De Zerbi rips into Spurs players after Villa defeat: ‘Disappointed, sad and frustrated’

Roberto De Zerbi tore into his failing Tottenham team after their 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa, saying “we can’t lose the game in this way”. The Italian headed straight down the tunnel at full time, but was once again forced to endure boos as Tottenham went into the three-week international break without a Premier League victory to their name and just two points on the board.

De Zerbi criticised his team’s mentality, but also the physical condition of his players, and said the substitute Mohammed Kudus had disrupted the balance of his team.

“I am very disappointed, sad and frustrated for the performance,” De Zerbi said. “We can’t lose the game in this way, we can’t concede the second goal, we can’t lose balance just because we are losing. I spoke with our four attackers in minute 51, I asked them to use their head, all second half I was telling people to be calm. But the second goal was incredible.”

Jackson scored in the 67th minute after latching on to a long kick by the impressive Zion Suzuki. De Zerbi said his players had been prepped to deal with the Villa goalkeeper’s clearances, but had switched off.

“We knew this season Aston Villa are playing 86% more long balls than last season and we spoke in many meetings about it,” De Zerbi said. “Now we have to explain another game like [the home defeat against] Newcastle where we played the first half well, got to 60 minutes OK, and then we lose.”

With players now heading out to play for their national sides, De Zerbi said he had left them with no parting message. “I didn’t speak with the players today because I didn’t want to say anything,” he said. “The players who go with the national team have to play and work and the others; for sure we have to work more because I didn’t like the finish to this game. We can’t say everything is bad, but it is not enough.”

For Unai Emery , a first Premier League victory of the season was to serve as a reminder to his players of the style of play that has resulted in success for Villa in recent seasons. “The players did well because they believed,” he said.

“We needed to build a team that could play in this way, could defend with resilience and playing with passion when our opponents were attacking. We needed defenders, we needed the keeper, we needed everyone committed in that direction. We needed to feel strong first, then we could try to play with our structure and our ability. This is the competitive way.”