#PLStories- Cristian Stellini on Roberto De Zerbi, red card, Son, Tottenham and the top four #THFC
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Cristian Stellini
The handshake before the game seem to start it all off, what was that about?
I can say only that what happened on the pitch, stay onto the pitch. Sometimes it seems something bad but is not. I want to let everyone understand that this is my second game like head coach for Tottenham and I want to give respect to all the managers in Premier League.
When I speak about manager, I speak every time like I am a person that has to learn from all the manager who work in Premier League. Managers that work in the past, managers that work now. I want to learn every day, I try to do my best and I want to give respect to everyone, so I don’t speak about anything that happen into the pitch.
You seemed surprised at the red card, there seems to be a rule that you have to control your staff, what do you make of it all?
I consider the red card because also if I try to stay calm and to be focused on the game, I have to manage the bench and to keep all of them calm. But in that moment for me I was focused on the players, I wanted to speak to the players and I lose my focus on the bench. This is the rule. I have to respect the rule but I think also if you look at what happened, I was polite and calm.
Was De Zerbi unhappy with something you said?
I don’t know, I don’t know and I don’t want to change my idea. I want to be respectful to everyone and I continue to do my job the best.
Have you spoken to him since?
No.
Were you always confident Ryan Mason and the coaching staff would follow the plan without you?
Absolutely, absolutely. I went upstairs to watch the game and if I could give them suggestion, I had people that could maybe transfer my idea. But they did a great job, they finish well the game and we have also energy to finish the game in the right way.
Is the top four still on?
Yes because today we played against a tough opponent, today we played with aggressiveness, we tried to press them very high. When they play through the keeper, we try to push them back. It was a similar game we played against (Manchester) City this season. I think also we went one-goal up in the second half and when we compare with the last two games, we fight a lot and we achieve the result because we were compact and we were all together involved. Also the players that came in like Danjuma, Tanganga and Pape, they were involved in the way you have to be to win the game. I am very happy for that.
Did you feel your team deserved to win?
I think so. Also because in the first half we conceded a lot of possession to him. This is normal against Brighton. We had many counter-attacks to try to score. We were not perfect in this way, but we had many situations with the possibility to shoot on target.
Before the red card was there tension between the two benches?
I think so because if it happened something like this then there is tension but tension came from the type of game we were playing. It was an important game and the result is very important to both teams so that can create a bit of tension. That is normal. I like to be calm. It’s normal in this type of game.
How happy are you with the result and did what happened to you take away from it at all?
I don’t feel that I was taken away from the victory. I was involved and in that moment it probably gave us a lot of energy to win the game. It’s important sometimes that something like this happens to switch on the head of players and the crowd. It was amazing the effort the crowd did in that moment. They felt the team needed energy and they gave us energy. We are happy when we have the crowd with us and I think this is a positive.
Son scored his 100th Premier League goal after a difficult time with losing his grandfather, can you say what you thought of that goal and what it meant to him?
We celebrate into the dressing room. What I said was this week we celebrate 70 years of Gianni Vio, we celebrate a new birth in Ryan Mason’s family, he has a new son and this type of human thing you have to celebrate every time. So we also had 100 goals from Sonny. It’s amazing to have this, it’s normal that in football that when you win this type of match there are individual targets, but that target can create energy if our best players play for the team and for the win.
Have you seen any of the Brighton decisions yet, Mitoma penalty shout, and disallowed goals, were they hard done by?
Many times we had to accept what VAR said. If we go back we have maybe four times we can discuss what VAR did. We didn’t discuss in the past, we don’t want to discuss now. What VAR and the referee does is like everything, staying on the pitch and finished now. No argument and we have to play football.
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