The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust has strongly criticised the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as the club’s head coach, expressing “serious and far-reaching concerns” over his past support for Mason Greenwood. In a statement released soon after De Zerbi signed a five-year contract on Tuesday, the trust said his arrival placed a “heavy strain” on unity at a time when Spurs are battling against relegation from the Premier League.
The criticism centres on De Zerbi’s spell at Marseille, where he publicly supported Greenwood’s signing despite controversy surrounding the former Manchester United player’s private life. Greenwood was charged in 2022 with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the case in February 2023 after key witnesses withdrew their involvement and “new material came to light”. Greenwood had denied the charges.
After leaving United, Greenwood had a spell on loan at Getafe before joining Marseille on a permanent deal in 2024 under De Zerbi. De Zerbi described the former England forward as a “good person” and said that “it saddens me what happened to him because I know a very different person from the one portrayed in England”.
The supporters’ trust said it had contacted Spurs to voice opposition to De Zerbi before he was appointed. “While we recognise the limited pool of managers with recent Premier League experience, and the need to act with urgency as Spurs face the prospect of relegation, this appointment raises serious and far-reaching concerns,” the trust said. “De Zerbi’s comments about Mason Greenwood were unnecessary, ill-judged, and deeply offensive to a significant number of supporters and, without doubt, will have left victims of male violence alarmed.”
The trust added that any perceived sympathy towards alleged perpetrators of physical or sexual violence against women “fundamentally undermines trust in the custodianship of this club”. It called on Spurs and De Zerbi to publicly reassert their “commitment to the values that fans hold dear – chief among them equality, respect, and integrity”. The trust also demanded that words be backed by meaningful action, including visible and sustained support for women’s charities working to combat violence against women.
