The rain in Spain does not fall mainly in the plain, but instead firmly upon the heads of Tottenham Hotspur supporters. In his first press conference since taking his team to Marbella, Spain for a week of warm weather training and team bonding, Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi announced that attacker Savio and midfielder Lucas Bergvall both picked up injuries and will be out for “weeks.”
De Zerbi said that Savio picked up a “muscular injury” on Tuesday, the day Spurs left for Marbella. He did not travel to Spain with the rest of the team and will be out for “some weeks.” He did not specify what kind of injury it was. Bergvall, who played so well in Spurs’ last match, tweaked his knee early in that game; De Zerbi said he’d be out for two weeks.
“Unfortunately Savio on Tuesday, yes Tuesday the first day in our training ground before we leave for Marbella, he felt a muscular problem. We lost him for some weeks unfortunately, but (it’s) like this. And Lucas Bergvall because he had a problem at the beginning of the game in Manchester. The first chance we created with Solanke, when he (Bergvall) regained the ball, his knee, he felt pain and finished the game, but the day after Manchester, Sunday, he came to training ground to our medical staff. And I think two weeks [out].
“I don’t know [how long Savio will be out], but some weeks for sure.”
This just feels unfair at this point. But there is some good news — in his next comments De Zerbi seemed to confirm that Dejan Kulusevski would be on the bench for tomorrow’s home match vs. Coventry City, raising the possibility that Deki could play match minutes for Spurs for the first time in over 500 days.
“Yes, Kulusevski on the bench. We had a meeting with the medical staff. They gave the OK and it’s great news. I think it’s one of the best news after Everton game last season because Deki he suffered too much. He deserves to feel emotion on the pitch.
“Yesterday, after the training, I spoke with him and I said to him ‘I spoke with the medical staff and they gave me the okay’ and he smiled like this (does a big grin). And we are happy. We are very, very happy. It’s not football. I’m not speaking about football. Okay, he’s a special player, but we are speaking about different things. He suffered a lot and his reaction was great.”
De Zerbi also confirmed that Pedro Porro, as expected, would not feature vs. Coventry either, but is likely to be back in the team when Spurs visit Stamford Bridge next weekend to play Chelsea.
De Zerbi implied the days spent in Marbella was positive and had the intended effect, with the players training and also spending time together, getting to know each other better.
“Yes, we worked well. Very well, but anyway, we worked well in our training ground at home. I think when you have to improve and I think we have to improve in the result, not in the quality of the performances, but you have to find all ways to improve. All ways to be better, all ways to become a stronger group. The players spend time together. They stay together a lot. I think to create something more than a normal first XI no? Now I think and I believe in football you need to create a group, you need the relationships, we need the connection and we need to know very well your team-mates.”
Spurs will kick off against Coventry City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Monday at 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. BST.