Roberto De Zerbi light-heartedly confronted a 'negative' journalist after Tottenham Hotspur secured Premier League survival on the final day of the season. Spurs defeated Everton 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Joao Palhinha scoring the decisive goal in the first half. The result ensured Tottenham remained in the top flight while sending West Ham United, along with Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers, down to the Championship.
After the full-time whistle, fans, players, and staff celebrated passionately. However, before conducting his post-match media duties, De Zerbi paused the press conference to seek out a particular reporter. 'Where is he?' De Zerbi asked. 'The one who is always there at the Tottenham training ground. He was negative and I'm positive. But I want to hug him, not to fight. I have no energy to fight anymore.'
When the journalist arrived, the pair shook hands. De Zerbi smiled and inquired, 'Are you happy?' The reporter offered his congratulations. Later, after the press conference, De Zerbi again spoke to the journalist, suggesting they had been pessimistic about Tottenham's survival chances. The reporter responded, 'It's my job to ask questions, it's not my job to be positive.'
De Zerbi's Pride and Warning
Following the survival mission, which De Zerbi celebrated with a glass of red wine, the Italian expressed pride in how his injury-hit squad had responded to the crisis. However, he stressed that there was no time to waste to ensure Spurs never again find themselves in a position that defender Micky van de Ven described as 'embarrassing'.
'I think we deserve to stay up, because we made 11 points in seven games and we deserved more,' De Zerbi said. 'From tonight, we have to start to organise and to build the new team. I don't think we have to change too many players. We have 10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay. But first we must complete the squad with first-level players.'
'We suffered too much. I suffered a lot, the players suffered a lot and the fans. We can't suffer like this until the last second of the last game to stay up. The target to stay up is finished. My target now is to start the pre-season with the team I have in my dream.'
Praise for the Fans
De Zerbi also praised the long-suffering Tottenham supporters, who stood in massed ranks to greet the team bus on Sunday before a game that could have had calamitous consequences had it gone wrong. 'Next season the target is to make them happier than this season for sure,' he said. 'I would like to compete, I don't know for what, but stop suffering like this.'
Additional reporting by Reuters.
