Roberto De Zerbi says his squad have ‘done something great’ this season despite a debilitating injury list.
Albion’s head coach confirmed ahead of tonight’s game against Spurs that Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra have joined Tariq Lamptey, Joel Veltman, Adam Webster, Julio Enciso, Solly March and Ansu Fati on the list of players unavailable at the moment. Mitoma (ankle) and Adingra (hamstring) picked up their injuries in last week’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and both will be out for a minimum of four weeks.
Nonetheless, Albion could climb to seventh with victory over Spurs and they are through to the last 16 of the Europa League.
De Zerbi said, “I think we are doing something great, and I am really proud of my players.
| Pos | Team | Pld | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9
|
WHU
|
37 | -12 | 52 |
|
10
|
Albion
|
36 | -4 | 48 |
|
11
|
EVE
|
37 | -10 | 48 |
“In terms of quality and level of play we are playing better than last season. We’ve had a lot of injuries and have had to play a lot of young players.
“But we are competing [and giving] our best. We can improve and do better in the number of goals we concede, but apart from that I am really proud. We conceded a lot of goals we shouldn’t. Burnley had one shot; Fulham two shots; Chelsea we conceded from set pieces; Luton a penalty; Wolverhampton another set piece. But don’t forget in the Europa League [we have had] four clean sheets in a row.
“The most important thing has been the mentality of the team. When there are many [injury] problems you have to work better and harder. I have to think about different ways on the pitch and find the balance without and with the ball, which I like [to do] as a coach. I can’t change my DNA but without eight players you have to find different solutions to keep our style and our idea as much as possible. We have to transform problems into opportunities.”
“I would like to play with the complete squad. But Tottenham have played a lot of games without 7-8 players and [Ange] Postecoglou never cries, we have to accept and I think we can compete in the same way. Maybe we have more energy with young players and Jakub Moder hasn’t played for more than a year, so maybe he can bring energy too.
MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required
Log-in required
“I’m lucky because we have a great academy and today we can bring 3-4 players from there and we can compete.”
De Zerbi admits he is a fan of Spurs’ head coach Postecoglou who has made them Champions League contenders after joining the club from Celtic in the summer.
“I like Ange Postecoglou as a coach and with his style of play, and in interviews I like him a lot. I love their style, they play great football and in terms of courage and personality on the pitch they are one of the best teams in the Premier League and Europe.”