Roberto De Zerbi says his Tottenham players continue to lack physical fitness and must “unblock” themselves in psychological terms after they drew their latest Premier League blank in a home 0-0 with Everton. It is now four games in the competition since the start of the season without a goal for Spurs; they sit 17th in the table with two points and were booed off by frustrated fans. De Zerbi gave a number of explanations for Spurs’ slow start, chief among them the injuries that a clutch of players sustained on the long-haul pre-season tour to New Zealand and Australia.
He lamented the impact of the World Cup on the return dates of certain players and mentioned how Sávio and Omar Marmoush had signed late in the transfer window. De Zerbi talked up a positive opening 30 minutes from his players against Everton but accepted they ran out of steam and that there was a psychological problem. The team is extremely strong, we can score goals and we can win games.
And then we have to respect the history of the players in their careers. Forget Dominic Solanke and Marmoush – the other players … they didn’t score many, many goals in their careers and we have to find these goals. I think we can do so with the quality of our play.” De Zerbi warmed to a familiar theme when he went back to the pre-season tour.
Micky van de Ven suffered an injury in Australia. Mateus Fernandes suffered an injury in Australia. He lost 15 days and it’s not so quick.
Sávio and Marmoush, they came 10 days ago. I started to work with this [whole] group not last Thursday but two Thursdays ago. So, I think we have not the right physical condition yet.
We have to be not positive but realistic. We have to improve in the last third of the pitch, for sure. The last decision, the last pass and we have to shoot more times, especially when we have space and time.
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