Roberto De Zerbi has rubbished the notion that Tottenham’s vital win at Aston Villa on Sunday was down to them facing heavily-rotated opposition. Spurs’s 2-1 success moved them above West Ham and out of the relegation zone with three matches to play, but much of the reaction focused on how Unai Emery made seven changes to his lineup.
Emery made the decision after Villa’s Europa League semi-final first leg at Nottingham Forest last Thursday. De Zerbi preferred to talk up a fine performance from his side that has given them hope they can preserve their Premier League status. Spurs are next in action at home to Leeds on Monday. West Ham entertain Arsenal on Sunday.
De Zerbi also made the point that the Forest manager, Vítor Pereira, changed eight of his team from the first leg against Villa for the trip to Chelsea on Monday. Forest stormed into an early 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge en route to a 3-1 win.
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“The first XI for Forest was maybe more changes than Aston Villa did, no?” he said. “First half … 2-0 for Forest and has anyone said anything? No. Villa had [Matty] Cash against us, [Victor] Lindelöf … I don’t know how many years he played at Manchester United. They had [Tyrone] Mings, the captain of Villa, [Ian] Maatsen, one of the best left-backs in Europe.
“They had [Youri] Tielemans, who is normally in the starting XI … [Morgan] Rogers, [Jadon] Sancho, [Ross] Barkley and [Tammy] Abraham. It was a great first XI. I don’t know if they are better or worse [than normal]. I can say one thing – we played without [Cristian] Romero, [Dejan] Kulusevski, [Mohammed] Kudus, [Dominic] Solanke, Xavi Simons, [James] Maddison and maybe more players. It is better if the people speak about us than we speak about them.”
De Zerbi was asked whether the reaction had surprised him. “No,” he replied. “In Italy we are used to thinking in the bad way about this situation but it is not true. It is not true.”
De Zerbi reported that Solanke was unlikely to be back for Leeds but “we hope [he will be] for the next game” against Chelsea on Tuesday week.
He added that the goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario was still out, while he also offered an update on James Maddison, who has been among the substitutes for the last three games even though he has not been in a condition to play. The midfielder is in the final stages of his rehabilitation from a season-wrecking anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
“He’s not ready yet to play … not for the rhythm, for the intensity of the game,” De Zerbi said. “We are playing in the Premier League, the most difficult league in terms of intensity and rhythm.”
De Zerbi is not looking too far ahead but he did say he wanted the club to keep João Palhinha for next season. The midfielder is on loan from Bayern Munich. Spurs have a €30m option to make the deal permanent.
“One hundred per cent,” De Zerbi said. “We have to start from this type of person. More than players, we need reliable people, reliable players. Palhinha is one of the best as a player, for sure. I want to see the players with the same passion, the same attitude, the same spirit, the same personality. We are lucky to have Palhinha.”