Roberto De Zerbi will love what Sandro Tonali did in Tottenham's feisty pre-season friendly
Sandro Tonali was at the heart of the action during Tottenham Hotspur's behind-closed-doors 1-1 draw to against Getafe on Saturday.
A lot of coaches up and down the football pyramid would squirm at the sight of their player igniting a mass brawl in pre-season, but not Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian may have a good poker face, but deep down, he would've been delighted to see Sandro Tonali cause absolute chaos during Tottenham Hotspur's behind-closed-doors clash against Getafe.
During the second half of the not-so-friendly friendly, the new Lilywhites signing had an off-ball skirmish with Mario Martín in the middle of the park. Tonali shrugged off the Spanish outfit's number six, who collapsed to the floor in a heap, and performed a ball roll for good measure.
Eager to spare his blushes and retrieve possession, Martín leapt to his feet and, just as the Italy international flicked the ball with the outside of his foot, he made a half-hearted late lunge. Tonali recognised the 22-year-old midfielder had tried to get revenge.
As Martín attempted to play off the collision, the Italian shoved him. The former Real Madrid youngster threw his arms up in the air, pleading his innocence before running away and following the direction of play.
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Unsatisfied with the initial shove, Tonali hunted Martín down before pulling him back by his shoulder for a second bite of the cherry. The former Newcastle United star squared up to the Spaniard and pushed him a couple of times, igniting a mass brawl.
A handful of Getafe players were the first to storm onto the scene before Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Archie Gray defused the situation. Tonali was as cool as a cucumber while the visitors looked far from happy.
To many, the moment of madness was just a scuffle. A flaring of tempers in the north London heat. But to the former Magpie and the Tottenham head coach, the melee was an act of team building. True camaraderie on display.
De Zerbi would have been delighted to see the Spurs players get stuck in and leap to his marquee signing's defence. They defended the leader of the pack like a pack of wolves. And rightly so. Almost as if it were a test set up by the Italian commander... and his soldiers passed with flying colours.
If Tottenham are to avoid relegation from the Premier League and make the leap straight back into the top four, the players will need to go to war week in, week out. Robertson relished the battle at Hotspur Way.
Speaking to SpursPlay after the game, he said: "It was tough. It's been a really tough week pre-season-wise. I think that's what some people don't see behind the scenes. We've been working hard this week, probably not a normal week, preparing for a Saturday game.
"It was a good test and more minutes in the legs for all of us. We'll take the positives. Jet lag has been something I’ve never had like that before, that's for sure. We were 11 hours ahead in New Zealand and nine hours ahead in Australia, so we needed a couple of days to adapt.
"We've also been doing long days. In the meeting room, the manager is trying to drill home what he wants us to do and how he wants us to play. We've been long hours on the pitch. That's what you need to do in pre-season.
"When it comes to the game, you're probably a little bit leggy and a little bit mentally tired as well, but we had to get through it, and I think we did. I don't think it was the prettiest and probably not the greatest of games, but it will stand us in good stead."
Next up, Tottenham will play host to Hoffenheim in back-to-back friendlies on Saturday, August 15 in front of a home crowd and on the following Sunday, a behind-closed-doors game at Hotspur Way...
