James Maddison has put a clean frame around Tottenham's pre-season reset. Roberto De Zerbi wants the squad to be better, play better football, stay passionate and be proud to represent the club, with Brentford first up on 22 August. After a year that ended with a 17th-place finish, Spurs are being asked to treat improvement as the baseline, not the bonus.
De Zerbi's message through Maddison's words
Maddison was blunt about the standard being set. “The manager is very clear. The goals are to be better, to play better football, to be passionate and to be proud to play for this club,” he told independent.co.uk.
He added that the idea is not to chase a quick fix. “If we listen to his style, principles, if we keep the short-term targets of trying to be better and trying to implement the way he'll play, the long-term targets will be better in the long run.”
That fits the way De Zerbi is being described around this trip, too. Maddison said the coach is “very attacking” and “loves everything with the ball”, which is exactly the kind of message Tottenham needed after the damage of last season.
Fitness, form and the Brentford test
De Zerbi assumed control in March after the departure of interim coach Igor Tudor, and Tottenham secured Premier League safety with a 17th-place finish on the final day against Everton. Maddison returned from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in the final weeks of the campaign, so the early weeks of this reset are also about getting him back to full rhythm.
The workload point is there in the numbers. Maddison has played 126 Premier League minutes across his last 3 league appearances, while Tottenham have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 in their last 5 Premier League matches. That is a usable base, but not a reason to relax.
Brentford finished 9th, so the opener on 22 August is not a soft landing. Maddison called it “a big season for us under a new manager”, and that feels like the right read. Spurs do not need grand speeches right now, they need the attacking football De Zerbi keeps talking about to show up on the pitch.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
