Roberto De Zerbi does not believe that Tottenham’s poor start to the season is down to the squad lacking quality.
Hardly anyone would have predicted that Spurs would be winless after five Premier League games and in the relegation zone by the international break after the club’s ambitious summer business.
The Lilywhites’ latest defeat at home to Aston Villa has seen pressure now mount on De Zerbi, who will know that he has to turn things around quickly.
The Tottenham boss has been warned by pundits that Spurs will expect a return on their investment, but the Italian does not doubt the quality he has at his disposal.
Roberto De Zerbi’s opinion on the Tottenham players has not changed
Many of Spurs’ key men, especially in attack, have not delivered what was expected of them in the first month of the campaign.
However, De Zerbi insists that his opinion on the Tottenham players has not changed, and asserts that he has the best full-back options across the Premier League.
Speaking ahead of his side’s 3-2 loss to Villa, he said (via Football.London): “Even though we are not scoring, I cannot change my opinion of the players. Marmoush is a fantastic player. Savio is a fantastic player. Solanke when Solanke is fit is a very good player.
“Maddison, Kudus, Gallagher and Mateus [Fernandes] with different characteristics, all four of these players are very good. We have maybe the best full-backs in the Premier League. Robertson, Udogie and Pedro Porro. Five centre-backs, the qualities of the players, I cannot say anything different.”
De Zerbi stresses calm amid Spurs storm
There is understandably talk of crisis at Tottenham, and one would expect the pressure on the Italian to mount over the coming weeks.
However, De Zerbi is not panicking despite his side’s horrid start to the season, and the Tottenham boss is certainly not going to rip up his plans.
He added: “Sometimes you have to change everything and sometimes you have to improve what you already are doing, and sometimes you have to stay calm. We are working to improve what we are doing to be better, but also we have to stay calm because I know we have two points, but for our performances we could have had more than two points.”
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