The Sydney FC trait that made Spurs boss ‘happy’ as Kisnorbo explains why this embrace meant so much

Sydney FC’s organisation and their youngsters’ desire to dictate on the ball caught the eye of storied manager Roberto De Zerbi during Tottenham’s pre-season Sydney Super Cup win that was decided by penalties after a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium.

The Sky Blues, who fielded a relatively baby-faced side outside of Rhyan Grant, Ben Garuccio and Takahiro Sekine, found their way into the game after a baptism of fire from Spurs and worked up enough control to land a second-half equaliser through Sekine, a recruit from Urawa Red Diamonds in Japan.

“I think they play very well,” De Zerbi said.

“I spoke with their coach to make congratulation.

“They played very well with a very clear style.

“In a difficult country, no, because in Australia football is not the most important sport.

“I am happy, in another country, so far from Europe there is a team who play, who want to play, who want to keep the ball, with a clear style, with a big organisation.”

He added: “There are a lot of good, young players in Sydney.”

Tottenham manager De Zerbi and Sydney FC’s Patrick Kisnorbo shared an embrace as they traded places in the Allianz Stadium press conference room later in the night.

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It isn’t just the players who get the chance to match themselves against benchmarks on the park.

Sydney’s A-League Championship winning coach Kisnorbo was simply buzzing to have been in the Italian’s presence.

“I spoke to him in the press conference the other day. He is a special person, an innovator of the game, a genius to be honest,” Kisnorbo beamed.

“When you have that in an environment where you ply your trade, very lucky to spend a hello and a goodbye.

“What a man.”

With Spurs missing a number of first team players, and coming up against a manager with the highest tactical acumen, it was something different to prepare for, but a great setting for the Sydney boss, in his first pre-season at the club, to test his players.

“You sort of know the way they might set up, that it would be difficult, we would have to suffer, which physically we did,” he reflected.

“But I thought some time we held our own and played some great stuff but for us it was about working on things for the Cup and put that together against a world class outfit.”

De Zerbi has built a reputation as a passionate, flamboyant manager over the years with a passion for swashbuckling football, often building teams who overachieve, with Brighton the most familar to Premier League fans, before he went to Marseille in France. He has innovated with the way he retains possession with sophisticated structures and movements to beat opponents’ press.

Usually a coach who comes in and makes a short, instant impact, his arrival at Spurs kept them in the top flight in dire circumstances, and now he’s enjoying his first pre-season working with the club.

Tottenham’s veteran defender Ben Davies explained the kind of impact that he has had on the team.

“I think firstly, he speaks incredibly well and passionately and is able to really implement his style on his team quickly.

“But he is just a man who is obsessed with football, the details he brings you are incredible.

“It is really just a pleasure to work for him. Even my age, been around football for a long time, you feel like you’re learning new things pretty much every day. Can’t speak highly enough of him.”

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