King Urges Winless Spurs to Draw on Survival Fight Before Man Utd Trip
Ledley King has told Tottenham’s players to use last season’s survival fight as fuel as Roberto De Zerbi prepares his side for Saturday’s Premier League visit to Manchester United.
Spurs remain without a league win and sit bottom after taking two points from their opening five matches. Their latest setback was the 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa on September 19.
King believes the squad must find the resilience that carried the club through a far deeper crisis after De Zerbi arrived in March. Tottenham ended a 15-game league winless sequence and stayed up despite fears of relegation to the Championship.
“It has been difficult, but there are improvements from match to match,” the former captain said at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “The players have been through hard times before and got out of them last season. They need to use that experience.
“There is no shortcut. They have to keep working in training and trust themselves. They are quality players, and a first good result can change the mood quickly.”
Who is affected
- Roberto De Zerbi: The Tottenham head coach has support from the club’s chief executive as he seeks a first league victory of the campaign.
- Tottenham squad: Summer spending followed two consecutive 17th-place finishes, raising expectations before the current poor start.
- Jan Paul van Hecke: He has returned to Tottenham after picking up a foot injury while with the Netherlands.
- Ledley King: The ex-England defender, who made 323 appearances during his entire playing career with Spurs, has urged the team to respond.
What happens next
Tottenham travel to Manchester United on Saturday, with De Zerbi’s side chasing the result King believes could trigger a rapid turnaround.
King, now 45, was inducted into the relaunched Tottenham Hall of Fame last month and was welcomed by supporters as the half-time guest during the Villa defeat. He won the League Cup with the club in 2008 and captained Spurs on their first Champions League campaign two years later.
