At 00:30 CEST on September 13, Tottenham Hotspur will host Everton in the fourth round of the Premier League. After the media blackout period ended, the confidential section of Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi's pre-match press conference was revealed. This article is the first part of that content.

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You mentioned earlier that you felt the players lack confidence and freedom on the pitch compared to training. Can you elaborate on that?

No, no, no, but isn't that normal? Because at the start of the season, we haven't fully prepared the team. We lost the first game 0-3, which is very difficult. Then we played Newcastle United, and even though we didn't play perfectly, our performance was good enough to win for sure. But we lost 0-2. In my opinion — people only talk about statistics when you lose — we created 9 chances against Newcastle United, while Newcastle United only had 3. But ultimately you lose that game. A 0-2 result is really hard to accept.

Then I think we played well against Nottingham Forest. That's a fierce and very natural contest in the Premier League. The opponent is a very good team. Two years ago they reached the Europa League and fought to qualify for the Champions League. Their key players have been playing together for a long time, and this season Nottingham Forest has seen real changes with Drupa.

So I think, I hope we can play better with more confidence, more energy, and be more daring to take risks across all areas of the pitch. But taking risks across all areas of the pitch doesn't mean playing carelessly. No, you must have a serious mentality, but at the same time show the fighting spirit of top clubs and top players. That fighting spirit. But I think — and I believe strongly — that ultimately we will reach that level and achieve this goal. I want to accelerate this improvement process.

At the start of the season, you said you seemed very confident in the quality and great potential of this squad. Very confident. That it could compete for the league title, or at least finish in a top position. After a start like this, do you still have confidence that this team can be at the top of the table, not just struggling?

Yes, I think I still trust this group of players deeply. What I said back then doesn't match what you're talking about now. Because my words were different. I said before the Brentford match that before setting specific targets, we must become a real team first. But if you're trying to provoke me with that question, I want to say that I deeply love my players. I love this group of players. I think they have high quality.

But that alone isn't enough. We must show it. We must turn this quality into action on the pitch. If we want to win games, we must score goals. And to score goals, we must create tactical situations where we can score. In addition, we can defend better and play defensive football better. Against Nottingham Forest, we didn't face any significant threats. Why? Because I think everyone was more focused, more alert, and also because we made more effort during the training week.

Hello Roberto. Regarding Richarlison, I know this must be very frustrating and discouraging for you, right?

For me? No, no, no, no. I'm just sorry because I have less talented players in my team. Richarlison is a good kid, a very good person. I've talked to him many times. I've spent a lot of time trying to convince him to stay. But if you ask me, I know the truth. I know what happened over the past 45 days. Everything is very clear. But I'm not frustrated. Why?

So it seems what you're dissatisfied or frustrated about is the misinterpretation and the narrative created by outsiders, rather than by those who truly understand the internal situation. So would it be a fair and neutral description to say Richarlison's current situation is quite "messy and messy"?

Hmm... I think I have to repeat myself. I know what the club did for him over the past 45 days, and I also know Richarlison's own behavior. I understand it clearly myself. I don't think it's appropriate for me to go into details publicly right now, because it wouldn't be right. But I am genuinely sorry because things could have been different, and the story could have ended completely differently.

If it were another way, I think it would be better, wouldn't it? Or much better. Richarlison stays at the club. Richarlison is happy to stay and even happy to extend his contract. Because no matter what, he's still a very important player. He was important to us last season, and we can't forget that. But at the same time, we can't ignore everything that happened over the past 45 days.

Final question: When you first brought Brighton into the Premier League, many people thought you were a tactical innovator — a coach who could introduce tactical ideas that had never been seen before on the pitch. I'm just wondering how much do you think the Premier League has absorbed and caught up with your tactical concepts since then? And how much do you need to innovate tactically now?

No, I think over the past three or four years, compared to when I was at Brighton, the intensity of the Premier League has definitely increased. The physical contact has become more intense, and one-on-one duels happen more frequently. If you watch our game against Nottingham Forest, it was an ugly game. There was barely any pure football. Only pressing, second-ball battles, and even more so for them, because we were trying to play with control and passing all the time. The effective playing time in that game was only 47 minutes, and it's the same with Brentford. The intensity of the game is much higher than before.

And in terms of possession, everyone is pretty much the same, because you barely see many teams playing with smooth and beautiful possession football anymore, do you? Because it's very difficult to play with such high intensity and high pressing defense. It's not easy at all. The Premier League is completely different from Serie A, Ligue 1, and La Liga in every way — both in terms of game intensity and team structure. There are huge differences. But we definitely have to adapt. In any case, we can definitely play better than we did against Nottingham Forest.

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