In Matchday 4 of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 at home against Everton. After the match, Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi gave an interview to Sky Sports.

This is a difficult time for you, for the players, for the fans and for the whole club. How do you assess...?

No, these are not difficult times at all. I'm interrupting you precisely because these are not difficult times. Last season, when we played away against Sunderland and were fighting for survival, that was difficult. This is an unusual period, but it's also an inevitable stage in football – when you're in the process of rebuilding a team and you start late. We only really started working well together with Malmush, Savio, Solanke and Maddison on Thursday, two weeks ago.

I think we played very well in the first 30 minutes, but then, perhaps due to lack of match fitness, the whole team lacked endurance later on, and we're working hard on that. In terms of tactical and technical quality, we showed too little on the pitch. We need to threaten their goal more often. We entered Everton's penalty area 74 times, but we had far too few clear-cut chances, which doesn't fully reflect the level we showed tactically in the match. Undoubtedly, we need to redouble our efforts. We need to carefully review our actions in the final phase, because we made too many wrong decisions in the last third of the pitch. But I think overall the whole team played well today.

From your answer, a lot of key information can be drawn. Let's first talk about the players' physical condition. Is the lack of match fitness due to what you mentioned – that many players have had too little time to integrate back into the team – or are you facing other difficult issues that need to be addressed during preparation?

No, because the World Cup just finished, and many players in our squad played in the World Cup, which is an objective reality. We also have two or three injuries: Fernández, Micky van de Ven, who was injured in Australia; they couldn't take part in normal training earlier. And Solanke's injury. But I'm neither blindly optimistic nor pessimistic right now; I'm pragmatic. I think if the team can play at such a high level as they did in the first 30 minutes, it shows they're all capable of playing beautiful football. What we need to do now is gradually extend those excellent 30 minutes to 60 minutes, 65 minutes, 70 minutes, 80 minutes, and even a full 90 minutes. And in the final third, we need to maintain high concentration. Because today... if we had scored and won the game, everyone would be discussing an entirely different match right now, especially regarding your questions.

This is the first time in Tottenham's history that they've failed to score in four consecutive league matches at the start of a season. The club invested significantly in attacking players, with some signings made during your tenure and some before your arrival. How frustrating is it to see an attacking squad full of strikers still without a goal after six full hours of Premier League football?

I'm not a journalist and I don't write social media posts; I'm just a manager. My job is to assess my team's performance in matches, evaluate my players' qualities, and analyze deeply these potential attacking areas – where we could strike, where we could score, where we should have made smarter decisions.

You've often mentioned the word "courage" at recent press conferences. Do your forwards need to show more courage, greater belief and more decisive finishing in front of goal?

No, I just missed something very important. The team dominated the first 30 minutes, but we couldn't score. I think from that moment on, the players' confidence started to weaken, and it was significantly undermined. That's also an important issue we need to address right now. For most of the second half, I observed that the players on the pitch really seemed to lack confidence, and that's what I'm not happy with. Of course, not getting wins and goals shouldn't make anyone happy, but they should be confident that we're on the right path.

What do you think is the main cause of this lack of confidence? After all, by nature you're a very positive and self-assured person, accustomed to being a leader. Why can't the players maintain the momentum you demonstrate?

Because the players are human beings too; they have sensitive minds, real emotional fluctuations, and they think with their own brains, not mine, when they play. My job is to be here to help them, to guide them to focus on the details that need improvement. Because if we can play all 90 minutes with the same intensity as the first 30 minutes, I believe we can win most of our games.

Is there a gap between what you see on the training ground and what we see on the pitch on match day?

Not at all. What I saw on the pitch today is exactly this group of players under my command, especially in the first 30 minutes.

And one final question – for both managers and players, it's never pleasant to hear whistles from home supporters. What would you like to say to the fans who are expressing frustration at the start of the season?

I feel very sorry for the fans, and our whole team feels guilty. They were fantastic throughout the day, especially in the first half. When they saw the team playing beautiful football, pressing hard and trying to score, the supporters' emotions were completely in sync with the players on the pitch. The frustration expressed at the end of the match is a natural human reaction, isn't it? It's completely normal for fans to show emotion, and we should always be grateful for their support.

Will this goalless situation change? Do you firmly believe that this goal drought will pass?

My confidence? I just said that I'm a pragmatic person; I'm neither negative nor blindly optimistic.

Переведено ИИ.

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