At 00:30 Beijing Time (CEST) on September 13, Tottenham Hotspur will host Everton in the fourth round of the Premier League. After the media embargo ended, the off-the-record portion of Tottenham Hotspur head coach De Zerbi's pre-match press conference was released. This article is the second part of that content.

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Roberto, you must know that over the past year or so, home performance has been a very complicated issue for Tottenham Hotspur. How do you plan to improve the team's performance and results at home?

We can improve this statistic by winning matches, but as I said before, to win matches, we must create the objective conditions to win, so we must play better. We must play with more confidence, more energy, more fighting spirit, and more bravery. I think the quality of our players is sufficient to build and create these conditions, and that's it. Because if you think too much about it, I think you'll end up at a dead end. No, I think good players need to know how to play with and without the ball, and how to play simpler and more direct football.

Because it seems the players struggle under high pressure playing at home, facing pressure from the fans...

No, I don't think so. Because at Nottingham, we didn't play at home, we played away. If we review that match together, I could show you how many times we actually had enough space and time to play better, more brilliantly, and show greater bravery and active movement to receive the ball.

But this is also a gradual process, and now we must stay strong. In any case, we must... The reason I remain positive and optimistic is because the players have very good quality, and also considering the difficulties we've faced in these past two months. Some players went to the World Cup, and some players joined late in the transfer window, so it's very normal to pay some price for that.

You just mentioned Bergvall. With so many competitors in midfield, is this part of the reason you tried to convince him? I mean, to make him believe that staying at Tottenham as a rotation player or squad depth player, and receiving tactical guidance under your leadership, would be more valuable than going elsewhere for more stable playing time to develop himself?

I think... No, I think he is a central midfielder, and I think he can fully develop his technical characteristics. For example, three days ago – early this week – we talked, and I told him: "Lucas, a player of your level shouldn't lose possession twice so easily, like in the match against Brentford, especially at certain critical moments in that match. You're a starter, and I won't change my opinion about your talent and ability because of those two turnovers, because you do have great potential, but ultimately, you need to improve your game experience. Experience can be accumulated through playing, yes, but first, you must understand where we need to improve."

He agreed, he's a very intelligent young man. Yesterday I spoke with his parents, they're remarkable people. Now I want to stay in close contact with his father, because I want to help this player. Before helping him become a good player, I want to help him as a young man, because he has very great potential.

During the transfer window, we rejected transfer offers for him, offers that were very generous, so you can see how much faith the club and I have in him. Because perhaps, well, we spent a lot of money, but we also have quite a few great players who could be sold to raise funds. And the reason we didn't sell Bergvall is precisely because we all unanimously believe that he is a great player with unlimited potential in the future. And even now, he's already a very good player.

You just mentioned the high-intensity physical confrontation in the Premier League. After last week's match against Nottingham Forest, you mentioned that Solanke's chances near the end of the match – if his physical condition was closer to its peak – he might have been able to capitalize on them. How far is he from his peak physical condition now? What role do you think he will continue to play in the team?

I think he's very close, he's a crucial core player in our team. Solanke, with his technical characteristics, his leadership, and his individual quality, is very close to his best performance. After being on the bench for two consecutive matches – against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest – I think he's ready to start a match, or at least he could be a starter in next Tuesday's match (away League Cup match against Liverpool).

But as I said, the intensity and physical confrontation currently in the Premier League... Because from the perspective of pure athletic and tactical quality of the game, I think the Premier League currently has actually declined compared to three years ago. This isn't just for one club, but a universal phenomenon. It's not because the players or coaches aren't good enough, but because the game is too difficult. You have no room to maneuver, no time to think. Compared to two, three, or four years ago, individual duels and one-on-one battles have increased sharply, so you must adjust and change your tactical ideas.

For example, now many teams employ man-marking defensive strategies under high pressure. In this situation, you only have two options: either you try to force passes and break the pressure from the back, but this is never easy; or you have to fight for the second ball, or prepare some different tactical routines to engage in one-on-one battles with opponents under high pressure, rather than passively retreating near your own goal. Modern football is evolving in this direction, especially in the Premier League and Champions League. When you face top giants like Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, this is the level of competition they demonstrate.

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