De Zerbi reveals what he told Mathys Tel and names Tottenham star who was ‘very good’ vs Everton

· Football365

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has explained why he was frustrated with Mathys Tel against Everton.

De Zerbi said about Tel, as relayed by The Independent journalist Miguel Delaney on X at 8:19pm on September 12: “Yes, I coach him on the pitch… the striker can’t play with his back to the goal.

“He has to play like a striker, looking at the goal, or on the cross for Robertson.

“He has to stay inside.

“He started as a striker, eh, now he’s playing as a winger.”

The Tottenham manager added: “But I love Mathys as a player and a guy, there is not a problem.”

Roberto De Zerbi on Tottenham left-back Andy Robertson

While De Zerbi was not pleased with Tel, the Tottenham manager has praised left-back Robertson for his efforts during the game.

The former Liverpool left-back took one shot, played two key passes, and put in seven crosses – of which one was accurate.

Football.London quoted De Zerbi as saying: “There is a word in Italian that literally translates as we unblock ourselves.

“I think the team is incredibly strong and we can win games.

“We can find the goals with the quality of our players.

“The full-backs and their quality.

“Andy Robertson was very good today but we didn’t maybe trust his crosses enough.”

The Tottenham manager further said about his team’s performance: “I came last season when the s\ was like this (puts his hand up to his forehead), you know?

“S\, I repeat.

“And I’ve always been, not positive, but realistic.

“Now I explained, I’m sorry for the results, but it’s not immediate, no?

“Not the improvement, not immediate to make a team.

“Today we played as a team.

“We didn’t score, we didn’t win, but today and Nottingham I think we played as a team.

“And I can’t say nothing as an attitude, as a behaviour of the players, no, no.

“I said to stay calm, maybe to not lose the confidence because we are not scoring, we are not winning.

“Stay calm, improve, work hard and individually try to understand where is the improvement, no?”

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