Roberto De Zerbi says it is not possible to win games without fight as Spurs continued their winless run in the Premier League with defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Villans came away with a 3-2 victory despite a poor start at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium thanks to goals from Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendia.
The hosts did find the net twice late on through Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke, their first goals of the season, but it was scant consolation for the north London outfit, who have just two points and zero wins from their opening five games.
De Zerbi said the manner in which Spurs conceded the first two goals was unacceptable and pointed the finger at his players’ “behaviour” and mentality for their disappointing performances this season.
The Italian believes they have been somewhat unlucky so far this term, but admitted “we are not good enough to deserve luck” right now.
De Zerbi accuses Spurs players of lacking ‘fight’
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the full-time whistle, De Zerbi said “the game was finished” long before they got their late goals.
“We played very well in the first half and we created chances to score. We conceded the first two goals in ways that were not acceptable.
“For the first we have to communicate better, we have to stay like a family and we didn’t and we conceded a stupid goal. Second goal, we have the offside decision [disallowing Spurs’ goal] but the focus had to be better.
“We have to be stronger. We have to put on the pitch something more than we are putting. Football is tactical but it is blood, it is fighting, it is first one on the ball. Without that it is tough to win the game.
“As a coach I take responsibility. I can work better, harder and more. I can explain my opinion about the performance and about what we can do more. But in the end I can’t change something more in the behaviour.
“I think we are not lucky in this period but you have to deserve luck and the positive things and we are not good enough to deserve luck in this moment.”
Thanks to the extended international break that begins on Monday, Spurs will now spend three weeks in the bottom three of the Premier League table.
Asked if the break is good timing for his team, De Zerbi responded: “You have to ask the players. We will suffer until the next game and we will try to do better in the future.”
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