There has been a stark change in Tottenham Hotspur’s fortunes in the last two years, with the club changing three managers, and going from lifting the Europa League last season to struggling for Premier League survival in the 2025-26 campaign. | Photo Credit: Reuters

West Ham United beat fellow struggler Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 on Friday and dropped Tottenham Hotspur into the Premier League drop zone for the first time this season.

The Spurs are two points behind the Hammers before heading to Sunderland on Sunday.

Valentín Castellanos scored twice in three minutes midway through the second half after Konstantinos Mavropanos put the Hammers 1-0 up with a header just before half-time.

Konstantinos completed the scoring seven minutes from time with an acrobatic volley from a corner kick.

Wolves remained at the bottom of the league and are almost certain to be relegated.

Meanwhile, Spurs’ manager Roberto De Zerbi said his boys must play with courage to escape relegation.

“I don’t want to put confusion inside the players. They have to be with a clear plan of the game and not too much instruction, not too much thinking,” the Italian said Friday at his first press conference.

“They have to play with courage, with personality, and they have to fight. My demand is to show the right spirit I want to see.”

De Zerbi was handed a five-year contract — though with no escape clause if relegated — with the immediate task of Premier League survival.

“What I want to do, what I want to achieve immediately is the character, is the right spirit, the right courage to play, to attack, because the DNA of this club, of this squad, is to find the goal, to score,” he said.

After a week or so of working with the players, he said, “I’m more positive, for sure” about Premier League survival.

Spurs, the reigning Europa League champion, fired Igor Tudor after 44 days of an interim coaching spell that worsened Tottenham’s plight. Tudor was brought in after Thomas Frank lasted just eight months on the job.

De Zerbi paid them respect on Friday.

“I’m not better than Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor because I consider them very good coaches,” he said.

“I try to bring my style, myself, my character, my personality, my passion to help the players. First of all, to show their qualities, because they have a lot of qualities and then to achieve our target, because the most important part now is our target.”

Published on Apr 11, 2026