Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 10 minutes ago
110926

Enfield Way

Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi previews their Premier League match at home to Everton

Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00No?
00:01Yes.
00:0612 seconds.
00:20Hi everyone, we will start with the broadcast section with no embargo, followed by an embargoed section for 10.30pm
00:25tonight.
00:26No live tweeting during the broadcast section and use the microphone provided.
00:29Gail.
00:30Afternoon.
00:32Good afternoon.
00:33Shall we do our normal and start with a little bit of team news?
00:38I guess in particular, Mudrik, if Madison might be back, and how Kulusevski is getting on, I guess, and anything
00:47else that we maybe aren't across.
00:50No, Kulusevski is not working with us in the last week, no big problem.
00:59The normal problem when one player is out of long time, like Mudrik, was a stupid injury of Mudrik, and
01:12we hope he can back as soon as possible.
01:18No, because for him and for us, for him, because he suffered too much, and for us, because we lost
01:26one player, an important player, he played 20 minutes, 15 minutes in Nottingham, he played well.
01:35But it's the normal process when one player doesn't play for a long time.
01:41Madison, is he back this weekend?
01:42Madison, yes.
01:44Good to go from the start? Should you acquire him from the start?
01:50Yeah, I'm happy when all my players are available. It's maybe a problem for me, because my decisions are not
02:02easy, but I want to manage all players together.
02:07You spoke last week about how impressed you've been with Bergvau after the initial discussions that maybe he didn't want
02:17to be part of the club.
02:17You spoke about how he'd come to you and said, I really want to be where you are, what you're
02:25doing, I want to buy into this.
02:26So how pleased are you that he's signed this new contract? How impressed have you been by his character?
02:32And for you, where does he fit into Tottenham over the next couple of seasons?
02:39I'm delighted for the extension of his contract. He's working very well.
02:48It's difficult, no? Because the competition, especially in his position, Tonali, Betancourt, Gallagher, are all players at high level.
03:00But I think at the end of the season he will play part of the game, many games, I think.
03:11And then he has to improve.
03:14We have to help him to improve and he has to work like he has done, like he's doing, especially
03:26in this season.
03:28At the beginning of the pre-season he has been fantastic on the pitch.
03:36It is obviously Everton and you think back a couple of months to that crucial day when Tottenham made sure
03:44they stayed in the Premier League.
03:47How different does this squad feel? How much better is this squad now than it was then?
03:54And do you feel that what you've seen in the last few weeks suggests that you can finally get that
03:59first Premier League victory of the season?
04:01Well, I think we are better than last season, especially at the end of the season, many, many injuries.
04:10It's difficult to believe right now because we are not winning, we are not scoring.
04:18But I'm positive because I believe in my players, I believe in this group of the players.
04:25I think the players have big, big qualities, big potential and now I'm positive.
04:34I don't say nothing more because at the end there is always the result of the pitch and the performance.
04:44But I think we are working well also in this week.
04:53In Nottingham I watched something different than Brentford for sure.
05:00And Newcastle was a particular game because until the one hour of the game I think we deserved to win
05:14that part of the game.
05:16And then we lost 2-0. But I think we are in the right way, in the right moment, the
05:26improvement.
05:29Just talking about still searching for that first win in the league this season.
05:34You're one of three clubs that hasn't scored yet in the first three games.
05:37Do you feel any pressure? Does that play at all on your mind?
05:42Me or the...?
05:44I mean I guess you and collectively the team.
05:45No, I'm not happy for sure because I suffer the defeat. I suffer when I don't score.
05:51But I'm not so young. I have experience enough to analyse better the situation.
06:03And I said in Brentford we were not ready for many, many reasons.
06:10In Newcastle until the first goal we played better than Newcastle and we decided to score in the first half.
06:19Not one time, more times.
06:22In Nottingham we played a normal Premier League game against one physical team.
06:29One team who played the second ball.
06:39I think we didn't concede the shoot on our goal.
