The Tottenham Hotspur boss has been speaking about his and the club's future as they approach their huge defining final game of the season on Sunday
Roberto De Zerbi has reiterated that he will remain as Tottenham head coach whether they stay in the Premier League or not.
The north London club face a huge match on Sunday afternoon as they welcome Everton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the final day of the Premier League season with just two points separating them from West Ham in the final relegation spot. That means Spurs must win or draw, due to their superior goal difference, to keep themselves up or hope that Leeds do them a favour and prevent the Hammers from winning their final game of the campaign.
Some Tottenham supporters are worried that if the worst were to happen and their club fell into the Championship on the final day then De Zerbi would head out of the door at N17 despite signing a five-year contract when he joined last month.
When asked if he would stay at the north London outfit regardless of Sunday's outcome, the 46-year-old said: "Yes, I confirm everything. For me, it’s still an honour to be a coach for Tottenham, even if on Sunday we play for the relegation fight, it’s not a problem. I consider football something more than the table, than the level of the game."
Some have accused the Spurs players of not caring enough about what happens to the club but De Zerbi believes it's more that the team has been shell-shocked by this season's events.
"No, absolutely false. No, no, no, it’s not true," he said. "Maybe [it's] totally different, maybe they suffered too much. Their reaction has been not right, but not for that reason because they are sensitive guys and they suffered that situation.
"Maybe they didn’t know how they can go out of this situation, but there is just one solution to go out: to be strong, stronger than the atmosphere of the situation, or the injuries, or the negative things they suffer.
"Every one of us, we are playing for the future of Tottenham."
De Zerbi's only previous experience of relegation came in 2018 with then Serie A newcomers Benevento after he joined mid-season. While he believes you cannot compare the two experiences, he did learn plenty from a period in which he earned plenty of credit from his peers in Italy despite the team facing the drop.
"You can’t compare these two situations because Benevento before my time was not like Tottenham. It was totally different. The level of the players, the level of the club," he explained. "But it was a very important experience for me because if you play to compete to win, you have enthusiasm, you have a good feeling in the week, in the meeting.
"When you are fighting against relegation and you are this side and have all the players in front of you, the eyes of the players are not like the players when you are winning a league, or you are competing like Brighton to achieve European qualification.
"It’s totally different. You have be any way positive, you have to take the players with you and convince them, you have to find the balance to push and be strong with them but to give hugs, transfer confidence. It’s the sensitivity of the coach, you have to understand it’s two different situations."
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De Zerbi said he wants his players to put their "heads on ice" and focus purely on Sunday's game, which comes a year and three days on from their Europa League triumph in Bilbao.
"The situation is like this, we have to accept it. We are playing well. We deserve to stay up but we have another step, and a very tough step but it’s possible for us. Nothing is impossible. We have the quality to win. Before Villa Park I said it’s not impossible to win the game because I felt this," he said.
"I want to put the heads on ice. The focus is just on the game and not after the game or celebration. I want to think about the game. After the game we will see what happens."
He added: "It’s easier to play the final of Europa League than to play Tottenham vs Everton, 100 per cent. As a pressure it’s totally different, but if we win this game there is another pride, another emotion, another feeling."
De Zerbi has decided that the team will stay together at the Spurs' Hotspur Way hotel, The Lodge, on Saturday night and he is keen for them to be given a big reception from the fans as they arrive in their coach at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"It was my decision because I thought to stay together the day before, to prepare the meeting the day before, the morning of the game and to create the right atmosphere," he explained. "If the fans show their love to the players, it is not pressure, it is an honour, it is a great thing for the players. It is a good thing, it is a positive thing for us.
"We have to be good, to start the game with energy, with spirit and after 10, 15 minutes, if we are playing well, the fans come inside of the pitch. We have to be good to deserve their support, like we did against Brighton or part of the game against Leeds at home."
So would De Zerbi have accepted this situation on the final day when he arrived at the club last month?
"Yes. I didn't come here in midtable. The situation was this, more games but not too different a situation. If I came it was because I thought there are the right conditions, the right qualities and players to achieve the target and then the situation changed because we lost Romero, Xavi, Solanke but I think in my time we made eight points and maybe deserved more. We are still fighting to achieve the target and we have to be ready and be strong," he said.
"The secret I think is to manage the pressure. Just that. To manage the pressure you have to be clear and honest with yourself. The level of difficulty of the game is high, OK. We are fighting for something very important for everyone. But it is football. But we have enough quality. But we play in our stadium.
"If for us it will be a tough game, it will be a tough game for West Ham too. West Ham play Leeds and I'm sure Leeds will play like they did in the Tottenham stadium. To attack the pressure you have to find the valour inside of yourself, to understand the situation and to force yourself to give your best, because the pressure is nice if you know how to manage it."
But are his players tough enough to do that?
"I think so," concluded the Italian. "But Sunday we can see if I'm right or not."