Roberto De Zerbi has harshly criticized the negativity surrounding Tottenham as they look to escape West Ham and survive relegation from the Premier League.
Roberto De Zerbi has a super positive outlook on Spurs’ chances (Image: Andrew Kearns/Getty Images)
Roberto de Zerbi began his press conference ahead of Tottenham’s important trip to Aston Villa on Sunday with an impassioned four-minute rant about the negative situation surrounding the club.
Spurs will face 5th place Villa, who are looking for a win with a two point difference from 17th place West Ham. De Zerbi ended a 16-game winless run in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Wolves last weekend, but that result came at a price.
They lost Xavi Simmons to a serious knee injury and Dominic Solanke was also substituted with a hamstring problem. This means there are currently 10 players missing from the relegation scrap. But De Zerbi is determined that his players and fan base are looking only ahead.
Asked about the injury at the beginning of Friday’s press conference, he replied, “Listen, I want to be clear for once.” “The most important challenge now is to silence the voices within us, inside the players, inside the staff and inside the fans. These voices can create negativity.
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“The voice was, ‘We are unlucky, we have too many injuries, we lost Xavi Simons, and he was one of our best players and most important players in the last two games, we don’t have enough medical staff, the stadium pitch is not good, the training ground is not good enough. The pitch is not good either, we haven’t won too many games in 2026 so it’s impossible to win two or three in a row. I think that’s all negative. And I think that’s bullshit. I want to stay focused on myself and the quality of my players.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the Premier League at the moment. We have a lot of respect for[Unai]Emery as a manager, but even if Tottenham win at Villa Park, it will not be a miracle. Maybe we will lose, I don’t know, but we have the quality to win this game and it will not be a miracle. So I think you have to be positive and lucky because you are working at a big club.”
“Even if Solanke and Xavi are injured, we can play with (Randall) Kolo Muani, Matthijs Tell and Richarlison and I don’t think they are inferior players. They are different characters but very good players. We have Pedro Polo, we have (Destiny) Udo. We have Gui, we have Micky van de Ven, we have (Rodrigo) Bentancur, we have Parinha, we have (Conor) Gallagher, the two of us! So I don’t have to listen too much and I don’t have to listen to this (negative) stuff.
Xavi Simmons was carried off on a stretcher at Molineux (Image: Simon Stacpoole/Getty Images)
He added: “We have to die on the pitch and to die on the pitch we have to lose games. We have to fight before we lose games and although we have two points less than West Ham, West Ham have to play as difficult games as we do.”
“To that end, I understand, this is not the best moment for us. It’s a tough moment, a difficult moment, but losers cry. Losers think negative things. I don’t want people close to me to cry or think differently than me.
“We’re good enough to win games, we’re good enough to keep winning, and you’ll see that. Because that’s the unique way I know. The way I know is to work hard, give my best, communicate my thoughts on the players and their confidence, and be realistic. I don’t think many people are realistic right now.”
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