06:42We had one clear chance with Mickey van der Ven on set pieces.
06:53And two big, big potential.
06:56One Tonali for Savigne in the first half.
06:58And the second half Marmouche for Kudus and Andy Robertson.
07:05So I think it was a normal game.
07:09We can play much better for sure.
07:13We are not happy.
07:14Pressure no.
07:16Why pressure?
07:17The pressure was last season in that situation of the table.
07:22Not now.
07:23Because now we are working to become team.
07:25And we are building a new team.
07:27With new relationships.
07:30With new connections.
07:31With new style of play.
07:32With new many players.
07:34So I think we have to stay calm and to stay positive.
07:38And without any pressure.
07:41You have touched upon the shots on target.
07:44And as well building on a new team.
07:46With new signings.
07:47What do you expect from them going ahead in this season?
07:54The qualities for sure.
07:55Because I am sure.
07:59Because I am sure about the qualities of Robertson, Senesi, Mateus Fernandes, Tonali, Savigne, JP Van Eycke, Marmouche.
08:11I am sure.
08:12Even if they don't play well.
08:15I can't change my idea now.
08:19And then I would like to see one team playing with courage.
08:25With energy.
08:28To find.
08:30To try.
08:31To dominate the game.
08:33Dominate the pressure.
08:37With the right spirit.
08:39What the spirit I like.
08:41And Everton are coming into the game unbeaten so far.
08:45What do you expect from them this weekend?
08:47Playing against Everton is the same.
08:50Because Tarkovsky, Brad White.
08:51Pick for Desburi Hall.
08:58All of them.
09:00Mikolenko, Grealish.
09:02Are very good players.
09:05Very physical players.
09:07They know very well the Premier League.
09:10But I think we have to be focused on our qualities.
09:18We have to be focused on what we have to do on the pitch.
09:25And play without thinking, without other things on the head.
09:33Hi Roberto, how are you?
09:35Yeah, good.
09:36Do your team need to win tomorrow?
09:38Not for any other reason, but to stop all the noise.
09:41And everybody thinking that this is going to be another season of Spurs struggle.
09:47Well, we need to win.
09:49We need to score.
09:50We need to win against Liverpool Tuesday.
09:54Against Aston Villa next week.
10:00We need to win, but it's not enough to say we need to win a game.
10:07We have to build the right way to win the game.
10:14So we have to press.
10:15We have to play.
10:16We have to keep the ball.
10:16We have to play with courage.
10:21To play following what we are doing on the training ground.
10:26And then we go to see the result.
10:30But without this part of football, it's not like you win the game.
10:37You've mentioned the word courage twice already in this press conference.
10:42Are your team brave enough?
10:43Yes, because...
10:43Stop, sorry.
10:45Because I think we can play.
10:47We could play much better because I work with the players every day.
10:52I know the players better than you.
10:55And during the week we play with more confidence, with more courage, with more...
11:06Confidence?
11:07Yeah, confidence, I said.
11:10With freedom, no?
11:12And during the game, when we have the opponent three meters, four meters,
11:17it's like we don't want the ball or we don't want to take any risk
11:22because if we lose the ball, if we lose the ball, we can see the goal.
11:24What is the problem?
11:25I am the coach.
11:27I take the responsibility I have to take without problem.
11:31But I would like to play, to play, to play, to play, to play, to run, to press, to dribble,
11:37to shoot.
11:38Many times, more times on the goal because I know the potential of my players.
11:47And you mentioned after the Newcastle game about mentality.
11:50Have you been sorting that problem out because you said that the mentality was a problem after the first two
11:57games?
11:57No, after the first goal, because we played well, not amazing, but we played very well until the goal we
12:07conceded.
12:07And then I saw a little demoralization.
12:18Yeah, a little down in the mood.
12:21And I don't want, because the game, if you concede goal, 60 minutes, you have another 30 minutes to score
12:33one or two or three goals.
12:34And we have to push until the end.
