Former Tottenham midfielder Sandro is confident about how the Spurs players will feel working with Roberto De Zerbi and has revealed what the squad should be prepared for.
De Zerbi’s appointment is not universally popular among the Tottenham fan base, with some supporters raising concerns about the Italian’s character.
However, the news of the 46-year-old’s arrival appears to have been well received by the players.
It has been reported that the Spurs players are excited about working with De Zerbi, and the club’s hierarchy will be hoping that the Italian can get an instant response from the squad, which his predecessor, Igor Tudor, failed to do.
Sandro expects Tottenham players to ‘fall in love’ with Roberto De Zerbi
The former Spurs star, who worked with De Zerbi in 2018 at Benevento, has shed light on the Italian’s man-management style.
Sandro revealed that the new Tottenham boss is very good at improving players, adding that he expects the Spurs squad to enjoy his training sessions.
When asked what De Zerbi can do for the Spurs squad, Sandro told Tottenham’s official website: “We have good players. With Benevento, when I met him, we didn’t have top players, we some had ‘okay’ players and he turned them into good players. He can help with the level of our players and they will fall in love with him, no doubt.
“I know football, I was at Brighton when I did my coaching internship with him and the players liked him. The players that we have will love to work with him. For me, it was a pleasure to learn from him at Brighton. I was there five months, he opened up the door for me and I was glad to have that chance – I watched every training session, every game and, wow, it was amazing.
“I was his player before, his captain in Benevento and we spoke a lot about football, so to see him in the Premier League, I always liked the feeling and I wanted him to sign with Spurs, because I love Spurs. That moment is now. It’s a huge moment for us and I’m glad, because he’s the right one to suit our style. You will see in the games the passion that he has, everything he does you will understand because he really loves football.”
Sandro has even been rumoured to join De Zerbi at Tottenham as an assistant coach (Football London).
Sandro tells Spurs players what De Zerbi’s character is like
However, the former Tottenham midfielder did have a slight warning to the Spurs squad as they get set to work under the former Brighton boss for the first time
Sandro revealed that De Zerbi is someone who approaches training sessions with full intensity and commands complete focus from his squad.
When asked about the new Spurs boss’ character, the Brazilian said: “He’s got energy, he’s got passion. I was his captain, and we were talking every day about football. You don’t have to be afraid. He is very intense – I will say that – and the players will need to be prepared because he will demand focus in the training sessions, he will ask everybody to be ready but this is nice, this is what we love as players, to work with someone who pushes us upwards and teaches us, so I’m very excited to see him work at Spurs.
“At Benevento, he joined just before the winter. He called me to sign – I was one of his first ideas – and although he was very young and it was one of the first jobs that he got, I was 29 years old and he improved me, made me come to every single session with excitement. I told him this and said ‘you are one of the best managers’. He laughed at me, but it was true.”