De Zerbi wins first Premier League manager of the month award with Tottenham

Roberto De Zerbi, the Tottenham Hotspur head coach, was named the Premier League’s manager of the month for October on Friday, 13 November, the league said. It is the Italian’s first such award in England’s top flight.

Tottenham made a poor start to the season, failing to win any of their first five games and going into October bottom of the table. During the month the London club took three wins and a draw and now sit 11th with 12 points.

• a 3-1 win over Coventry City;
• a 2-0 win away at Chelsea, only Tottenham’s second league victory at Stamford Bridge in 36 years;
• a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace;
• a late draw against Manchester United, earned with 10 men.

Fans and experts voted

The award combines a public vote with the verdict of a panel of experts. De Zerbi beat Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, Unai Emery of Aston Villa, Xabi Alonso of Chelsea, Marco Rose of Bournemouth and Fabian Hürzeler of Brighton & Hove Albion.

“I want to say thanks to my players, to my club, because it is not my credit,” De Zerbi told the club’s website. He admitted: “The first five games in this season were not good enough.”

De Zerbi has been in charge of Tottenham since March 2026. Before him, the last Tottenham manager to win the award was Ange Postecoglou in October 2023. The club also collected two more league awards for October: creative moment of the month and player of the month in Premier League 2, the under-21 league.

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