Tottenham searching for first goal and first win of the Premier League season but £85m Matheus Fernandes says the squad with “a lot of quality” is aiming to fight for trophies; watch Tottenham vs Everton live on Sky from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm By Interview: Adam Smith | Words: Peter Smith Spurs may have failed to win any of their first three Premier League games this season, but summer signing Matheus Fernandes is convinced he has joined a squad set to start fighting for trophies. The £85m midfielder was wanted by a list of clubs after impressing for West Ham last season, with Man Utd keen on a deal but ultimately unable to go head-to-head with Spurs on the fee. For Fernandes, it was his conversations with head coach Roberto De Zerbi which persuaded him the north London project was for him. “I spoke with the Mister and he was the key for this decision,” Fernandes told Sky Sports ahead of the Saturday Night Football clash with Everton.
“You can feel when you speak with him, the energy, the passion about football. “He spoke with me, he spoke with my dad, he spoke with my mum. So it was not just about me, it was about the people around me. He said to my dad, ‘we’ll take care’ [of] me.
“He’s a top manager. You can feel on the pitch, off the pitch as well. And I’m very happy to work with him.” Fernandes made his feelings for De Zerbi clear to the Spurs boss himself when the deal was done. “The first day of the pre-season, I met him and he was very happy.
I was very happy as well for playing for him. I said, ‘Look, I chose Tottenham because one of the biggest parts was you’.” It wasn’t just De Zerbi’s way with words. The Italian’s style of football also impressed Fernandes. “For me as a midfielder, I like so much,” he said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Fernandes believes the quality of the Spurs squad can raise his own level of performance, too. “I believe that I can be a much better player than I was last season,” said the 22-year-old Portuguese, who recorded three goals and four assists in the Premier League for the Hammers. “If you look at the squad, it’s a big team with big players, important players, players with experience, players with a lot of quality. So, when you play with better players, I think you play better.
So, I believe that I can be much better.” Spurs’ players have been unable to turn that perception into more than one point so far. But, despite substantial criticism in the early weeks of the season, Fernandes is full of belief the team will soon start to prove their doubters wrong – and deliver in a significant way. “I know what it’s like: when you win, you are the best. When you lose, you are the worst,” he said.
“We just focus on us. If you believe in the club, if you believe in the manager, you know that you need to take some time to learn the timings, everything tactical, and when you arrive there, it’s like ketchup. It starts spilling.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Fernandes’ first two seasons in English football have ended in relegation, at Southampton and then West Ham. But he is at Tottenham to win.
“This is one of the reasons that I came here, to play for winning something,” he said. “We want to win the games, we want to fight for the titles and, with this squad, it’s normal that we want to fight for the titles. “Now, we didn’t win the last three games, so things need to calm. We need to take time.
And then, like I said, it’s like ketchup, when you win one game, it’s going to be more easy.” Fernandes, his Spurs colleagues and the club’s supporters will hope that starts on Saturday.
