably through Dominic Solanke. The Red Devils ended up breaking the deadlock in the 73rd minute thanks to Bryan Mbeumo, served by Matheus Cunha. Tottenham then seemed to be heading for another defeat, especially as Rodrigo Bentancur had been sent off and left his partners outnumbered. But the Londoners found the resources to snatch a point in added time. Solanke equalized and allowed his team to leave Old Trafford with a draw (1-1). An encouraging result in the circumstances, but insufficient to erase the observation. Tottenham are still looking for their first victory in the league and the point taken in Manchester does not make us forget everything. The trip to Marbella should allow De Zerbi to work on the automatisms, confidence and cohesion of a group which is still struggling to translate its ambitions onto the field. A feeling of déjà vu for our Marseille friends…
A well-known habit at De Zerbi
This is far from the first time that Roberto De Zerbi has focused on this type of gathering. The Italian coach had already introduced this method at OM, where the Lombard coach had organized a four-day course in Mallemort, in Bouches-du-Rhône, at the end of November 2024, to prepare for the reception of Monaco, then another in Denmark in December. A few months later, in the spring of 2025, he decided to move his group away from Marseille to prepare for the final sprint towards the Champions League. The Olympians had joined Rome for an extended stay, finally continuing after their victory against Brest (4-1). Speaking to journalists, De Zerbi then accepted his choice, explaining that he had trained his players less on the pitch, but had worked a lot on the unity of the group. At Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk, the 47-year-old Italian had also undergone summer preparation courses, notably in the Italian Alps with the Neroverdi and in Austria with the Ukrainian club. These gatherings, however, responded more to a logical continuation of the pre-season than to the desire to cause an electric shock during the exercise. At Tottenham, Marbella must above all serve as a second preparation, at a time when late arrivals and disappointing results have prevented the team from building quickly enough.
This type of internship in Marbella, however, has some limitations that should not be overlooked. If the temperatures announced around 25°C offer pleasant conditions for working, Roberto De Zerbi’s staff will especially have to be careful not to overload players who are coming out of an international break and an already demanding schedule. Accumulated fatigue, travel and the sequence of meetings can affect rest and increase the risk of injury when workloads are poorly adapted. The London-Marbella flight remains relatively short and the time difference is almost zero with only an hour difference. But moving still involves changing sleep habits, meal times, and recovery routines. Studies on the international calendar, often relayed by the FIFProshow that travel can weigh on recovery, even if the most worrying data relates in particular to long, repeated trips. Particular vigilance will also be necessary regarding hydration and management of efforts in higher temperatures than in London.
It will not be necessary to multiply the sessions at all costs, but to find the right balance between tactical work, collective cohesion and recovery. Well supervised, this Spanish interlude can help new recruits to assimilate the Italian’s playing principles. Poorly managed, this initiative by Roberto De Zerbi could on the contrary accentuate the fatigue of a group which above all needs to find freshness and automatisms. The principle of ritiro, this going green very anchored in the habits of Italian football, consists of cutting players off from their daily environment to promote exchanges, concentration and solidarity, but has already sometimes had the opposite effect, as in Naples in 2019 which propelled the end of Carlo Ancelotti. It remains to be seen whether this method really produces the hoped-for effects. The next meeting against Coventry will allow us to observe the first effects of this escapade in Andalusia. A victory alone will not prove that the course has changed everything, any more than a bad result will be enough to invalidate its interest.
