De Zerbi ‘didn’t like’ Tottenham star’s performance and demands more from one other | OneFootball

Roberto De Zerbi “didn’t like” what he saw from Mateus Fernandes in Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa, and called upon another Spurs player to buck his ideas up.

Spurs tasted defeat yet again on Saturday afternoon, though did at least break their goalscoring duck in the Premier League.

In truth, Tottenham could and perhaps should have taken a commanding lead early on. Chances came and went, with poor control, poor finishing, or expert goalkeeping from Zion Suzuki denying Omar Marmoush, Savio and co.

Most of Tottenham’s summer signings started the contest, with Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio and Marmoush all getting the nod.

And speaking post-match, De Zerbi was quizzed on his decision to substitute Fernandes for Mohammed Kudus at the break, with the move ultimately seeing Spurs give up control in central areas.

Roberto De Zerbi “didn’t like” Mateus Fernandes display

Asked if he could have foreseen the move would backfire, the Spurs boss replied (as cited by FootballLondon): “No, I think no. This is not the problem. The problem is, in the second half, we lost balance because we were losing. Just for that.

“And we forced the pass, we forced the situation, we lost the ball. And they were winning, Aston Villa, they played more in the counter-attack.

“OK, Mateus is different from Kudus. But I have a big confidence in Mateus, but I didn’t like the performance of Mateus today. Otherwise I couldn’t [wouldn’t] change.

“He knows. But it’s normal. It’s not an attack on Mateus, I love Mateus, it’s not a problem. But I think for Mateus, we need more from Mateus. Because he can, even in that position.”

Aside from Fernandes, De Zerbi also called upon starting striker Solanke to improve.

“We need more from him, for sure, but he’s one of my players,” said De Zerbi. “I like Dom as a player, and I stay with him until the end.

“He needs to stay better, to feel better. The physical condition is not good enough, for sure, but it’s normal for him, maybe it’s not good enough in the confidence of himself in this moment, because he’s much better than this Solanke, but maybe many, many things can be better than this moment.

“I think we can’t say everything is bad, but it’s not enough.”