EPL: De Zerbi admits he ignored Tottenham players after defeat to Aston Villa
By Joel Masibo, September 20, 2026Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi revealed he chose not to address his players immediately after their 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, September 19, 2026, with the Italian admitting there was little he wanted to say following the disappointing result.
Spurs suffered another setback at home as Villa secured all three points, leaving De Zerbi with concerns over the squad’s physical condition as the international break begins.
International break timing
The Tottenham boss suggested the timing of the break could give some of his players an opportunity to reset, although those remaining at the club will be expected to put in extra work on the training ground.
“Maybe it’s better, I didn’t speak with the players today because I didn’t want to say anything.
“But the players who go with the national team they have to play, they have to work and the other players like Gallagher, Solanke, Tosin, Senesi, Savio for sure we have to work more because of the physical condition I didn’t like in this game.”
De Zerbi also singled out Dominic Solanke for improvement, acknowledging that the striker has struggled to reach his expected level during the opening stages of the campaign.
“We need more from him for sure, but he’s one of my players, I like Dom as a player and I stay with him until the end. He needs to stay, to feel better, his physical condition is not good enough for sure, but it’s normal for him.
“Maybe he’s not good enough in the confidence of himself in this moment because he’s much better than this Dom Solanke. Maybe many many things can be better than this moment. I think we can’t say everything is bad, but it’s not enough.”
The manager was also questioned over Tottenham’s decision not to bring in another striker during the summer transfer window, particularly with Solanke struggling for consistency.
Tottenham’s transfer decisions
De Zerbi insisted there were several factors behind the club’s transfer decisions, including financial constraints and difficulties in moving players out of the squad.
“The transfer market is long to explain because I am happy for the squad first of all, otherwise we create polemic, but the transfer market was long, they changed, the situation changed many times.
“There was also the financial fair play at the end of the transfer market and we had to respect the financial fair play, we didn’t sell the players who we thought in the beginning there was the possibility of a chance to sell. There are a lot of reasons, I think the club and the coach, we are not sleeping, we know the characteristics of the players, we know everything. And if we didn’t make any different decisions, it was because we couldn’t.”
With the international break now underway, De Zerbi will have time to assess the squad and work with those who remain in north London as Tottenham look to address the issues exposed by the Villa defeat.