Roberto De Zerbi previews Spurs' game against "strong in attack" Chelsea side
De Zerbi previews Spurs against Chelsea and backs Kane for the Ballon d'Or
De Zerbi discusses Spurs' confidence after their first win, Chelsea's attacking threat and Xabi Alonso, while also mentioning returning players such as Maddison. He says Spurs still need to build belief but can compete at Stamford Bridge, and he believes Kane deserves the Ballon d'Or.
- The first win was a relief and Spurs deserved it — Playing well without winning is painful, and this time they got the result they deserved
- The Coventry win was not Spurs' best performance, but it can still boost confidence — They played better in some earlier games, while Coventry defended well and were hard to break down in a low block
- Chelsea are one of the best teams in the Premier League, but Spurs have the quality to compete and try to win — Chelsea have good players and a good coach, and Spurs have their own quality
- Xabi Alonso is a good coach who did well at Bayern and was merely unlucky at Real Madrid — He respects Alonso and believes Alonso showed his quality at both Bayern and Madrid
- Chelsea are very strong in attack and complete as a team — They build from the goalkeeper, their centre-backs like to control the game, their midfielders create for the forwards, their wingers can win one-v-ones and they attack space
- Spurs' record at Stamford Bridge should be extra motivation rather than pressure — Tottenham's fans deserve more wins and more celebrations
- James Maddison is a special and different player, and the team changes a lot with or without him — Maddison stands out for his experience, personality and ability, while Pedro Porro is another important player the team is waiting for
- Spurs' problem is not their style or tactical understanding but adapting to a new club, pressure and expectations — The players need to understand a different club, pressure and expectations, but he still has great confidence in them
- Injuries should not change the team's mentality and spirit, and Spurs must show more character, passion and energy — They have enough players to fight and try to win
- Harry Kane deserves to win the Ballon d'Or — Kane is a complete player who can play as a No. 9, No. 10, No. 7 or No. 6 and scores many goals, though competition is very hard with top players such as Dembele and Yamal
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi sits down to reflect on his teams difficult start to the Premier League season, and looks ahead to their next game against Chelsea. He also discusses whether he believes Harry Kane should win this year's Ballon d'or. 00:00 - Discusses importance of first win 02:08 - How has Xabi Alonso started at Chelsea? 03:30 - How can Tottenham Hotspur stop Chelsea scoring? 04:30 - How does De Zerbi decide which style of football to play? 05:20 - How does De Zerbi motivate the team against Chelsea? 06:13 - How important is players returning from injury? 09:09 - How important are the new signings from the summer? 10:12 - How will the team shape up against Chelsea? 11:40 - Should Harry Kane win the Ballon d'or? SkySportsNews SkySports TottenhamHotspur ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsnews ► X: https://x.com/SkySportsNews ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage
Transcript
So Roberto, you had your first win against commentary. How much of a relief was that for you? Oh, we are happy because uh you know when when you are playing well and you are not able to win is is suffering no is a bad uh emotion but at the end we deserve to win and now we have to follow playing better because in Manchester or Aston Villa Fest or other games we play better than Coventry game uh but was very very positive this win. >> Yeah. You did mention after the game that you know like you said you played better against Manchester United against Villa as well against Liverpool in the Carabal Cup but does that give you more confidence knowing that even though you didn't play up to the standard that you expected you was able to get the win? Listen, I love being uh honest always when I win and when when we win when we lose and uh and I said uh we played much better other games by the end. I I think if you analyze this game, we have to recognize the credit of Coventry because Coventry also uh okay with Newcastle but also in Man City game they defended very well and uh playing against them especially when they defend in love block is very tough. Um I think can be important for the for the enthusias for the confidence. Uh but anyway now we have a different totally different game. We have a derby. Chelsea are good players, good coach, very good team, one of the best in Premier League, but I think we have the qualities to fight in the right way, to play well and to to try to win the game for sure. >> You mentioned Chelsea just then. What have you made of Jabia Alonzo's star to his life at Chelsea? Did you expect him to start so fast? But >> I like I like Alonso a lot. I have a big respect. I think he did a great job in Bayern Bayern Leen. I think he was unlucky in Real Madrid. But uh I think he he was playing well even in Madrid and Chelsea are good players. They are playing with around the 80% of the same players in the last two three season. They lost and so Fernandez, but they brought u Rogers, they brought Lu, they brought players with big experience like uh Henderson and Wellbeck. So I think they they have a complete squad complete in every uh part of the pitch. But um Tottenham as well as a a great squad, great players. Maybe maybe for sure we have to improve in the in the confidence in the in the confidence ourself but um we are younger as a team as a player maybe also but I think we have a big potential. >> You mentioned there you know you both got really good players. you you also both like playing attacking football, possession based football. How do you how do you stop them from scoring because they've scored a lot of goals this season? >> Yes, they they they are very strong in attack but because they have big attackers