Football London

Tottenham press conference LIVE - Roberto De Zerbi on transfers, Bergvall and defeat  Football London

Tottenham player ratings vs Brentford - Bergvall, Gallagher and Richarlison weak and Moore wasteful  Football London

Former Tottenham defender Alan Hutton does not feel Spurs have enough quality to finish in the top four.

Speaking to BOYLE Sports, Hutton said: “I think top four is a big ask for Tottenham Hotspur this season. I know they’ve been through a transitional period with different managers, different personnel, and it’s been difficult, but to finish 17th two years in a row and go from there to top four, even though they’ve spent a lot of money, and spent it wisely, that’s a big jump in one season.

“Spurs have needed something like this, a bit of a reckoning, to get back to being the sort of club they should be, and I think if they were to finish sixth or around there this season, that would go down as a successful season in my book. It might not keep the fans happy as I’m sure they expect more with the business they’ve done but that’s how I look at it.

“After the last couple of years, a top six finish would be a good result, but they have spent well, and I think in Roberto Di Zerbi they have a top manager who can get the best out of the players, so I wouldn’t be surprised is they exceeded my expectations to finish top five or top four. For me, I think sixth or seventh is a good guess for where they will finish this season.”

Tottenham confirmed team vs Brentford - Archie Gray breaks club record as captain  Football London

Troy Parrott hailed as 'saviour' in Spanish media transfer verdict after Tottenham windfall  Football London

Here's the Tottenham Hotspur team that we reckon Roberto De Zerbi will select to face Brentford in their Premier League opener

Roberto De Zerbi is set to name his first Tottenham team of the season for their Premier League opener on Saturday at Brentford.

It will be a much-changed Spurs side for the coming season with six new arrivals in De Zerbi's squad in the shape of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka. Manchester City duo Savinho and Omar Marmoush are expected to take the number of new faces up to eight in the coming days.

Neither of those two will be able to feature against Keith Andrews' side, while the north London outfit no longer have captain Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Djed Spence and Radu Dragusin to call upon as they were among those sold or loaned out this summer.

De Zerbi said on Friday that new Tottenham skipper Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro are not fit enough yet to be in the squad for the game at the Gtech Community Stadium while Pape Matar Sarr misses out with a small hamstring problem.

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Van de Ven's absence means Van Hecke and Senesi are likely to make their competitive Spurs debuts together after playing against Hoffenheim in last weekend's pre-season friendly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Andy Robertson will likely start on the left as Destiny Udogie has not played a minute in pre-season.

Archie Gray was named among De Zerbi's captaincy group on Friday and as he is expected to start at right-back, the 20-year-old could wear the armband against Brentford with players like James Maddison and Ben Davies on the bench.

There is a decision for the Spurs boss to make on who will start alongside Sandro Tonal in the centre of the pitch, with Mateus Fernandes, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall all up for the role, with the latter having played more minutes in pre-season than the others.

Dominic Solanke is available but with a lack of recent pre-season minutes, the attack could be the same one that started against Hoffenheim last Saturday with Conor Gallagher between Mikey Moore and Mathys Tel with Richarlison up front.

It will be a team featuring plenty of youth in two 20-year-olds, one 21-year-olds and a 19-year-old, with 23-year-old Antonin Kinsky in goal but also a sprinkling of new experience through its spine.

Here's the Spurs team that we reckon De Zerbi could select:

Roberto De Zerbi has made it clear that Lucas Bergvall is "100 per cent" staying at Tottenham this season but cannot give the same guarantee about Pape Matar Sarr.

Bergvall made it known to the club earlier in the summer before his departure for the World Cup that he wanted a fresh challenge this season to develop as a number eight. Spurs rejected bids from Newcastle and Nottingham Forest for the 20-year-old and De Zerbi gave the young midfielder plenty of starts and minutes throughout pre-season.

The Italian believes that Bergvall now wants to remain at the club but admits he is unsure if his 23-year-old team-mate Sarr will still be wearing a Tottenham shirt once September 1 ends due to the £185million arrival of midfielders Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

"Lucas Bergvall, 100 per cent [he is staying]. We spoke a lot in pre season. He’s a top player, a top potential player. I like that he stays but I think now he wants to stay and we have no problem," said De Zerbi. "For Pape, he started pre-season late because he stayed in Senegal until the first week in August, I think.

"He’s a good player. I don’t know if he stays or not we have to analyse the situation, but he is another very very important player."

