Roberto De Zerbi has officially arrived at Tottenham Hotspur as he aims to save the club from relegation.
The Italian has signed a five-year deal at the club and is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the business.
However, in recent weeks, Tottenham fan groups started a ‘Say No To De Zerbi’ campaign due to his comments about Mason Greenwood while at Marseille.
Tottenham confirmed earlier that De Zerbi would clarify his comments on Greenwood during his first interview with the club. And now, the Italian has done just that, giving a rather elaborate explanation.
De Zerbi apologises for Greenwood misunderstanding
After Greenwood was initially charged for assault – and later acquitted – he left Manchester United to join Marseille, where the Italian was the manager.
De Zerbi publicly supported Greenwood and went on to refer to him as a ‘good guy’ despite the incident, which did not go down well with the wider footballing fraternity.
As we mentioned earlier, several fan groups released statements as they ordered the club to rethink his appointment. Tottenham even ‘carefully considered’ De Zerbi’s comments in the wake of those protests, but decided to go ahead with him anyway.
And now, the Italian has confirmed that when he made his comments on Greenwood, he wasn’t doing so to take a stance, explaining that he has always stood up against violence, in general.
“I would like to answer the question in Italian because I want to be clear,” began De Zerbi as he opted to speak in his native tongue.
“I have never wanted to downplay the issue of violence against women or violence against anyone more broadly.”
“In my life, I’ve always stood up for those who are more vulnerable, more fragile. I’ve constantly taken a stand to be in the side of those who are most at risk.
“Those of you who know me well will know that I’m not the kind of person who makes compromises to win more games or to win an extra title. I’m sorry if I offended anyone’s feelings with this subject matter.
“I have a daughter and I’m very sensitive to these things and I always have been. I hope that over time, people will get to know me better and will understand that at that moment, I didn’t mean to take a stance.”
Tottenham do the right thing
The interview was obviously pre-recorded, but in the wake of recent protests from fan groups, and for the general good of humanity, Tottenham did the right thing by making the Italian address the situation directly.
Otherwise, lingering issues will have spilled over to the football, which is not what the club needs at the moment.
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Football and everything else is secondary during such times, so maybe, as De Zerbi says, everyone associated with the club can give him a bit more time to truly get to know him before making judgments.
Tottenham and De Zerbi will look to put this issue on the back burner as the following seven games could define the course of the club’s future.
