Tottenham Hotspur boss Cristian Stellini has come under fire from Simon Jordan for his comments made about Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton & Hove Albion.
What did Cristian Stellini say about De Zerbi?
Saturday’s clash in north London certainly provided the fans with some entertainment with the game marred by controversial refereeing decisions.
Spurs were able to come out of the game with all three points in the bag, however, the officials have been heavily criticised for the decisions made against Brighton.
One decision which may not come under any criticism was to send off the Brighton manager for his continuous arguing on the sidelines with the Spurs coaches.
And this is something which had begun before the game had even started in north London with the Italian clearly holding an issue against Stellini.
It seems as if the Brighton manager may have taken some offence to comments made by the interim Spurs boss in the build-up to the game:
“Potter was more fluid in the change of system but the players are smart to do it. You have to create intelligent player to do it,” said Stellini.
On the back of the flared tempers on the sidelines, Simon Jordan has criticised Stellini on talkSPORT for the comments he made prior to the game:
(3:30) “Stellini shouldn’t really be commenting on the job that someone’s done somewhere else and comparing it to what [Graham] Potter had given him there’s no need for it, is there?
“Stellini should be managing his group of players that inherit bunch of, you know, whatever is there that’s created a problem at Tottenham for the last couple of years.”
“Stellini’s irrelevant, isn’t he? He’s going to be gone in five minutes’ time. So why bother about him? But De Zerbi’s character is, no, I’ll take you on.”
Can Stellini lead Spurs to the top four?
Although Spurs walked away from the game with the points, it was another display which will have likely left the home fans incredibly underwhelmed.
At this stage in the season, points are all that really matter when a side is chasing an objective such as a spot inside the top four.
However, Spurs were by far second best on the weekend and will likely feel incredibly fortunate that some of the refereeing decisions went their way on the day.
Tottenham now face Bournemouth at home on the weekend where points will feel like an absolute must, but a convincing win could provide them with a huge boost ahead of what will be a massive week.
After the game against the Cherries, Spurs then face away trips to Newcastle United and Liverpool with a home clash against Manchester United sandwiched between the away trips to the north.
This Spurs side have been largely underwhelming for a period of time now, but whether Stellini can guide them through this tricky run of fixtures unscathed will be a huge ask.
Not only do Spurs need to come out of those games with points, but they need to take all three points off the likes of United and Newcastle who they are chasing in the race for the top four.
