Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi has highlighted a ‘personal situation’ between him and Tottenham’s interim coach Cristian Stellini which led to both coaches being sent off during Tottenham-Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
The two coaches were involved in a heated discussion prior to kick-off in North London, with De Zerbi appearing angered by the brief encounter with Stellini.
After an hour of play, members of both sets of staff were involved in a clash on the touchline while play continued, which led to both coaches being given their marching orders.
In his post-match press conference, De Zerbi insisted that he had been disrespected by Stellini, but didn’t want to go into any specifics in that regard.
He said: “I’m used to always respecting everyone inside of the pitch and outside of the pitch and I don’t like when people don’t respect me. There are normal situations in football. Personal things no?
“I always respect everyone, especially the coaches. I can answer for me, not for him.”
When asked if he felt Stellini had disrespected him in any way, De Zerbi replied: “Yes. It was a personal situation and I told him my idea. Not bad words, just my idea.
“I told him what is my opinion and I don’t want to explain anything more.
“I don’t like when the other bench puts pressure on the referee. We have to help the referee in this stadium and this atmosphere.”
Despite finding himself in the middle of the clashing set of coaches whilst Stellini continued watching the game from his technical area, De Zerbi remained adamant that he had done nothing wrong during the game.
“You can’t find one situation from my bench where I spoke with the referee to complain about a decision. They think I could say something. Nothing from the goal of Mitoma, nothing for the goal of Welbeck.
“One part of my character is passion and I can’t lose this. The most important thing is to respect everyone. You can’t find one person who said I didn’t respect him.”
With the scores level at 1-1 at the time of both coaches being sent off, Brighton would go on to slip to an eventual 2-1 defeat after Harry Kane put his side back ahead after 79 minutes.