Roberto De Zerbi has provided an update on Pape Sarr, who has missed Tottenham’s last two matches with an injury.
Spurs are without several key players ahead of their trip to Villa Park, with Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke being the latest players to be added to the treatment table.
It appears that Tottenham are running out of attackers, but De Zerbi remains adamant that his side has the quality to win matches and get out of the bottom three.
Ahead of the big clash against Unai Emery’s side, there is some good news for the Italian on the injury front.
Roberto De Zerbi reveals Pape Sarr return to Tottenham training
De Zerbi has opted for a midfield three of Rodrigo Bentancur, Conor Gallagher and Yves Bissouma in Tottenham’s last two games against Brighton and Wolves.
Sarr has missed both matches due to an injury, but he did feature as a substitute in the Italian coach’s first game in charge at the Stadium of Light.
De Zerbi has confirmed that the Senegal international trained with the team on Friday, but refused to divulge whether the 23-year-old could be in the starting eleven on Sunday.
When asked if Sarr could feature against Villa, the 46-year-old told Football.London: “Today was the first day with the group but he worked very well. He’s available, yes. I have not decided yet the starting XI.”
De Zerbi admits he has no time to focus on Spurs’ style of play
While Tottenham’s performances have markedly improved since De Zerbi walked through the door, we have not yet seen the Lilywhites play in his trademark high-octane attacking style, aside from some spells in games.
However, the Spurs boss made it clear that he has to be careful in choosing the right information to relay to the players, admitting that now is not the time to make too many changes.
When asked if the team’s injuries and current predicament have forced him to shelve some tactical plans, De Zerbi responded: “Of course. The compromise is we can’t work too much, we can’t give them too much information, too many instructions, because at the beginning, when you have too many instructions, you lose speed. But I think they are smart, and they can understand quickly, and they need instructions, they need a fixed plan, a clear plan.
“In the first-half at Wolves, I think we played well. Not shooting too many times, not creating too many chances to score, not with the right speed, but in terms of order, occupation of the spaces, the line pass … maybe some mistakes in the decisions because too many times we went outside and we have to change the habits – sometimes we go outside, sometimes we keep the ball inside.
“Because keeping the ball inside, we can attack in the right side, in the left side, straight, and if we go outside you have just two parts – the right side and the centre, it’s difficult to go on the other side. Keeping the ball inside permits you to reach the winger and to go one-to-one and there is a lot of work to do, but now we have no time.”