They feel that De Zerbi has already coached them more than Thomas Frank, Ange Postecoglou and Tudor combined.
Training has so far been “excellent”, with players responding very “positively”.
Again, if this sounds like the sort of thing always said in such situations, it wasn’t like this with Tudor. It hasn’t been like this at other relegation-threatened clubs, which opens up a whole other discussion about how this survival scrap will develop.
At Spurs, however, they can already see why Pep Guardiola so admires De Zerbi. To give a much-criticised hierarchy their due, too, you can see why they were so adamant on getting the Italian.
Spurs actually went back to De Zerbi several times.
With Mauricio Pochettino essentially ring-fenced until the USA’s World Cup is over, the former Brighton coach quickly became their number-one target.
Spurs didn’t want to persevere with stand-ins, given the huge uncertainty that the generally underwhelming profile of temporary candidate fostered.
They wanted someone permanent, to also illustrate a proper vision; something that could inspire.
When De Zerbi’s camp gave their hardest no in the process to taking over this season, Spurs did consider other high-profile options.
An informal approach was made to Fulham over Marco Silva, who now feels like he has been a potential Tottenham manager for so long that it’s just one of those things that is never going to happen. No deal could be struck. The possibility remains that Silva actually commits longer to Fulham.
I have similarly been told that Spurs did investigate whether Unai Emery was possible. But Aston Villa just wouldn’t countenance letting him go, and the Basque would also have designs on returning to one of the absolute top-tier jobs were he ever to leave Villa Park.
There is some speculation over whether the timing of that could be influenced by this season. Returning to the Champions League is seen as absolutely key for Villa, due to just how drastically the guaranteed money from qualification changes the club’s prospects.
Spurs know all of that too well.
With other appealing options just proving too difficult to get, though, Spurs kept going back to De Zerbi.
Now, the first great test is just about keeping them up.
There remain doubts about whether the squad has the “character” for this, especially when a phrase constantly used is that the players have too much football “scar tissue” there.
And yet this is also where De Zerbi’s own character may be so important, even amid the debate over how it can take teams a while to internalise his ideas.
There is still a lot of quality in that squad. That should allow them to absorb what he wants more quickly.
And if there are doubts about their “personality” for this, that is what De Zerbi also supplies. He’s got bags of personality. He may well need it if West Ham United do beat Wolves on Friday, putting Spurs into the relegation zone before their Sunday trip to Sunderland.
Of course, it is also one reason why some clubs end up seeing him as “trouble”, but that’s not a concern for now.
The crucial point is that it’s unusual to get someone so good at that end of the table, but then that comes from how it’s unprecedented to have a club of Spurs’ wealth down that end of the table.
Either way, De Zerbi represents the “jolt” that has long been needed.
It explains the rationale of not waiting until the summer for a permanent coach.
And such sudden disruptions to tend to have a disproportionate influence in relegation battles, after all.
Hence Nottingham Forest repeatedly making changes, even if the extent of that is obviously explained by Evangelos Marinakis’ idiosyncratic approach.
But that alone points to the potential importance of this switch.
Now, after a situation where it was hard to see where Spurs would pick up their next win, it’s hard to see the same quality elsewhere.
I should acknowledge that other clubs do see this as “a risk”, as was reported last week. And that also remains true. There’s the sense of surprise at a new project being started when a club is in the most problematic position possible.
Even if De Zerbi’s approach does take time to fully apply, though, he’s surely too good a coach to not come up with a gameplan to turn one or two individual matches.
De Zerbi will surely get that one win Spurs need to transform the feeling, and from that another to turn the survival race.
As most members will know, Inside Football does have a results prediction game every week – and it’s probably worth making a bigger one here. I think Spurs end up staying up with relative comfort now, that they extend a bit of a gap.
One figure who knows the new Spurs manager well sounds a note of caution, mind: “There’s never an issue with De Zerbi at the beginning…”
That may be enough for now. The truth will only be revealed by performances.
Spurs nevertheless feel better prepared there than they have been for some time.
