#PLStories- Cristian Stellini on Danjuma, De Zerbi, Conte, Kane, Devine and Mundle #THFC
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Cristian Stellini
What’s the last injury news? Any changes?
No, no good news about players that come back for the next game. We are getting closer with Richarlison – he trained on the pitch but he trained alone. We are going well with Ben Davies but we have to wait a bit of time.
Will Richarlison be back before Ben?
Yes.
Will Richarlison be back soon?
Richarlison has started to train on pitch, he is going well. For the next game he could be available.
Brighton are in the top four race and defeat would put them point behind, how important is it to win this game?
This game is really important for us because it came after two drawn matches. Matches we could win so it’s very important to play a great match against Brighton that is a tough team in this moment since Christmas. First in the league for chances created from open play, passes attempted and shots on target. It is a team with the ball that is very good, with a great manager that arrive here and is quickly doing a great job.
We knew this manager for a long time because he’s an Italian guy and we respect him and Brighton, but we are Tottenham, and we play in our stadium and so we have to play stronger, and play in our way and in a way we can hurt them. We know very well which is this way and we are well prepared to play tomorrow.
Is that one of the messages to the players – we are Tottenham?
Yes we speak a lot about this but also we deserve to find the way to be Tottenham and to play the football that is strong in the tackle, strong in the pressure and strong with the ball. We have to be complete.
What have you made of the Harry Kane criticism?
I think it’s strange that some ex-players said some things I think wrong about Harry because they’re ex players and they understand the difference between seeing a situation like this in slow-motion and living this experience in real time. It’s completely different. Everton’s manager said it’s a clear red card, so there’s no discussion about this. I don’t understand why some player spoke about this. I think they don’t agree with Tottenham, instead of not agreeing with Harry. I think they respect Harry but probably they don’t respect Tottenham enough.
Is he not the type to exaggerate?
I have never seen him exaggerate something. I have seen him stand up after a strong tackle and we have a lot of examples. Also we spoke with the board of referees about some of the tackles Harry received and really bad. Also in the first half last match there was a strong tackle from a central defender but we don’t discuss this and Harry doesn’t discuss this. He’s an amazing player in every aspect, also in the behaviour he has and the respect he has. He respects the game a lot. It’s important to say this and everyone has to understand that they cannot challenge Harry on this aspect.
Do the players need to learn how to control the game after what happened at Everton?
Sometimes you have to go strong. When you play 11 v 10, the mindset can change because you think the match becomes easy. If you think this, it’s the moment you made a mistake. When the opponent plays with 10 men, they create new energy. You need to keep enough energy and that was the problem in that game. For me, it’s important to do it with the ball. The opponent when to struggle when you keep and move the ball and when they come and use more energy, you can find a way to score a second goal. This is the mindset we need, also when we play 11 v 11. It’s not different. You have to force yourself in that moment to go stronger.
With De Zerbi, why is it so difficult to play Brighton?
They with you, they with you and they are well prepared when you start to press them, they find a way to overcome your pressure. They are well positioned, they plan a match in the right way, they have many solutions also and they adapt themselves when you change something because they came from a good job that Potter did with them for a long time. Also I think De Zerbi find a good solution to play with his style because that team came with Potter and they know themselves very well. This is a great opportunity because when players play for a long time with each other, it is easier and they plan very well the match.
Is the ambition still to get top four or is European football the aim?
Tottenham has to play for the top four every time. Until the maths say something different, we have to play strong to arrive for the top four.
Are the odds against you with Newcastle, Manchester United and Brighton in there? Did you lose control of the situation?
Yes we lose the control because we draw two matches. If we won the last two matches we were in control. Now we lose the control and we have also some important matches to play against teams who fight with us for fourth place. Every time when we have this possibility, if you go stronger and you play well, you can do it.
Do you need to get the killer instinct back to see out games. You did it at Brighton, but not at Southampton or Everton?
We lived two different experiences because the second one was with a 1-0 lead in the game. We have to force ourselves to go stronger and to try to score second goal much more than defend the result. This is the way we have to play.
Will Arnaut Danjuma get more playing time with some many injuries and Lucas’ suspension?
Now for sure because we don’t have many players but Danjuma deserves to play probably early but we also have a squad and some leaders of our team and if you send them out of the team then you can lose the ability to score.
We have three very good strikers and it’s not easy to change them. You have to find the right way and the right moment and also now tactically we don’t have many solutions, and we don’t have enough players.
Do you have to throw caution to the wind now?
We have to take risks and that is not from me but we have to prepare well for the situation because if you take a risk and you can not defend this risk then maybe you have to struggle after. So have to go in the right way and not in bad way and we are following a process improve but also we have to be lucid in the idea and the idea is not to lose the (mind) or match.
What can you change between now and the end of the season?
At the moment nothing special because we don’t have enough players because we have a lot of injuries and it doesn’t allow us to change anything tactically.
We’ve been preparing for a system in the last month but the injury situation means we can not use it so we have to calm down now and we have to be patient and lucid.
The players know everything and now we have to be strong and consistent as we’ve been working with them for the last 18 months and if we are lucky or good to win a game we have to try to score more goals.
Has anything surprised you since you took over?
How many things I have to think about (laughs). Normally when you are assistant you don’t have to think many things. You can focus on your job and you don’t think about what the manager has to do.
What things?
What I’m doing now is one tough thing but also sometimes we are focused only on a part of the team, but now we have to talk to all departments to give them input. They have to be respected. So a long day, the day of a manager.
Are all of those departments in alignment, everyone pushing in the same direction?
Absolutely, absolutely because we are in a club with a lot of departments and everyone has to push in the same way. I think Antonio did a good job under this aspect so we are good.
Are you in the difficult position that you need to strike a balance between being respectful to Antonio and what he did but also wanting to make your own mark and make the fans happy?
Yeah absolutely but I think the fans have to be happy about what we did with Antonio because we were fourth and we can challenge the other teams. We were fourth and now we are not but we can fight for fourth place so we have to be in confidence, we have to know who we are and the reality we will live. When you know this, you react in the right way. Sometimes if you don’t understand the reality, your reaction is not the right reaction, but when you realise what is the reality you can react in the right way.
You were noticeably having Lloris take very short goal kicks at Everton, is that going to be a new way to try to stretch compact teams and create space?
We have to try to create space when we play against teams that defend a lot. That was the last game and the game before. They try to press but sometimes they try to defend the space. It is much more difficult and if you are well prepared and you can plan well then you can hurt the opponent also when they are aggressive.
Now is the time to try to attack the space more and try to create more on pitch. We want to allow the strikers to have more chances to score. This is what we are trying and this is in the hand of the team to do it on the pitch.
With the injuries you have and Lucas’ suspension you’re going to have to use young players on the bench. It’s similar to last season but then they never came on, would you be willing to use them this time?
Yeah, yeah if we need them, we will use them. We have some good players that are ready to play, also in the Premier League. We have Alfie Devine, Romain Mundle, we have players that we trust in them to play a part of the match or a match in the Premier League.
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