Roberto De Zerbi told he must ‘lie’ to Tottenham players to save club as they close in on awful 91-year record

Roberto De Zerbi has been told he may need to portray a false confidence in his players in order to help Tottenham stay up.

A deflected strike from Nordi Mukiele saw Spurs lose yet again as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.

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Spurs dropped into the Premier League relegation zone on Friday night when their rivals West Ham thrashed Wolves 4-0.

Defeat at Sunderland has left them two points off safety with just six fixtures remaining in what could be a nightmare season.

It’s marked a difficult start to De Zerbi’s tenure at Spurs, who are on their third manager in ten months.

However, whilst he’ll hope that he has enough quality to stay up, the Italian has been urged to take an unorthodox approach.

Speaking on talkSPORT commentary after full-time, Perry Groves said: “Confidence just sort of drains away and Roberto De Zerbi, he’ll probably be positive about his players after the game.

“Because even if he doesn’t believe it, even if he’s doubting a few of the Spurs players’ characters, he’s got to make them think that he believes in them…

“He’s got to lie to them,” Sam Matterface interjected, to which Groves replied: “Exactly, 100 per cent.”

Matterface added: “And try and tell them that they can get out of it because the evidence of your eyes says they can’t.

“The statistics tell you they can’t. They need to win football matches, they don’t win football matches.”

Spurs are winless in their last 14 league matches, with a run of 16 that ended in April 1935 their worst in history.

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De Zerbi ‘positive’ that Spurs will stay up

Relegation to the Championship sounds outrageous for a club the size of Spurs, but it’s not out the realm of possibility.

Brighton, Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton are their final opponents of the campaign.

Despite making a losing start at Spurs, De Zerbi has belief that they can avoid being relegated during the nervy run-in.

“I’m positive after today,” he told the media. “I’m positive because I normally speak with them, I believe in them as people and players.

“For sure, we are in a tough moment, we are going through a very difficult moment.

“My players are not used to fighting in this position of the table. But I give you my word. They are good people, and they are suffering a lot with this situation.

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“For that, I believe in them. If I have to fight with one player, for me it’s not a problem, just to be honest.

“We don’t need to make any policemen inside the dressing room, but I would like to be a big brother, I would like to be a father, a friend, to help them to show what they are able to do.”

Spurs’ next outing sees them entertain De Zerbi’s former club Brighton on Saturday.

They then go to relegation rivals Wolves seven days later.