The Tottenham Hotspur players have been working hard to prepare for this weekend's clash against Brentford.
Roberto De Zerbi has been putting the Tottenham Hotspur players through their paces ahead of the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. On Saturday evening, the Lilywhites will hope to get off to a winning start when they face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Earlier this month, the Spurs boss explained how he plans to rebuild his side's confidence following back-to-back relegation scares. Speaking on the Men in Blazers YouTube channel, De Zerbi said: "I usually think about the soul, passion, spirit and mentality of the team and then the improvement we can do in the future, because I can't stay with the focus just on the present."
The 47-year-old continued: "I would like when we go to play in the Premier League... the people recognise one's soul, passion, value of the player. The qualities of the players are not enough.
"If you don't put something more, something of yourself, something you feel inside of you, it's very tough to now compete with the top teams in the world, in the Premier League."
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Eager not to let the supporters down and show character, De Zerbi has been working hard to finalise preparations ahead of the new campaign. So, with that being said, football.london has looked at the four things you may have missed in training at Hotspur Way this week.
De Zerbi embraces Udogie
De Zerbi embraced Destiny Udogie upon his return to training at Hotspur Way this week. The 23-year-old defender, who nursed a handful of muscle injuries last season, will be carefully managed by the Tottenham head coach as he looks to bolster the backline.
At the end of last term, Udogie started six of the seven possible Premier League games under De Zerbi, only missing the 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux due to a knock. Shortly after helping Spurs escape relegation from the English top-flight, he was back on the sidelines, failing to feature in each of the pre-season friendlies.
Van de Ven still absent
Micky van de Ven wasn't spotted in training at Hotspur Way this week, casting greater doubt over his availability on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season. The 25-year-old defender didn't feature at all for Tottenham in pre-season, so it may be a while until he's named in a matchday squad, which is obviously quite problematic.
Dominic Solanke wasn't spotted in training pictures either, although he was deployed sparingly over the summer, playing the first half of the friendlies against MK Dons and Chelsea. Mateus Fernandes and James Maddison were, however, laced up and on the grass.
De Zerbi finalises Bergvall role
De Zerbi appears to have assigned Bergvall a position in midfield. From shielding the backline in a double pivot to roaming forward and supporting the striker, the 20-year-old has played a number of roles in the middle of the park since joining Tottenham.
During Thomas Frank's spell in charge, which ended in tears, Bergvall was even deployed on the wings at times. But, under new management, the Sweden international looks set to be used as a box-to-box midfielder.
During a particular drill at Hotspur Way, Bergvall was spotted wearing an orange bib with the number eight on the back, Ben Davies with the number five, and Conor Gallagher seemingly with the number 10. Although their roles won't be set in stone, it's a good indicator of how they've been profiled by De Zerbi.
Relaxed Richy in great spirits
For a player who has less than 12 months left on his contract and faces such an uncertain future, Richarlison looked to be in great spirits. football.london understands that Tottenham have an option to extend his stay by a further year, but even De Zerbi doesn't know where the striker could play his football this term.
When quizzed on the future of relaxed Richarlison while on tour in Australia, the Spurs boss confessed: "I don't know because I like him as a player and as a guy. He's unbelievable in terms of attitude and behaviour.
"But, in the end, we have to respect what he wants to do," added De Zerbi. "I didn't understand well because sometimes he says he wants to stay, sometimes he wants to leave. We have to speak anyway. There is not any problem. He's a lovely guy."
On the Brazilian's character, De Zerbi said: "For me, he's still an important player because it's not easy to find another striker like Richarlison. Richarlison scores goals. He knows the way. With any new striker, we don't know.
"He scored 12 goals last season, not because of luck but because he knows how to score. All of us love him, the team-mates, the club and the staff because he works hard every day, seriously every day, and we can't say anything about him on the pitch..."