12:37Also because, especially in this moment, we have to build our value.
12:44And we lose the game when the referee, say, has finished the game.
12:51Until the end of the game, we have to push.
12:53For getting the result, because it's our job.
13:00We play for a big club.
13:03And we have to respect our club.
13:07How pushing until the end.
13:10When the game finishes, we go home and we go to see if we won or we lost the game.
13:19For that, I said the mentality.
13:22Not in general.
13:23In general, I'm happy because I can't say anything about the mentality, the spirit, the behaviour of the players.
13:32Nothing to say.
13:36You said Mudrik's injury was stupid.
13:39What exactly happened?
13:42Playing without tackle, without different movement.
13:47He felt pain, uncle.
13:53And then after two days, he made the medical check and we knew the problem.
14:02But after a long time, we knew.
14:06Stupid injury, but we are not stupid.
14:11When we signed Mudrik, we already knew it would be difficult to come back as a normal player.
14:24Another player coming back from injury.
14:26You've had a few substitute appearances now.
14:27Mohamed Koudous.
14:28Obviously, you thought you were going to have him in April and then he had a setback then.
14:33And I think I remember you saying back then how important he was going to be for you.
14:36Is he ready to start now and just how big a player is he going to be for you?
14:41I think I'm very close to be ready to start the game.
14:47It's an amazing thing for me.
14:52I wanted more Koudous when I was in Brighton.
14:58I pushed it a lot to bring him before he went to West Ham.
15:05He can play as a winger, as a number 10, as a striker also.
15:12And he's an amazing player.
15:15To kind of keep it on going on about the wingers, Savio, I think you said about the options you
15:22had on the left were Tell and Mudrik.
15:24Do you not see Savio able to play on the left or do you prefer him cutting in from the
15:27right?
15:27I was a player and I was a winger.
15:32Maybe more number 10, but I played many, many years for a right winger, left foot.
15:39I love the winger on the opposite side, but Savio is top and I think he can play in both
15:52positions.
15:53I'll finish with George, please.
15:57Hi, Roberto.
15:58Sticking with that left side of attack, is James Madison an option there when he's back or do you see
16:04him more as the number 10?
16:06Yes, I think it can be an option.
16:08Normally he's not a winger, but we have to build a situation to put inside and to push higher the
16:15left back.
16:17But Madison is very smart.
16:22When you play with smart players, they can understand the position.
16:27They feel, they smell the right position.
16:31It depends on the situation, so I think it can be a good solution.
16:37Especially because Conor Gallagher and Mateus Fernandez as a 10, they can play as a midfielder.
16:47As a 10 midfielder, not as a winger inside like Xavi Simons last season.
16:54I don't know, maybe sometimes you have a midfielder able to start as a winger and then come inside with
17:04the ball in possession.
17:05But it's not like this for me, for my idea, for Gallagher and also for Mateus.
17:13But yeah, Madison is like Xavi and he can play in that position.
17:21And Lucas has signed a new deal.
17:24Whenever we talk about Lucas, we often talk about Archie Gray because they joined together.
17:29They're both so young.
17:30Would you like Archie Gray to be one of the next ones to sign a new contract to show him
17:35he's the future?
17:36I'm happy when I'm generous as a man.
17:41And when the people close to me extend his contract, I'm happy.
17:47Also, Anthony, if he extends his contract, I'm happy for him.
17:53And just finally, Richarlison trained with the group.
17:57Good, your contract? Long?
17:59No, long enough.
18:00No?
18:06Richarlison trained with the group this week.
18:08What's the latest with him? Is he close to a move or likely to stay?
18:11I repeat?
18:16I don't know.
18:17I don't know.
18:18I don't know.
18:19I don't know.
18:20It's not my job.
18:23What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison.
18:32And I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, in the last two
18:39months.
18:40I know.
18:42The club knows.
18:43He knows.
18:44His agent knows.
18:46Everyone knows.
18:49Better than you.
18:52Much better.
Comments

Recommended