Cristian Stellini has told Spurs' shrinking violets: “We are Tottenham - play like a team and respect the game plan.”
As players, Stellini and Roberto De Zerbi crossed paths in Italian football 15 years ago, when RDZ was a combative No.10 with a nifty line in trash-talk at struggling Avellino and Tottenham's interim head coach was helping Bari win promotion to Serie A as champions.
But if De Zerbi's soaring Seagulls leave north London with the spoils on Saturday, Spurs will need another miracle to finish in the top four – and the fans' mood on White Hart Lane will turn toxic. Stellini is demanding urgent atonement for the craven surrender of a 1-0 lead against 10-man Everton.
And he must prove he can get a different tune out of Spurs after they ditched head coach Antonio Conte but still resorted to a negative mindset in the last 20 minutes at Goodison Park. If it's more of the same stodge against Brighton, the supporters who have endured 15 years without a trophy are ready to blow.
Stellini was furious at his team's retreat against orders at Everton and said: “You have to accept that I was an assistant manager for a long time with Antonio so we have to accept that my mind came from this history.
“I don't think that as a manager, if you change something different that you necessarily have a different result. It is in the mind of the players, and in the way you want to play a match, that can change this.
"It is not because you play with six strikers that you can attack better. Play like a team and respect the game plan - this is what I’m focused on.”
Twelve months ago, Conte said Spurs needed a “miracle” to qualify for the Champions League and they made it on the last day of term with a five-goal romp at Norwich. Now they may need another one, and his former right-hand man Stellini admitted: “We are in the same place because nothing changed. We were in a position where we had to recover points and now we are in the same position.
“We need an important result. To do that, you have to strong and be consistent in the 90 minutes and for a long time over many matches. We have to know the reality of where we are, so we have to recover points. But last season we had to recover points from Arsenal and we did it.
“Nothing has changed from the past - what has to change is our mindset. Last year we arrived with a wave to ride, now we have to create that wave to ride.”
And De Zerbi? “When he was a player, he was aggressive. I challenged him sometimes and he was really aggressive. But he was a good No.10 striker, good technically but very aggressive in the way he played and also talented.
“I don’t know what he is like as a manager. For sure, his results were every time good results. He gave to his team good characteristics and he’s very strong in the way he wants to play.”
