Roberto De Zerbi speaks to Lucas Bergvall ahead of his first training session as Tottenham Hotspur head coach (Image: Tottenham)
Roberto De Zerbi met Tottenham players for the first time on Friday and then got straight to work at the Hotspur Way training ground. The Italian signed a five-year deal with Spurs this week and will be tasked with steering them away from relegation in the Premier League before rebuilding them into a stronger team from next season.
Having secured a work permit, De Zerbi began instilling his football philosophy in the squad at Enfield’s training facility on Friday. The new head coach has nine days before De Zerbi’s former team Brighton visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 18 before returning to league action against Sunderland on April 12.
Spurs players left training praising the 46-year-old for his opening session, with one player telling a close friend it was “fantastic” and several others returning with glowing reports about the quality of the game.
Here are five things we noticed from the club’s extended video of De Zerbi and the Tottenham players training outdoors.
After training in the gym, De Zerbi led a group of first-team regulars and a few academy players onto the grass at Hotspur Way.
Although none of his new coaching staff were featured in the footage, the Italian was firmly at the heart of the game as a manager, providing feedback and coaching instructions throughout the session, which consisted of physical warm-ups, passing ronds, end-to-end possession drills and a final six-a-side match involving three teams.
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We only got glimpses of the session, but when De Zerbi made his way onto the Enfield pitch, he headed straight for Lukas Bergvall, put his arm around the young Swede and had long conversations with him around the pitch.
The new Spurs manager also had a word with Matthijs Tell during Rondo, and appeared to focus on where to look and how to move your head before passing or changing direction.
Rounding out the impressive trio of 20-year-olds, the name ‘Archie’ rarely left the lips of De Zerbi as he patrolled the pitch, calling out Archie Gray’s name on numerous occasions.
Snippets of De Zerbi’s instructions to his players were clearly audible, and they all gave a solid indication of what his vision for Tottenham Hotspur would ultimately be.
Roberto De Zerbi had some powerful words for his players. (Image: Getty Images)
In one rondo he said: “One or two touches. With two touches, you can’t lose the ball because it’s five people passing against two. Enjoy it, have fun, but you have to move. Have fun with the ball.”
“Many teams now play man-to-man. In man-to-man, you have to pass the ball. One touch, two touches are important.”
What he said next will strike fear into some Spurs supporters who are uncomfortable with teams developing from the back under pressure, but it could hold the key to a Tottenham team that has appeared reluctant to play football this season under a new head coach whose entire philosophy is to attract the press.
“Keep the ball, keep the ball. Attract pressure. Attract pressure,” said the Italian. “The opponent determines our speed by the speed of possession. When they come forward, we have to move the ball faster, give angles and give solutions.”
De Zerbi, who wore the number 10 shirt during his playing days in Serie A, showed great touch on the restart of a six-a-side match, pulling a backheel precisely into the path of Richarlison and sending his shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
After protests from the opposing team, the head coach loudly declared, “Hey, I’m just like anyone else!”
On the next restart, he confirmed there were no signs of favoritism by launching the ball high. Richarlison lunged to counter this, but it was Joao Parinha who held onto the ball and headed home, the young Frenchman sealing the victory for his team by firing into the net.
Captain Cristian Romero appeared to be absent, judging solely from training videos and photos released from Friday’s session. He may have been the last to return from an international mission and was still recovering from his long journey home.
Pape Matar Sarr, who missed the Senegal national team’s second match due to a shoulder problem, was also missing, and Pedro Polo was also absent after completing international duty with the Spanish national team.
Training footage released so far did not feature players currently sidelined with injuries, including Guglielmo Vicario, who continues to recover from hernia surgery.
De Zerbi will be keen to get some of his players currently in the treatment room back into full training ahead of next weekend’s trip to Sunderland.
