Sunderland v Tottenham preview
Roberto De Zerbi insists he has “a lot of confidence” in his Tottenham players as he prepares for his opening game in charge, at Sunderland on Sunday.
The Italian is Spurs’ third manager this season, following Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, and joins the club in 17th place, just one point above the relegation zone.
He has little time to form his views on Premier League survival being the only objective in the next six weeks but the former Brighton boss is confident he has enough quality to help them escape danger.
He said: “I watched a lot [Tottenham] games but it’s one thing to watch them at home and another thing to work with them on the field. We have very big players, and small players – [Lucas] Bergvall, Archie Gray, Mathys Tel, Xavi Simons – but somehow we have older players who are as important as them. [Micky] van de Ven. You are important.
“I am lucky because I trust my players and their qualities. My aim is to help them play well and enjoy football.”
De Zerbi says a tactical change will come in time but the current aim is to instill some faith in the players.
“My style is partly about acting style and partly about character and personality,” he added. “I want to create an organization without football.
“What I want to gain quickly is the character, the right spirit and the courage to play and attack because the DNA of this club and team is to score goals and score points.”
Sunderland have not played since their 2-1 derby win at Newcastle and it has been three weeks since they enjoyed beating their hated rivals.
The Wearsiders have undoubtedly achieved all of their goals for the season but coach Regis Le Bris is adamant that there should be no major letdowns.
He said: “I think we still want to win and the pressure is on, we want to win again at home because we have struggled a bit on the road, it is about our level.
“The main goal of the season [avoiding relegation] almost achieved and easy to forget this was not easy. Show us unity and quality. We want to maintain standards.”
Sunderland are 11th in the table, just three points behind seventh-placed Brentford and a place in Europe is out of the question.
Asked if his team can play African football next season, the French player continued: “I don’t know, two seasons ago when I started here to go to the Premier League it was too early, we didn’t set goals but we said we will work hard, we will work for our identity.
“This season is the same, if we are ready to achieve the goal, we will see and manage the next goal.”
Sunderland v Tottenham team news
Sunderland have Robin Roefs, Reinildo, Nordi Mukiele and Enzo Le Fee available to start after injury. Reinildo and Le Fee came on as late substitutes against Newcastle and they set up Brian Brobbey’s final. Dan Ballard, Nilson Angulo, Romaine Mundle and Bertrand Traore are absent.
Antonin Kinsky will start in goal for Tottenham for the first time since being withdrawn 17 minutes into the game at Atletico Madrid on March 10 with regular No.1 Guglielmo Vicario undergoing hernia surgery. Rodrigo Bentancur is close but has not yet recovered and Mohammed Kudus is unlikely to play again this season.
James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Ben Davies are sidelined.
