‘We did not deserve to lose’ – Roberto De Zerbi says Tottenham stars need a father, not a coach

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Roberto De Zerbi has defended his Tottenham players after they fell to a 1-0 loss at the Stadium of Light in his first game in charge.

Tottenham desperately needed a result at Sunderland as they had dropped into the relegation zone following West Ham’s win over Wolves on Friday.

The Lilywhites did show plenty of fight in what was a tight affair in the North East, but they struggled to produce moments of quality in the final third, as they have for much of the Premier League season.

However, the new Tottenham boss insists he saw many positive signs from his players despite the defeat.

Roberto De Zerbi insists Tottenham ‘played a good game’ against Sunderland

The Tottenham hierarchy may have been hoping for an immediate impact from De Zerbi, but they did not get that, with the North Londoners now staring at the possibility of relegation for the first time in nearly half a century.

However, the Italian has remarked that he saw the right attitude and his spirits from his players and insists that Tottenham were unlucky to be on the losing side.

Speaking after Spurs’ 1-0 loss at Sunderland, De Zerbi told BBC Sport: “Sorry because we didn’t deserve to lose the game. We played a good game, maybe not enough to win, but we were unlucky in a few situations in the first half.

“I cannot say anything to players because they gave their best in terms of attitude and spirit. We can play better for sure and you can feel better. We have to work on that. My work is not so much on the pitch because they are good guys and I am sorry for them. I want to give them confidence in what they need.

“Tactically, we played a good first half. With the ball and without the ball. We don’t have confidence to play great football but we did what we have been working on this week. The players can play better if they are feeling confident.”

De Zerbi is confident he can turn things around at Spurs

Unlike his predecessor, Igor Tudor, who was not shy of criticising the Tottenham squad publicly, De Zerbi appears to have taken a more brotherly approach for the time being.

The Spurs head coach insists that things will turn around for his side as soon as they win a game and regain their confidence.

When asked about the challenge of keeping spirits in the squad high, he said: “I can be a big brother, father, they don’t need a coach. They don’t need to improve football. They can play better and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence.”

When asked if he is looking forward to the challenge, he said: “Absolutely, I’m sure if we are able to win a game, then everything will change.”