🚨Roberto De Zerbi on why he did not celebrate James Maddison’s stunner during Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Coventry: 🗣️ Roberto De Zerbi: “People will ask me why I didn’t celebrate. Even my assistant looked at me and said, ‘Coach, celebrate! We have scored!’ I looked at him and said, ‘Celebrate what? It is one goal!’ “Honestly, I was happy, of course. How can you not appreciate a goal like that? Maddison scored an incredible goal, but at that moment, I was thinking about the bigger picture. “Let me be honest with you, it is frustrating. We had to wait until Maddison returned and until our seventh game to finally take the lead. We are Tottenham. We cannot keep making things so difficult for ourselves. We have quality in this squad, but quality means nothing if you don’t show it consistently. “And you could see Maddison apologising to the Coventry supporters after scoring. That meant something to me. He grew up in Coventry, played for the club and has a connection with those people. He understands what that club means to its supporters, and he showed them respect. “So, of course, I respect Coventry. It was a beautiful goal, but for me, one goal was not enough to start celebrating like we had won a trophy. We still had a job to finish. “At half-time, I told the players, ‘We have the lead, now protect it. Close the spaces, stop giving them opportunities, and do not make silly mistakes. If we want to become a serious team, we have to learn how to control games when we are ahead.’ “And then the second half starts, and what happens? We are already picking the ball out of our own net! [shakes head] “This is what frustrates me the most. You can spend fifteen minutes explaining something to the players, showing them where the danger will come from, and then one mistake destroys all your work. At this level, you cannot afford to switch off. “We had to fight our way back into the game, and credit to the players for that. But we should not have put ourselves in that position in the first place. “Maddison gave us creativity and the courage to try something different. Kudus brought energy, movement and the ability to hurt defenders. These are players who can change a game in one moment, and today they helped save us. “But I don’t want Tottenham to become a team that depends on two players to rescue us every weekend. What happens when Maddison is unavailable? What happens when Kudus has a difficult game? Are we suddenly going to forget how to play football? “If we continue depending on individual brilliance to get us out of trouble, we will put ourselves in a position where relegation becomes a real danger. I am not saying this to frighten anyone. I am saying it because we must be honest about the level we need to reach. “We have to improve defensively, move the ball better and become more intelligent when we are leading. You cannot expect Maddison to score a world-class goal every time we need help, or Kudus to dribble past three players whenever we struggle. “Football is a collective responsibility. When we win, we win together. When we suffer, we suffer together. And when we make mistakes, we take responsibility together. “Tonight, we are happy because we won. The supporters deserve that happiness, and the players deserve credit for fighting until the end. But tomorrow, we will watch the game again, analyse our mistakes and work to correct them. “I want Tottenham to become a team that scores the first goal and knows how to manage the match. I want us to dominate because we understand the game, not because we are waiting for one talented player to produce a moment of magic. “My assistant told me to celebrate, and I told him it was only one goal. Now you understand why. At Tottenham, we cannot celebrate one moment of brilliance as if it has solved all our problems. Maddison and Kudus helped us win today, but if we want to achieve something meaningful this season, the entire team must learn to stand on its own feet.”