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Tottenham could potentially take their spending to £377million this summer with the arrival of Manchester City attackers Savinho and Omar Marmoush. The north London club's owners, the Lewis family, promised "actions not words" after last season's near relegation and De Zerbi said they and the board have been true to that.

"I am very happy and I think I can't speak about the other coaches [in the past]. I just can say, in my experience, they kept their word, they kept what they said before I came in March. The end of March, in the middle of March, and then very happy," said the 47-year-old.

"But what we are doing is not for the coach. It’s for the club, for the fans, for the history of the club, for the pride of the club, and for the level of the club. I think this moment is crucial for this club, because after two seasons like we had, we have to change the mood, completely change it, give it a boost.

"Then, I think when we have finished in this transfer market, for a long time we don't need many things and we can work all together in the right condition, in the right direction, to build step by step something special, or to go to compete for the top of the table.

"Not maybe now, or maybe yes, I don't know, but we have the squad to play in every stadium in the right way. Face to face, we know we have to improve. We have to become a team, but I think we also have all the qualities to do that."

De Zerbi believes the potential is there in his new-look squad to challenge for the biggest prizes but he wants to see what things look like when the window closes.

"Yes. Big potential. At the end of the transfer market, I will be more accurate in my opinion," he said. "I have to keep the balance because sometimes the transfer market - with Tonali and JP Van Henke - we bring in a lot."

There has been plenty of moaning from rival fans and pundits about Tottenham's spending in this window despite the club having gone the right way about it by using their stadium revenue and bringing in a potential £213million in sales and loans this summer.

De Zerbi cannot understand the noise but he also saw it last season and will use it to his benefit.

"I don’t know, you have to explain to me. For me, no pressure and it’s not a problem. I don’t know why the people don’t love if Tottenham becomes better. It’s one motivation more for us. Last season, all other clubs wanted to kill us. This is another part of football," he said.

"[I remind me the players of it] every week. Every week we have to remember last season. The last friendly game against Hoffenheim, the time before was against Everton. You can imagine the difference between that game and the game against Everton when we stayed up with all that pressure."

So how close is this Tottenham side to being the one that De Zerbi wants to see take to the field?

"On paper its very close. On the pitch we have to see and we have to work. I am experienced enough not to say too much. I’m very happy with the squad. We have to complete the squad but at the moment very happy. The answer I receive from the pitch has to be like my dreams and my thoughts with the board," he said.

"Maybe we have to see on the pitch. To be honest, everyone, we are very excited but in the end the pitch speaks, as we say in Italian. If we start now with big words, I love pressure it’s not a problem of pressure, but if we are to be honest and correct, we have to wait for the answer from the pitch.

"Football is a connection. Football is like magic. You can find sometimes the connection between players when every player thinks like the coach or we come together with an idea of football and the players who don’t start in the team are the biggest fans of the players who are playing. We have to create something on the pitch and off the pitch to compete like we want."

Spurs have a £100million man in their ranks now in Tonali after his club record transfer from Newcastle. While De Zerbi has known the Italy international for years, he did not realise just how good the 26-year-old is until he began to coach him.

"Sandro Tonali is better than I thought before working with him, as a player and as a guy. I know his family, his agents, and I know they all are good people," he said. "I’m very happy to work with him and I think he’s the right player in the right place. Especially because we want to put him inside of the project. He has the right qualities, the right personality, the right values, to stay in this place."

The transfer window still has 11 days to run and De Zerbi does not think he needs to keep his players happy as they will need to understand the level of the squad he is looking to build to help Tottenham become challengers again.

"Nothing [to do]. I love speaking clearly. Today is August 21st, I think every one of those players, they already know the squad. If one of them doesn’t want to accept the competition inside the pitch, inside the dressing room, they can leave," admitted the Italian.

"I try to be honest and to decide the better decision I can on the pitch to find the best first XI, but the players have to accept why because if we want to become better, if we want to compete for the top of the table, 11 players are not enough, 15 players are not enough.

"If you analyse the teams - Liverpool two years ago, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan, the squad there has a big competition inside the dressing room."

In a squad that is constantly increasing in level, what do the new attacking arrivals mean for Mikey Moore with the 19-year-old in line to feature against Brentford in Saturday's Premier League opener amid a mooted loan move to Bundesliga side Koln?

"Now is not the right moment to speak about the last 10 days of transfer market. I think it’s not finished yet I said. I’m very happy with Mikey Moore, he’s working well, he’s a good player, I don’t know if he goes or not on loan," said De Zerbi.

