James Maddison is "excited" to get going under Roberto De Zerbi, who he expects to lead Tottenham through a much-improved campaign.

Spurs have finished the last two seasons in the Premier League down in 17th and only avoided relegation last term with a final-day win over Everton.

De Zerbi, who was Spurs' third manager last season, was the catalyst for them staying up as he earned 11 points (W3 D2 L2) from his seven games in charge.

His 42.9% win rate was higher than both Thomas Frank's (26.9%) and Igor Tudor's (0%), while his 1.6 points per game was also higher than both of his predecessors.

Maddison missed the majority of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury he suffered during pre-season, not making his return until May.

All three of his appearances in 2025-26 came under De Zerbi, totalling just 34 minutes, but he is looking forward to the season ahead.

"We need to be better than the last couple of seasons," said Maddison, who is in Australia on Spurs' pre-season tour.

"We're just stepping up the preparation and what we've been working on and creating the team how we want to play and the style we want to play.

Men at work, Down Under

Check out a gallery of images from our latest training session in Sydney on the official Spurs app!

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 28, 2026

"The manager is very clear. The goals are to be better, to play better football, to be passionate [and] to be proud to play for this club.

"If we listen to his style, his principles, if we keep the short-term targets of trying to be better and trying to implement the way he’ll play, the long-term targets will be better in the long run.

"We're still learning the way he plays. As a player, he's a coach you want to play for because he loves everything with the ball. He's very attacking, and I'm really excited."

Spurs have already had a strong transfer window, bringing in club-record signing Sandro Tonali for £100m as well as Matheus Fernandes for £85m and Jan Paul van Hecke for £52m.

They have also acquired Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka on free transfers.

Spurs began their pre-season tour with a 2-0 win over Auckland FC and face Sydney FC on Wednesday before taking on Chelsea over the weekend.

And Maddison is hoping a strong pre-season will lead to a positive start to the new campaign.

"It's a big season for us under a new manager," he added.

"First game of the season, Brentford [on August 22]. We want to have a successful season."