but they play football from the the goalkeeper because the center back they they love taking the control of the game. The midfielder have a qualities to to to play a good to play for the attackers. They playing between the line. They playing in in the one to one in winger position. They attack the space. They are complete. >> You played a back three against commentary. You mentioned that was because of the the players you had available but the way you wanted to stop them from from counterattacking. How do you decide what type of football you're going to play against a team? Is it on the team sheet that you're seeing or is it just depending on >> depends of the the the the player available to play the player who I I go to select create the the the occupation of the space because uh as a principle of the play I think nothing change uh change just the the occupation of the spaces Uh I love putting the players in the best position. They they they want to play. They they they are uh used to playing and nothing more. >> Historically, this is a fixture that Spurs have struggled in at Stanford Bridge. Is that something that you use as motivation for your side to say, you know what, we don't normally get result here, but let's do something. But for sure it's not a pleasures because um it's simple to understand because uh um we are playing for Tottenham. We won the good of the Tottenham but we didn't play in the past in the Tottenham. I was not the I've been I've not been the the coach of Tottenham. So we can't uh uh feel this record as a pressure for sure as a motivation. one motivation more for sure because uh our fans deserve more win and deserve to celebrate many wins. >> Let's talk about some of the players that have come back into the side. James Madison, one of them, he scored a great goal against Cometry. He spoke after and said that he spoke to you about maybe getting a start and getting back into the side and getting more consistency. How was that conversation for you and how positive is it to see someone be so willing to get back into the side and make an impact? But from the beginning of my time in Tottenham, I always said uh uh great things about James Med as a player because he's a special player, different player as a guy because just in terms of experience is a is a personality is different. You can you can see the team with or without medicine has a big uh big change. Um also Kuleski is very important. We are waiting for Pedro Porro because he's another top player for us. But I'm positive because the the behavior the the energy the the relationship as well between the players all these parts are improving a lot. We are becoming team but we need to become teams team. We we need to to follow in this way to make results in a row and to play with the same uh attitude we we have done in the last two games. >> And I feel like there's there's a real emphasis from your side to build a relationship with the fans. You said after the game that Kulleski was for the fans and the reaction was great and almost spurred you on to to get another goal. How key is that for the the positivity moving forward for the team? >> Bakuluseski is another player like Medis. They they live for football. They feel football. They they smell football in the training ground in in the during the game. And this this team my team so young so young as a team not just in the on the players and the age of the players but uh or the experience of the players but also as a team we changed the 12 players in one transfer market window. So the players of this level, human level, character level and as a qualities on the pitch can help the others on the development to to to increase to improve the development to be fast >> the developer. >> You just mentioned there about the the amount of players that came in in the summer. Do you feel like you're now starting to see, especially with the players that are coming back, you're starting to see the way your team wants to play and the and the rhythms that that they create on the pitch? >> Yes, I think it's not a problem about the style of play or to understand the the the tactical disposition. The problem is has been I don't know but is to understand a different club a different maybe pressure a different uh expectation but um I still have a big confidence in the players in our players sinho tonali matos fernandez all are very very important players >> you know any updates in terms of players coming back from injury, whether um players maybe got injured in the last game. Do you feel like the the team is at good stage going into the game against Chelsea? >> Yes, I think we have um injuries but we have player enough to uh to play to fight to to to try the the way to win a game. Uh one player more, one player less injuries or not. I think the mentality and the spirit of the group of the team can't change and even in the in the the stronger situation maybe with um injuries or with some important player on the box. We have uh we have to show more character, more uh passion, more energy because we we have good enough to do. >> And how big would it be to get a result against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? Yes, very important for the for the for the confidence first of all because um because we need to believe more and more to to increase improve in the in the confidence. Many times I say I I look my players nicer than they look themselves. No. But is a is a process is a is a journey and when we arrive the top of the of the mentality of the confidence I think we can show all our qualities. >> Amazing. And separately an ex um Spurs captain is up for the Balonor award. Harry Kane. There's been a lot of talk around whether he deserves it or not. What's your stance? I think he deserve to win the ball door because um Kane is a number nine, a number 10, a number seven, a number six. He's a total complete player. He scored many goals. But the competition is very very hard because uh Dembele or Yamal or Afinia all of them are uh top players. >> Thank you so much, Roberto. Good luck for the game.