Roberto De Zerbi has made a very interesting admission about Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham while explaining his style of play.
The Spurs head coach has understandably been hesitant to talk about his preferred style of play, given that he is taking over a club that is involved in a relegation battle and is winless in the league in 2026.
In his first interview with the club’s official challenge last week, De Zerbi revealed that he favours a possession-based, attacking approach, but admitted that he does not have time to work on his principles of play right now.
Ahead of his first game in charge of the Lilywhites, the Italian has now made an interesting admission about a former Spurs boss.
Roberto De Zerbi wants to see the Tottenham he saw in Ange Postecoglou’s first season
De Zerbi’s final season at Brighton coincided with Ange Postecoglou’s first in North London, with Tottenham securing a fifth-place finish in 2023-24 while playing some scintillating football.
The new Spurs head coach stated he was a big fan of that Spurs side, and admitted that he wants to see the team play with similar attacking intent under him.
When asked about the style of play he wants to implement, De Zerbi responded: “I want to keep the ball. I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou, because in my second season in Brighton, there was Postecoglou here with a lot of these players.
“It was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play, with Pedro Porro, Udogie, Van de Ven, with Romero, and I would like to see it again.”
De Zerbi admits he has had one-on-one meetings with Spurs players
The Italian has had around 10 days to work with the squad on the training ground in the lead up to his first game at the Stadium of Light.
De Zerbi admitted that he has been careful not to burden the Tottenham players with too many ideas and revealed that he spent the last week and a half metitng a lot his players individually.
When asked what his focus has been on over the last 10 days, he said: “I’ve had a lot of individual meetings with the players. A lot. I’ve spoken with all players. I analysed Sunderland because it is a tough game. They are playing a great season with very good players and a very good coach,” said the new head coach.
“I have no time to think of other things. Just football, just meeting the players, organising, transferring and finding the best way to transfer my ideas, two or three, not too many ideas, that I want to see on the pitch from Sunday.”