De Zerbi: Motivation from 'everyone wants Tottenham relegated' idea

Roberto De Zerbi says the idea that “everyone wants Tottenham relegated” ought to motivate his players as they look to set aside the club’s dismal record against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to get the result they need to stay up.

Spurs have won once at Stamford Bridge since 1990 but they need only a draw on Tuesday night to all but ensure they survive in the Premier League and West Ham go down.

De Zerbi has spoken to his squad about the Stamford Bridge hoodoo but mainly to tell them it is not something to worry about. He has been all about the power of positive thought since he came to the club five matches ago and he leaned into it when he addressed those who would revel in Spurs’s demise.

“I am Italian and in Italy it’s the same,” De Zerbi said. “For the biggest teams, it’s the same. We have to accept the pressure. We have to enjoy this pressure. We have to find new motivation from this pressure. It’s a good thing for us. If everyone wants Tottenham relegated, it’s a big motivation for me and I hope for my players as well.

“We have to accept that football is nice because of the rivalries. It’s good to imagine ourselves celebrating the win in their stadium. If everyone wants Tottenham relegated, I think for one Tottenham player, one Tottenham fan, all the people who work inside Tottenham, it has to be the biggest motivation.”

Spurs’s lone success at Stamford Bridge in recent decades came in the league under Mauricio Pochettino in 2018 when Dele Alli scored twice to inspire a 3-1 win. De Zerbi made the point that when he took over from Igor Tudor at the end of March, Spurs had not won in the league since 28 December at Crystal Palace. But after they beat Wolves in his third match, they followed it up with a win against Aston Villa to climb out of the bottom three.

“We spoke this morning about this record [at Stamford Bridge],” De Zerbi said. “But the most important is the spirit, the personality for tomorrow – to play a good game, to make points. I explained that the last win before Wolves was 28 December and then we won two games in a row. It’s not the record that is important. It’s the mood, how you go to play the game.”

De Zerbi reported that Dominic Solanke was still injured but Guglielmo Vicario was available again. The manager will make a decision about whether to recall his No 1 goalkeeper or stick with Antonin Kinsky. He made it sound as though he would keep faith with Kinsky.

The game will stir memories of the infamous Battle of the Bridge in May 2016 when 12 players were booked, nine from Spurs. It finished 2-2, a result that ended Spurs’s title challenge and crowned Leicester as the champions. This season Spurs have the worst disciplinary record in the league with 91 yellow cards and four reds. Chelsea have the second-worst with 81 yellows and seven reds. De Zerbi will stress the need for cool heads.

“Always calm with the blood, with personality, with the right spirit,” he said. “Focus just on the game. Because in our last one against Leeds [the 1-1 draw], when Kinsky saved [in stoppage time], we went too strong, too fast, too strong on the ball. Sometimes we have to be more calm.”