Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi has warned his squad that only “stupid people” will forget the trauma of their relegation battle after securing Premier League survival on the final day.
A tense 1-0 victory over Everton guaranteed safety for Spurs, capping off a tumultuous campaign where the club suffered right until the final whistle.
De Zerbi insisted that the club must use the agony of this year as fuel to ensure they never find themselves in a similar predicament again.
“We are happy because we stay up and we forget the past? No, no, no,” De Zerbi warned.
“The stupid people forget the past. The smart people, the people with value, can’t forget and keep in their mind the past, and we have to improve from our mistakes.
“We have to look forward to starting to rebuild a team from this night, from tomorrow. We have no time to go on holiday.”
The Italian coach was full of praise for the resilience shown by his squad, singling out the attitude of both starting players and those who dropped to the bench during the run-in.
He revealed that he had originally planned to start goalkeeper Radu Kinsky earlier in his tenure to send a message of family and solidarity to the squad, while praising Guglielmo Vicario’s professional reaction to being benched.
“My players played a fantastic game as a spirit, as a behavior, as an attitude, but also as a quality of the play,” he said. “I’m proud.
“We are Tottenham and we can’t suffer like this until the last second of the last game to stay up. I will be strong. From tonight, we have to start to organize and to build the new team.
“We have a 10, 11, 12 players good enough to stay—good enough as players, but especially as people. Then we have to complete the squad with first-level players because we suffered too much. I suffered a lot, but the fans, the club, the board, the players, they suffered too much.”
Despite previously delivering European football at Brighton and steering Marseille through severe difficulties, De Zerbi ranked keeping Tottenham in the top flight right alongside his finest managerial achievements.
De Zerbi added: “I think it is the biggest achievement in my time. Brighton in the Europa League was great, the second place in Marseille with a lot of problems was a big achievement, but I think today was maybe one of the best days in football so far.”