"I think he has a big potential for the club and we try to find the best solution for every player we have, also for Luca Williams-Barnett or Malachi [Hardy], two potential big players. Proud that they come from our academy. We have to manage them the best way we can."

De Zerbi helped arrange for a large group of former Tottenham players, including the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Gary Mabbutt and Steve Perryman, to speak to his current squad to explain the "soul" of the club.

"The players and especially the foreign players, they have to understand the level of this club. Even if we finish two seasons in a row in 17th position, nothing changes and the level of the club can’t change because in the last two seasons it was not great," he said. "The legends, I think they can explain better than me or better than you what Tottenham has been [before] in the Premier League and in Europe."

There was one player missing though who De Zerbi would have loved to have seen himself and got him speaking to some of his attackers.

"I’m sorry I didn’t see Chris Waddle," he admitted. "Chris Waddle was one of my favourite players when I was a kid and he played in Marseille. In Marseille I said the same like this and Waddle would have been good for Kudus, for Kulusevski, for Xavi Simons, for Mathys [Tel] because he was a great player."

Dejan Kulusevski issues new Tottenham injury update before Brentford game  Football London

Van de Ven, Porro, Maddison - Tottenham injury latest and return dates ahead of Brentford  Football London

Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi held his opening press conference of the Premier League season on Friday afternoon.

Spurs begin their campaign by making the short trip across the capital to Brentford on Saturday. At the same time the club are closing in on the transfer of Manchester City winger Savinho for £75million, plus another £10million in add-ons. Tottenham want to make it a double deal with talks progressing to sign Savinho's team-mate Omar Marmoush.

That would make it eight new arrivals for De Zerbi's squad this summer in a rebuild that has included the departures of players like captain Cristian Romero, Djed Spence and Guglielmo Vicario. Romero's exit means the club needs a new captain and the head coach revealed who would be taking on the armband during his press conference on Friday as well as discussing what remains in the summer transfer window.

The Italian gave updates on various players' fitness, including Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and also Micky van de Ven, who did not play a minute of pre-season football.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to De Zerbi. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.

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Tell us about the summer so far. So much has happened since May. So many big signings, players leaving. How happy are you?

It seems I'm here for 10 years. Three months, just three months. Very intense three months. I think we can't forget what happened last season. It's a lesson, a big lesson for us, for every one of us. But anyway, we have to go on another page and to start another season, an important season. We are building, I think, a new project. And now the big challenge, without talking too much about the target, the goal of this season, the first two targets we have very clear in ourselves is to find the soul of the team. And the second target: to improve in our organisation of football. With the ball, without the ball, our style has to be the key of our season, like our soul. These two characteristics I want to find as soon as possible.

Enzo Maresca has just said Savinho said he wanted to leave on day one. It's obviously very close here. After Savinho, how many more do you want? Any more bombas?

It's not right to speak about the players until they are official. Just to say, I'm very happy. We have not finished yet in the transfer market. It's an important part, I think. Because so far we have had a great summer of signings. Great players, great behaviour, great spirit, great personality. But you know better than me in the Premier League, you don't win the game with the names, with the big players.

There are a lot of examples in the last years in the Premier League. We have to deserve to win the game. And to deserve to win the game, we have to reach a high level in character, in passion, in value and in the style of play as well.

You've also sold many players with Djed Spence, Romero, your club captain. Can you tell us the new captain?

Yes, the new captain is Micky van de Ven. The second, Pedro Porro. The third, Ben Davies. The fourth, James Maddison. And the fifth, Archie Gray. Why five captains? Just because I want many captains inside of the pitch. And to be clear in the position. And every one of them, they deserve to be a captain or in the group of the captains. But the personality, the passion, is not if you are a captain or you are not a captain.

I know you don’t want to talk about Savinho, but from what we understand he has been a long-standing target for the club – how involved are you in transfer decisions?

Yes, but in transfer market and for Tottenham and every club it’s not just for the coach, it’s not just for the sport director, it's not just for the board. I think we are working very well with Johan Lange, with Vinai [Venkatesham], with Nick [Beucher], with all the board involved in the transfer market. We have spoken a lot of times in this summer, because it's a connection. The most important part not in the transfer market, but in football, in a club so big like Tottenham, so important like Tottenham, is the connection between the people inside of the club. And I think we are closing the first targets we have in our plan from a long time. Before I came in April, we had already spoken about these targets of the transfer market.

What's the latest team news – is Micky van de Ven fit?

