Here's every single word the Tottenham boss said at his press conference on Friday ahead of the weekend's match at Aston Villa
Roberto De Zerbi had plenty of passion at his press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's Premier League match at Aston Villa.
Spurs are looking to keep their momentum going after the draw with in-form Brighton and then the much-needed win at Wolves on Saturday. Those three points came at a cost though with Xavi Simons suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury and Dominic Solanke a hamstring problem.
De Zerbi provided updates on various injuries ahead of the game against Unai Emery's side on Sunday night, which falls in between their Europa League semi-final legs against Nottingham Forest with Villa a goal down from the first leg. Tottenham need more points as they sit 18th and two points behind West Ham, who travel to West Ham.
Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to De Zerbi. Here's the full transcript from the Italian's press conference at Hotspur Way.
A brilliant win against Wolves and then the bad news of Xavi’s injury. What is the news on...
I watched you. I watched you this week. Go, go.
I’m worried now! Dom Solanke, how long is he out for?
Listen, I want to be clear one time. The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us, inside of the players, inside of the staff and inside of the fans. This voice can produce negative thoughts. The voice says, ‘we are unlucky, we have too many injuries, we lost Xavi Simons and he was the last two games one of the best players and most important players for us, our medical staff is not good enough and the pitch of the stadium is not good, the pitch of the training ground is not good, it is impossible to win two or three games in a row because we have not won too many games in 2026,’ I think it is all negative things. And it is rubbish because I want to keep my focus on ourself and the quality of my players.
We go to play against one of the best teams in this moment in Premier League, we have a big respect for Emery as a coach, but if Tottenham win in Villa Park, it is not a miracle. Maybe we lose, I don’t know but we have the quality to win this game and it is not a miracle, so I think we have to be positive and to be lucky because we are working in a big club. If Solanke and Xavi are injured, we can play with Kolo Muani, Mathys Tel, Richarlison and I think they are not worse players. They are different as characters, but are very good players. We have Pedro Porro, we have Udogie, we have Micky van de Ven, we have Bentancur, we have Palhinha, we have Gallagher and Gallagher two! For that all these things and I have not too much to listen and to hear this (negative) things.
I am sorry, I just think you have been unlucky...
No, because I watched you on TV but it is not a polemic (controversy), but I heard no, ‘that it is impossible, we are crying everyone and we are relegated,’ but no, not yet. And we have to die on the pitch and to die on the pitch we have to lose the game. Before we lose the game we have to play, we have to fight and we have two points less than West Ham but West Ham have to play difficult games as well like us. For that, okay it is not the best moment for us, it is a tough moment, a difficult moment, but the losers cry. The losers think negative. I don’t want people close to me crying or to think in different way to me.
Absolutely…
Was I clear?
I just think, you have been very unlucky with injuries?
Yes, but we are good enough to win the games, and we are good enough to stay up. And then we will see, because it's the unique way I know. The way I know is to work hard, to give my best, to transfer my idea of the players, the confidence of the players, and to be realistic. I think there are not a lot of people realistic now.
Was James Maddison training?
Very well.
Does he have chance to play against Villa or Leeds?
I don't know, I would like to play with him, because he's a special player, he's a different player, but we have to consider the physical condition, a lot of things. But I think he can be important in the next three games.
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What did you think of the criticism of the physios after Simons injury?
I think we win together, and we lose together. And it's not the right time to make polemic, or to give responsibilities. Every one of us has to feel the responsibility for a big club, but now we have to stay all together, close, with just one target on our head, and to move forward all together, and stop.
Is Vicario available?
He's not available, not yet.
Has the Wolves win lifted the mood around the squad?
Yes, at the beginning of the week we suffered these new injuries, but today they worked very well, one of the best training in my time, and I was sincere also with them before the training, but I can't say nothing with them, with their attitude, their behaviour, always, they've been fantastic.
How do you approach the Villa game?
Keeping the ball, showing our qualities, because if we have a chance to win the game, it's because we have great players for me, and fight, run, defend everyone together, with order, with the right organisation, without the ball for sure, because we have to defend, but we have to attack and to keep the ball, and to enjoy with the ball, to try the one-to-one on the wingers' side, to play when we have the right time and the right space between the lines, that's my idea.
Is there too much negativity in football?
Yes, we lost a lot of injuries, players, we lost two points with Brighton, and in Sunderland we conceded one stupid goal, and I think we didn't deserve to lose the game, just in my time. If you imagine what happened before, I can understand the players, but anyway, there is just one way, if you want to have no regrets in the future. To have no regrets in the future, you have to remove everything from our heads, from our memories, and to take one game per game, and one game per game I think, one training per training, to find the right organisation, to find the right confidence in ourselves, and to play showing our qualities. Because I think if we show our qualities, we are good enough to win the game.
I like that, when you said you were good enough to win, and good enough to stay up..... But I'm not [being] positive, I want to be realistic, it's different being positive, not positive because today is sunny, it's Italian weather, and I'm positive, no, no. I want to be realistic, and for that I'm like, so I feel this pressure to change the perspective. The same perspective you can see in different ways. One way is we are unlucky, we are at the bottom of the table. The other perspective is, yes, but we play with Pedro Porro, with Udogie, with Bentancur, with Bissouma, with Palhinha, with Gallagher, with Richarlison, with Kolo Muani. Kolo Muani two years ago, PSG paid £70 million [for him]. He's not stupid, he's a top player. Mathys Tel is one of the best young players in Europe. Richarlison is in the Brazilian national team, he's not in a different team. Is it all about now your players showing heart and determination, almost above skill and fancy tricks and flicks, just heart?
Absolutely, I agree. For sure it's more important the human value, the pride, the dignity, the passion to silence this criticism. And then the football, the ball, the qualities, the other things about football. But first of all, other things. Can I just double-check on Dominic Solanke, are you going to have him back this season?
I don't know yet. For Villa, no, for sure. And then we will see.
Is it his hamstring?
Yes. And you mentioned Destiny Udogie a couple of times, is he available for this weekend?
Udogie can be available, yes. I don't know if at the beginning of the game or in the second half, but he's available, yes. Until now. Your passion and your belief that you can do this, do you feel that in your players and do you feel that around this club? Or are you trying to send a message to everyone inside the club that we can still do this?
No. I think they have just to show the same passion, because inside of them, they feel the same passion. They feel the same emotion. And about the fans, they showed their passion with Brighton at home. It was an incredible atmosphere. And we have our responsibilities also for them. Or they showed their passion in Wolverhampton, because they were fantastic with us. It's not so easy to see another stadium in this position of the table to give the same support, the same love they gave in Brighton or in Wolverhampton. And just with James Maddison, he's obviously been part of the group for these last two games., what sort of impact has he brought just being part of the group?
Experience, personality, calm. Because anyway, if you have much experience, you are calmer. You can consider the timing when you have to speak, when you have to say something or not. And I want him to stay inside even if he doesn't play, because when he will be ready to play, I want him 100 per cent inside of the plan of the team.
The full focus now is on staying up but in the summer, do you want to look into the injuries? It's not just been this season, it's been last season, and get to the bottom of why it feels like it's happening a lot?
In summer we can do everything. Everything. We have a lot of time to spend speaking about football, about the transfer market, about everything we can improve. We will.
