De Zerbi criticises Fernandes’ performance and explains why he left out Tel

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·19 September 2026

De Zerbi criticises Fernandes’ performance and explains why he left out Tel

Roberto De Zerbi said that he did not like Mateus Fernandes’ performance when explaining why he brought off the midfielder at half-time in Spurs’ loss to Aston Villa.

The Italian’s side were 1-0 down at half-time when he decided to bring off Fernandes for Mohammed Kudus. Spurs eventually went on to lose the match 3-2.

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Fernandes mainly played as a holding midfielder for West Ham last season, but played in the number 10 role against Villa, with James Maddison not fit enough to start yet and Dejan Kulusevski and Xavi Simons both injured.

De Zerbi explained why he brought off the midfielder.

“Mateus is different than Kudus,” he said. “I have big confidence in Mateus but I didn’t like his performance today….. It’s not an attack on him because I love him. I just want more from him, even in that position.” Mathys Tel was not in the matchday squad, with De Zerbi opting to put three defenders and Archie Gray on the bench instead. The Italian was asked why he made that decision. “Technical decision,” he answered. “He was in the stands, because I think during the game, Maddison and Kudus, they had more chances to change the game, and then two centre-backs, important, also the two full-backs, have a look for Pedro Porro, with Archie Grey, and the two central midfielders. “But I explained why to Mathys yesterday. It was no problem. He was very nice and he understood the reason, but nothing more, and also he played more than the others.”