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De Zerbi blames Spurs’ confidence issues after Everton stalemate
13th September, 2026 07:25 AM
Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi believes a lack of confidence affected his players after they failed to break down Everton in a frustrating 0-0 Premier League draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
Spurs started brightly at home, showing plenty of intensity and attacking intent during the opening stages. However, they were unable to turn their early pressure into goals as their barren run in front of goal stretched beyond 400 minutes in the Premier League.
The result was met with boos from sections of the home supporters at the final whistle, but De Zerbi insisted the situation was not yet a crisis and attributed his players’ struggles partly to their fragile confidence.
“It’s not a tough moment. Last season was a tough moment. Now is not normal, but when you start late – because we only started working with Marmoush, Savio, Solanke and Maddison two days ago,” De Zerbi explained to Sky Sports post-match.
The Italian felt Tottenham produced one of their better spells during the opening half-hour but believed their physical condition contributed to a decline in energy as the match progressed.
“I think we played really well the first 30 minutes. Maybe our energy dropped because our physical condition is not the best. We have to shoot more times on goal. We went inside the penalty area of Everton 74 times, but we didn’t create enough chances. We made too many wrong decisions but we played well.”
De Zerbi mixed feeling
De Zerbi refused to adopt either an overly optimistic or pessimistic outlook, instead calling for his side to maintain their early intensity throughout matches.
“I’m not positive and I’m not negative. I’m realistic. If you play like we did the first 30 minutes, it’s because you are capable of playing football. We have to extend to 90 minutes and stay focused.”
The Tottenham boss was particularly concerned by the reaction of his players after they failed to find an opening goal.
“I have to analyse the performances and the potential of my players. When we didn’t score after 30 minutes, our confidence suffered too much. I also observed that in the second half and I do not like this.”
Despite the disappointing result, De Zerbi stressed that he understood the human side of his squad and saw his role as helping the players regain belief.
“The players are human. They are sensitive. My position is to help them to stay focused on our improvement. If we play 90 minutes like we did in the first 30, we will win lots of games.” He said.
Tottenham will now be expected to respond quickly as De Zerbi looks to turn their promising spells into sustained performances and, crucially, goals.
