On September 13 at 00:30 Beijing time (CEST), Tottenham Hotspur will host Everton in the League Cup Round 4. Ahead of the match, Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi attended a press conference. This article is the second part of the press conference.

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【De Zerbi: Maddison is ready to start; Pressure? There's only pressure when we're fighting against relegation like last season.】

Hi Roberto, how are you?

Very well.

Must your team win tomorrow? Just to silence all the external noise and prevent people from thinking that Tottenham will have another difficult season?

We do need to win, we need to score goals, we need to beat Liverpool next Tuesday and Aston Villa next weekend. We need to win, but just saying "we need to win" isn't enough. To win a match, we must establish the right way to win. So we must press, play our combinations, control the ball, play with courage, apply what we work on in training, and then see the final result. But if these fundamental elements of football are missing, you can't simply win the match.

You've mentioned the word "courage" twice in this press conference. Does your team have courage?

Yes. Because... sorry, because I think we can play much better. I work with the players every day, and I know them better than you do. In regular training, we play with more confidence, courage, and freedom, don't we? But in matches, when the opponent is only 3 or 4 meters away from us, it seems like we don't want the ball, or we're afraid to take risks, afraid that losing the ball will lead to a goal against us.

So where is the problem? I'm the head coach, and I will take responsibility—I can take full responsibility without conditions. But I want the team to operate, pass, control the ball, run, press, dribble past opponents, and take shots on goal, because I know the great potential my players have.

After the Newcastle United match, you mentioned a mentality issue. Have you tried to address it? Because you said that after the first two matches, there was a mentality problem with the team...

No, it was after we conceded the first goal. Because before we conceded, we played very well—not brilliantly, but very, very well. And after we conceded, I saw the morale of the midfield drop slightly. I don't want this to happen, because even if you concede a goal in the 60th minute, you still have 30 minutes to score one, two, or even three goals. We must fight and push until the final moment, especially now as we're building our values. Only when the referee blows the final whistle does the match truly end.

Before the match ends, we must try to get a result because this is our job. We play for a big club, and we must show respect to the club by fighting until the very end. After the match, we go home and see whether we won or lost. That's why I talk about mentality, understand? Overall, I'm satisfied because I have no complaints, nothing to criticize about the mentality, spirit, and professionalism of the players.

You just said Mudryk's injury is "frustrating and unexpected." What exactly happened?

He felt pain in his ankle during normal play, without making any particular change of direction. Two days later, he underwent detailed medical examination, and we understood what the problem was. But it took us a long time to fully understand—it is indeed an injury that has proven unexpectedly frustrating. But we're not naive; when we signed Mudryk, we already knew it might be difficult for him to recover fully from injuries like a regular player.

Another player who has returned from injury and has come off the bench a few times now: Mohammed Kudus. Obviously, you initially expected to have him back in April, but he had a setback. I remember you saying how important he is to you. Is he ready to start now? How big a role will he play for the team in the future?

I think he's very close to being ready to start. For me, that's fantastic. I wanted Kudus when I was coaching Brighton, and before he went to West Ham, I pushed hard for his signing. He can play as a winger, number 10, and even striker—he's a very good player.

Continuing on the winger topic, Savinho. I think you mentioned options on the left wing last week. Do you think Savinho can't play on the left, or do you prefer him cutting in from the right?

I was also a player previously, a winger, right? Maybe more as a number 10, but I played for years as a left-footed player on the right wing, and I really like inverted wingers. However, Savinho is world-class, and I think he can play both positions.

Hi Roberto, continuing on the left attacking topic, when James Maddison returns from injury, could he be an option on the left wing? Or do you still see him primarily as a number 10?

Yes, I think that could be an option. He's not typically a winger, but we could create a tactical structure where he cuts inside while pushing the left-back further forward. Maddison is very intelligent, and when you work with intelligent players, they can understand spatial positions on the pitch, they can feel and sense the right position based on the match situation.

Therefore, I think this will be a good solution, especially considering that when Conor Gallagher and Matheus Fernandes play as number 10, they're more like midfielders, number 10 midfielders, rather than inverted wingers like Xavi Simons was last season, you know? Sometimes you have a midfielder who can attack from the wing and then bring the ball inside, but that's not what I'm asking from Gallagher and Matheus. However, yes, Maddison, like Xavi Simons, can thrive in that position.

Bergvall has signed a new contract. Whenever we talk about Bergvall, we often mention Archie Gray, because they both joined the club together and are both still very young. Do you expect Archie Gray to be the next player to sign a new contract, showing him that he's the club's future?

As a generous and kind-hearted person, I'm happy every time someone around me extends their contract. Also Antonín (Kinsky), if he can extend his contract (already announced last season), I'd be happy for him too.

Finally, Richarlison participated in training this week. What's his latest condition? Is he close to leaving on transfer, or might he stay?

I'll repeat, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know—this is not within my area of responsibility. What I can say is that I'm very clear about everything the club has done for Richarlison, and I'm also very clear about everything Richarlison has done for the club over the past month or two. I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows—everyone knows much better than you do. Okay? Far better.

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