No, Micky is not on the (available) list for tomorrow, like Pedro Porro and the other players are all inside. James Maddison is inside (the list), Dominic Solanke is inside, Udogie is inside, Mateus Fernandes is inside, Pape Sarr, no because he felt pain two days in his hamstring. Nothing important, but we don’t take risk with him and especially in this moment.

Soul and organisation are key – is that what will help you because you have now had a pre-season to get that?Yes, I think we started last season to build something about the style of play. Not too much because it was not the right time to work too much in the style, in the principle of with the ball or without the ball, but we started working in the soul. And the last six games with me, I think we showed that in a lot of times - even when we lost in Chelsea. I think it is the first point and the most important part in football now.It seems that the amount you have to pay to sign players these days has gone so high. Are we going a bit crazy?

I think Premier League is a different league. It's a different price, different competition in the transfer market and I don't know if it's right or not. On the market, and I'm not speaking just in football, but generally in the market, you can't say if it's right, fair or not. You can accept or not. And if you want to compete in the Premier League now, you have to adapt. I think I've heard too many times Tottenham money, Tottenham money, but I loved football for a long time and I didn't see any team competing for the high level without spending money. Maybe if Tottenham spend money is a problem in the Premier League? I don't know why, but all the other teams have spent money in the past and also in this season. For me it's not a pressure, it's just a consideration.

How are you going to keep your players fit this season?

I think another important part of this season is the medical staff, the physical staff, is new for a big part of them. Big professionals, great people, very good in their jobs. I think it's important also the management of the players, when the players have some problem, we have to stay calm, don't take risks.

We have Kulusevski, we have Odebert, we have Xavi Simons, injuries. Kudos is almost ready, that is a big point for us, but these three players are top players for us, and we're looking forward to watch them on the pitch.

You only play one game a week this season, no Europe, like Manchester United did last season. Is that your target, like United last season, to finish in the top four or top five?

I don't know, I hope we have not one game per week, because we have Carabao and FA Cup, and for me, we are competing for three competitions.

Yes, the first season for sure is a big advantage, because we have time to work during the week, we can improve faster than the Champions League or the European League in the middle of the week, for sure. But I would like to compete every season in the European competition, because I think Tottenham deserve to stay in that competition.

Micky van de Ven had a big summer, signed a new contract, he's your captain, but we haven't actually seen him yet playing any minutes, and I don't know if he's been training, what's the latest with his fitness?

No, today he's working with us, with the group, he's going very well. He suffered a problem during the pre-season in Australia, I don't know, the flight, I don't know, something, not a big problem, but not right to work. But we have [Marcos] Senesi, we have Ben Davies, and we are anyway in the right condition to play the game tomorrow, and to try to find the result.

With Djed Spence leaving, do you want to sign a new right-back or are you happy with Pedro Porro and Archie Gray as your options?

First of all, I'm really disappointed with Djed, because I love him, we have a great relationship, he's a very good guy, he's a very important player, but in the end I have to respect, if he wants to play 38 games, I can't give my word, any guarantee for the players, especially if we are building a big competition inside of the squad.

Right-back is, I think in this moment, one, maybe the best, maybe one of the three best right backs in the world [in Pedro Porro]. In the left-back we have Udogie and Robertson, and both are big, big level, and if you don't want to stay anymore in Tottenham, in a big club, you have to leave.

Like Cuti [Romero], like with Cuti, the same relationship with Spence. Vicario for example, Vicario called me on Wednesday when he left. I'm sorry but football is like this.

I think if I spoke at the beginning of my press conference about the soul, to find the soul, every one of us, they have to stay here with the right spirit, proud to stay here, and with great ambitions, great motivation, otherwise it's tough, one season with me without motivation and without ambition, it becomes tough for everyone.

So do you want another right back?

In this moment I think no, we have Archie Gray, he prefers playing in the midfield position, but he can play very well also as a right-back.

I think we are good. I don't want 25, 26 players, I want 21, 22 players, I think that's enough, especially if these players or more players, they can adapt in more positions on the pitch, and I think we have many players who can play in different positions, Gray midfielder, right back, Gallagher number 10 or number 8, it's the same Micky van de Ven or Ben Davies left back, I think we have Kudus, winger or number 10, we have a lot of solutions.

Where is Dejan Kulusevski right now in his process?

He's working, he's working not with the group, but with the individual coach. I'm observing him a lot, because first of all, he suffers too much, and as a human situation, it's been tough for him, and every one of us we are close with him for this period. Then he's a different player, he's a special player, if he's fit and he's available, he's a different player like Xavi Simons.