Spurs vs Everton | Every word of Roberto De Zerbi’s pre-match press conference

Here’s what he had to say...

What’s the latest team news?

Roberto: “Kulusevski is not working with us in the last week. Not a big problem, the normal problem when one player is out for a long time, like Mudryk. It was a stupid injury of Mudryk, and we hope he can be back as soon as possible. For him and for us, for him because he suffered too much and for us because we lost one player, an important player. He played 20 minutes, 15 minutes in Nottingham, he played well, but it's the normal process when one player doesn't play for a long time.”

Is Maddison back?

Roberto: “Maddison, yes. I'm happy when all my players are available. It's maybe a problem for me because my decisions are not easy, but I want to manage all players together.”

How impressed have you been with Lucas Bergvall after he signed a new contract?

Roberto: “I’m delighted for the extension of his contract. He’s working very well. It's difficult now because the competition, especially in his position – Tonali, Bentancur, Gallagher are all players of high level, but I think at the end of the season he will play part of the game, many games, I think, and then he has to improve. We have to help him to improve, and he has to work like he has done, like he’s doing, especially in this season. At the beginning of the pre-season he has been fantastic on the pitch.”

How different is this squad compared to the game against Everton at the end of last season?

Roberto: “I think we are better than last season, especially the end of the season, many, many injuries. It's difficult to believe right now because we are not winning, we are not scoring, but I'm positive because I believe in my players, I believe in this group of players. I think the players have big, big qualities, big potential and now I'm positive. I don't say nothing more because at the end, there is always the result of the pitch and the performance, but I think we are working well also this week. In Nottingham, I watched something different than Brentford, for sure. Newcastle was a particular game because, until one hour of the game, I think we deserved to win that part of the game. Then we lost 2-0, but I think we are in the right way, in the right moment for the improvement.”

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Does the fact that the team is yet to score a goal play on your mind?

Roberto: “I'm not happy, for sure, because I suffer the defeat, I suffer when I don't score, but I'm not so young, I have experience enough to analyse better the situation. And I said in Brentford we were not ready for many, many reasons. In Newcastle, until the first goal, we played better than Newcastle and we deserved to score in the first half. Not one time, more times. In Nottingham we played a normal Premier League game against one physical team, one team who played the second ball. I think we didn’t concede a shot on our goal, we had one clear chance with Micky van de Ven on set-pieces and two big, big potentials, one was Tonali for Savio in the first half and in the second half, Marmoush for Kudus and Andy Robertson, so I think it was a normal game. We can play much better, for sure. We are not happy. Pressure, no. Why pressure? The pressure was last season in that situation of the table, not now, because now we are working to become a team and we are building a new team with new relationships, with new connections, with new style of play, with new, many players. So I think we have to stay calm and to stay positive and without any pressure.”

What do you expect from the new signings?

Roberto: “The qualities, for sure, because I am sure about the qualities of Robertson, Senesi, Mateus Fernandes, Tonali, Savio, JP van Hecke, Marmoush. I am sure. Even if they don't play well, I can't change my idea now. And then I would like to see one team playing with courage, with energy, to try to dominate the game, dominate the pressure with the right spirit, with the spirit I like.”

What do you expect from Everton?

Roberto: “Playing against Everton is the same, because Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Pickford, Dewsbury-Hall, all of them, Mykolenko, Grealish, are very good players, very physical players. They know very well the Premier League, but I think we have to be focused on our qualities, we have to be focused on what we have to do on the pitch and play without thinking about other things in the head.”

Do you need to win on Saturday to stop people talking about another possible season of struggle?

Roberto: “We need to win, we need to score, we need to win against Liverpool on Tuesday, against Aston Villa next week. We need to win, but it's not enough to say we need to win the game, we have to build the right way to win the game, so we have to press, we have to play, we have to keep the ball, we have to play with courage, to play following what we are doing on the training ground and then we go to see the result. But without this part of football, it's not like you win the game.”

You’ve mentioned the word courage twice…

Roberto: “Yes, because I think we could play much better because I work with the players every day, I know the players better than you, and during the week we play with more confidence, with more courage, with more freedom. And during the game when we have the opponent 3m, 4m, it's like we don't want the ball or we don't want to take any risks because if we lose the ball, we can concede a goal, what is the problem? I'm the coach, I take the responsibility I have to take without problem, but I would like to play, to play, to play, to play, to run, to press, to dribble, to shoot many times, more times on the goal, because I know the potential of my players.”

You mentioned after the Newcastle game about mentality…

Roberto: “No, after the first goal, because we played well, not amazing, but we played very well until the goal we conceded and then I saw a little demoralisation, a little down in the mood and I don't want that, because the game, if you concede a goal, 60 minutes, you have another 30 minutes to score one or two or three goals, and we have to push until the end. Also because, especially in this moment, we have to build our value, and we lose the game when the referee says it's finished, the game. Until the end of the game, we have to push, forgetting the result, because it's our job. We play for a big club, and we have to respect our club. How? Pushing until the end. When the game finishes, we go home and we go to see if we won or we lost the game. For that, I said the mentality, not in general. In general, I'm happy because I can't say anything about the mentality, the spirit, the behaviour of the players. Nothing to say.”

What happened with Mudryk’s injury?

Roberto: “Playing without tackle, without different movement, he felt pain (in the) ankle and then after two days he made the medical check and we knew the problem, but after a long time, we knew. A stupid injury, but we are not stupid. When we signed Mudryk, we already knew it could be difficult to come back as a normal player.”

Is Kudus ready to start and how important is he?

Roberto: “I think very close to being ready to start the game. It’s an amazing feeling for me. I wanted Mo Kudus when I was in Brighton. I pushed a lot to bring him before he went to West Ham. He can play as a winger, as a number 10 and as a striker also, and he is an amazing player.”

Do you see Savio as being able to play on the left?

Roberto: “I was a player and I was a winger or maybe more number 10, but I played many years as a right-winger and left foot. I love the wingers on the opposite side but Savio is top. I think he can play in both positions.”

Can Maddison play on the left as well?

Roberto: “Yes, I think he can be an option. Normally he is not a winger but we have to build the situation to put inside and push higher the left-back. Maddison is very smart and when you play with smart players, they can understand the right position, they can smell the right position. It depends on the situation but it can be a good solution and especially because Conor Gallagher and Mateus Fernandes as a 10, they can play as a midfielder, as a 10 midfielder, not as a winger inside like Xavi Simons last season. Maybe sometimes you have a midfielder who is able to start as a winger and then come inside with the ball in possession, but it is not like this for me and my idea for Gallagher and Mateus. But yes, Maddison is like Xavi and he can play that position.”

Would you like to see Archie Gray sign a new deal like Lucas Bergvall just has?

Roberto: “I am happy when… I am generous as a man and when the people close to me extend their contract, I am happy.”

What’s the latest with Richarlison?

Roberto: “I don’t know, I don’t know. It’s not my job. What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison and I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, in the last two months. I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows, everyone knows. Better than you (the media). Much better.”

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