Cristian Stellini has called on his Tottenham team to “play strong” and “go with desire” amid plenty of questions about their style of football. Putting teams to the sword 12 months ago as they scored goals for fun on their way to securing a Champions League place, fans have made their feelings perfectly clear on the team’s football this campaign.
Now on the lookout for a new head coach after Antonio Conte departed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of last month, Daniel Levy has a huge decision to make and it is one he must get right as supporters are desperate to be entertained and see their team playing the attacking and entertaining football that is in the club’s DNA.
When asked if Tottenham need to appoint a more attacking coach after previously opting for Jose Mourinho and Conte, Stellini delivered his verdict and pointed to the amount of goals Spurs scored under Conte in 2021//22.
Cristian Stellini said: “Do you really think they were defensive managers? Do you remember how many goals we scored last season? There are different styles of football. We don’t have to forget who we are, where we are, the moment we are. Every season is different from the others. This is a tough season for us. We don’t have to forget this. It is not only about being attacking or defensive – there are stats that say this. Winning trophies, winning leagues… it means you score more than the other teams. I don’t want to create confusion on that. And I am not speaking about Antonio or Mourinho. I am Cristian Stellini and respect every one. But don’t create confusion speaking about style of football – whether attacking or defensive. We have to push ourselves. We have to play strong, we have to go with desire. That is enough. Everyone must do their best to try to win the game. All the other stuff is philosophy. The reality is playing the match. Go strong. You bring the crowd with you, if you go strong. We played against Chelsea and won a great game by playing strong. We have to complete this type of performance. To have the crowd with us is not only about being attacking or defensive. We have to defend well to win. The best defences in the Premier League are Arsenal and Manchester City. They defend well with 10 players. They defend strong. We have to do our best to show everyone the desire and stop thinking about the style of football. I am a young manager, I have got eight games to play. I am not going to talk about philosophy. Reality. Reality. I don’t answer any more questions about philosophy. Tomorrow we have to go out there and play strong. This is the thing.”
Asked if the reality is it is down to the players to get the stadium going,
Cristian Stellini said: “Yes. And I would like the stadium to start very strongly with us. The team has to do their best. This is what I would like to see. It’s a balance between our responsibility and the responsibility of the crowd to get behind the other. We have to do our best to do this because atmosphere in the stadium is important for us. It’s like one player more when you play. And so we have to push ourselves to do our best, we have to play with the right confidence, with the right mindset to bring with us all the fans.”
