On September 19 at 19:30 Beijing time (CEST), Tottenham Hotspur will host Aston Villa in the 5th round of the Premier League. Following the lifting of the embargo, the confidential portion of Tottenham Hotspur head coach De Zerbi's pre-match press conference was released. This article covers the first part of that material.

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Hello Roberto, I wanted to ask about Conor Gallagher. Last season, when you showed videos to some players to energize them, Conor later mentioned that you showed him a video called "Dominate the Midfield." How do you plan to help him recapture that feeling of dominating the midfield now?

Look, even if he doesn't start every match, I really like him because he's very generous, selfless, and committed. He's an intelligent player with the right mentality for the game. In football there are other factors—tactical attributes that you need to figure out before the match, because after the match it's always easier to analyze, but before the match you need to determine which player attributes you need most for that specific game. When Conor hasn't played, it's simply because I needed players with different characteristics in those particular matches, that's all.

Last season's match against Aston Villa was crucial in saving the team's season. If I remember correctly, Conor scored the first goal. It seems he's somewhat underrated, or do you think he's genuinely sometimes underrated by the outside world? Can he provide the creative spark the team desperately needs now?

Personally, absolutely not—he's not underrated at all. Perhaps for other managers or other people, but not for me. Last season, when I first took over, Conor didn't get many opportunities before signing his contract, but since I arrived, he's started in almost every match.

The situation last season was different; we didn't have the depth of competition we have now. But I really like him, he's my player, and I know he's a very reliable player. Whenever I call on him, he's always ready to play, fight, run. So for me, he's definitely not underrated.

One last question: last season the club publicly announced it was looking for a sports psychologist. I'd like to know what impact that had?

You should ask John Lange (the sporting director) or the club management. You can email them; I'm just a coach, not a club representative. I don't know, to be honest, I really don't. I think the club has always done everything possible to create the best conditions for the players, but I'm not aware of the specific details about the psychologist.

Hello Roberto, in your previous coaching career, have you ever experienced a period where your team struggled to score goals?

No, never, never. I may have conceded many goals, but I've never had difficulty scoring. I think it's just a coincidence, yes, pure coincidence. That's what I think, because if we can create four or five great chances away at Liverpool—chances from Bergvall and Kudus in the first half, and a few chances from Marmoush in the second half, plus Gallagher's goal—creating 9 goalscoring opportunities at Anfield is definitely not insignificant, is it? And against Everton, although there weren't as many absolute clear-cut chances, there were one or two obvious opportunities and another three or four potential goalscoring moments.

Even if we can't score right now, I will never change my opinion about these players or my assessment of their abilities and qualities. Because Marmoush is an outstanding player, Savio is an outstanding player, and Dominic Solanke is also a very good player when fit. Marmoush, Kudus, Conor Gallagher, and Matheus all have different attributes, but all four of these players are extremely good. We also have perhaps the best full-backs in the Premier League, such as Andrew Robertson, Udogie, and Pedro Porro—they're all at the highest level. We have five centre-backs, each better than the last. So far, I have no doubts about the quality of these players.

So you sometimes wake up in the morning thinking about new ways to change the situation?

No. Sometimes you see that everything needs to change, sometimes you just need to improve what you're already doing, and sometimes you need to stay calm. I think we're working hard to improve where necessary and striving to get better, but at the same time we need to stay calm. I know "ifs" and "buts" aren't really appropriate hypothetical words... but judging by our current results, we have only two points on the table, and from my perspective, we should have picked up far more than two points.

Since we're talking about "ifs" and "buts," let me add one more: you sold Will Lankshear to Middlesbrough, and he's scored 8 goals in 10 matches. Was selling him a mistake?

No, I don't think it was a mistake. Because Dominic Solanke is a good player, and Marmoush is also a good player. And then, the situation with Valon Berama. The situation with Valon Berama changed in the last five days of the transfer window—that happened without my decision.

If that hadn't happened, would you have kept Will? How many strikers would you like to have in your squad?

Three strikers, I think three strikers are enough.

You just mentioned that staying calm is very important. I'm curious whether you've taken any specific measures to help the players stay calm—for example, helping them temporarily distance themselves from the pressure of results?

No, the day after the Liverpool match I didn't talk much to the players because, you know, the manager's voice can't constantly ring in their ears, but yesterday we had a good training session with the players. Now I think we need to improve and help the new players adapt better. For example, Tonali and Matheus Fernandes, I think they can play much better, but we need to help them adapt better, help them understand the club, understand everything.

For example, Jan-Paul van Hecke, after struggling in the first two matches, has shown a very high level in the last three or four matches; Marmoush demonstrated his best form against Liverpool and Tottenham; after Savio recovered from injury, I think he's also ready to show his true self; Andrew Robertson was perhaps the best player on the pitch against Everton; Lucas Bergvall also performed well at Anfield. So there's no fundamental adaptation problem with the new players. I think we started a bit late for various reasons, but we're closing that gap by working harder.

Переведено ИИ.

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