Tottenham are enduring a miserable start to the season, and their Italian coach has spent weeks stressing the need to sharpen his side's physical fitness. So his latest call looks baffling. Anger is spreading among fans of the London club, who once again fear for the future of a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season.
The players who stayed in London during the international break will get a full week off. That decision follows the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa, a result that left Spurs bottom of the table without a single Premier League win so far.
Yet after that match, De Zerbi had specifically stressed the need to work harder with the players not joining their national teams.
He singled out James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Dominic Solanke, Tosin Adarabioyo and Marcos Senesi, believing their physical fitness still needs work.
Solanke, in particular, stands as the clearest example of a player who needs to rebuild his rhythm and strength.
Read also: A physical or a tactical problem: why has Bernardo Silva disappeared?
According to Foot Mercato, citing the Telegraph, the matter is not what it seems. The coach made the call to hand the players a week off before the Aston Villa defeat, a measure fitness experts routinely take as a long three-week international break approaches.
Tottenham had planned no training camps abroad and no behind-closed-doors friendlies. The players left out of the national teams will return to Spurs' training centre the following week to resume work.
The website commented: "Nevertheless, the timing of the decision makes it hard for the fans to understand. While Roberto De Zerbi has stated that he has identified physical fitness as one of his team's problems, the players concerned will ultimately benefit from extra days of rest during this period. It remains to be seen whether this choice will bear fruit."
It concluded: "The answer will become clear when matches resume with a top clash against Manchester United on 10 October, the first test of this strategy."