It was a stark, painfully revealing quote. But it was not difficult to see why Roberto De Zerbi purposely downgraded himself from his position as the third best-paid coach in the Premier League to that of glorified cheerleader and psychologist.<\/p>\n
This is why \u201cthe target now is to win one game\u201d, why a Champions League club has to \u201cwork on one win\u201d, why the Europa League winners are being promised by their newly-appointed firefighter that \u201cif we are able to win a game everything will change\u201d.<\/p>\n
The opportunity to witness that change remains elusive. Spurs, again, were much improved under De Zerbi<\/a>. Spurs, again, could not translate that into a victory. Spurs, again, wilted when the chance was there to transform their season.<\/p>\n In the circumstances, there could hardly have been a more crushing result. Spurs have lost 20 games this season and likely not felt as dejected as after a home draw in which they led twice, enjoyed an emotional release of shirt-removing magnitude and held on for dear life until the 95th minute.<\/p>\n Spurs would have risen to 16th with those three points, even if only temporarily. Nottingham Forest hosting Burnley and West Ham travelling to a Crystal Palace side which was on the lash Just Days Before their Monday evening game<\/a> made this a potentially ruinous weekend for their hopes of survival.<\/p>\n And for a time they rose to that occasion. Spurs had by far the better start, took a deserved lead through Pedro Porro and hit the post almost immediately after.<\/p>\n It was the first time Spurs had been ahead in a Premier League game since March 5, when they conceded within six minutes of taking the lead against Palace and eventually lost 3-1. They held on for four before Brighton equalised through a stunning Kaoru Mitoma volley.<\/p>\n A finish of exquisite quality, it nevertheless was only made possible by the amount of space afforded to Pascal Gross as he swung in a pinpoint delivery to the back post; only Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin de Bruyne have more Premier League assists than the German since he made his Brighton debut, so it might have been an idea to close him down a little.<\/p>\n That was Brighton\u2019s second shot of the game. Three more followed early in the second half but Spurs sustained the pressure and eventually offered the perfect response.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has to score, he has to make assists and he has to run without the ball,\u201d De Zerbi said of Simons in his pre-match press conference, with the Dutchman ticking each box here. His lofted ball in for Pedro was sublime, his curling finish off the post to Spurs ahead was exemplary, and there was enough running to induce cramp for the final ten minutes or so as his side tried to close the result out.<\/p>\n