Four games into the Premier League season, Tottenham Hotspur and Coventry City are the only sides yet to score a goal. That is a striking statistic for a club that has brought in £320m worth of talent, a bulk of it spent on attacking reinforcements. All of Roberto De Zerbi’s side’s goals this season have come in the Carabao Cup.
The Italian has shown clear signs of adapting to a Premier League that looks different to the one he left when he departed Brighton in 2024, while retaining his core tactical principles. De Zerbi’s sides entice opponents to apply pressure, often by slowing play down and passing the ball backwards. They then react to the opponents’ movements by speeding up, looking to take advantage of the spaces behind the pressing players through direct passing or powerful carrying. In a 2020 coaching seminar, De Zerbi explained the idea plainly: “The stronger the pressure of the opponent, the more vertical [our] action becomes. [The fewer opponents behind], the easier it becomes to go and score.” Spurs’ forwards have already found themselves in bigger spaces facing fewer defenders on numerous occasions this season. Turning that build-up play into goals, however, requires many parts to come together at once.
Tottenham’s shape in possession can be hard to read, but it often looks like a 2-3-2-3. The holding midfielder, usually Rodrigo Bentancur, anchors the midfield in front of the two central defenders, with that trio remaining fairly fixed. The structure generally stays the same, but there is rotation between the wingers, full-backs and central midfielders, who are encouraged to maintain the shape by swapping zones with their team-mates and filling gaps as they arise. In one illustration of that fluidity, Sandro Tonali is on the ball in a position a left-back might be expected to occupy, left-back Andy Robertson is instead positioned on the left wing, and winger Omar Marmoush has inverted into an attacking midfield position.
Much of what De Zerbi is implementing worked well during his time at Marseille from 2024 to 2026, where his side averaged 2.3 goals per game. It may not be happening for him yet at Tottenham, but the gap may not be as wide as the scorelines suggest.
Central play is the foundation. De Zerbi encourages his players to work through the middle, which has two effects. When Spurs’ centre-backs are on the ball, opposing midfielders and forwards begin to push up, creating space between the lines for Spurs’ attacking midfielders. It also draws the defending team in-field, opening up space in the wide areas for Spurs’ direct wingers to attack. Against Everton, a narrow Spurs side looked to progress the ball starting at their holding midfielder; Everton’s midfielders stepped up but their defensive line did not follow, leaving space between the lines. Mateus Fernandes’ central position then drew players towards him, leaving Savio free on the wing, and Fernandes spotted it and laid the ball off to him.
For those passes into the middle to work, several things have to align. Players receiving the ball must be comfortable doing so under pressure, and some are naturally better suited to those constraints than others. Recognising that Tonali is more effective in big space facing forwards, Spurs have rotated him with Archie Gray, who starts at right-back – a sensible tweak. Although it is not his natural position, the 20-year-old has coped in those tight spaces and appears to understand the tactical demands of his manager.
The return of James Maddison, who came back from a shoulder injury for last Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Liverpool, gives De Zerbi a player better suited to operating in those congested areas and should help Spurs reach attacking zones more often. In his short cameo against Liverpool, Maddison took the ball facing his own goal under pressure, turned sharply and played a clever through-ball for Marmoush running in behind.
Beyond individual quality, much of the success of the approach depends on players internalising their manager’s instructions – and it will take time for some of the squad to unlearn the habits they developed under previous coaches. At the start of last season under Thomas Frank, Spurs built up primarily down the flanks, almost skipping the centre of the pitch entirely, with the logic being to avoid the risk of turnovers in the middle. De Zerbi is actively coaching an unorthodox style that goes against those instructions, and getting players to be brave enough to play in congested areas may take a while yet. In one example of the new approach, eight of Spurs’ 10 outfield players were positioned centrally during build-up; under Frank, four players were wide with only one positioned centrally.
Spurs’ build-up has regularly got them into positions behind the opposition midfield by attacking quickly after being pressed. Converting those situations is where the trouble lies, and it comes down to three things: recognising the best pass available, the movement of players ahead of the ball, and the ability to execute the pass. The biggest bottleneck so far has been players either failing to spot through balls in behind or choosing not to play them. Against Liverpool, Spurs had the chance to play long into three runners against two Liverpool defenders; instead the player on the ball went backwards, to the visible frustration of a team-mate. Marmoush’s attacking runs have generally been good, but the passes have not always followed. Gray has attempted to feed passes down the line, though Spurs have not done that regularly enough more centrally.
Pedro Porro, known for his ability to create chances, took up a more central role in possession for Spain this summer as they won the World Cup. As he returns, his natural tendencies, which suit these tactics, may help Tottenham create more goalscoring opportunities – and they might then get some of the joy De Zerbi’s forwards enjoyed at Marseille, where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was able to round the keeper and score from a direct attack in the Champions League against Newcastle last season.
While Porro gets up to speed, others are still getting to grips with the runs expected of them. During De Zerbi’s time at Marseille, diagonal runs from wide attackers on the last line, found by willing vertical passers, proved a reliable route to goals. Against Liverpool, Spurs had a chance to replicate that kind of through pass, but Mathys Tel started his run from wider, preventing him from getting in behind his admittedly quick defensive opponent. Marmoush instead decided to dribble centrally, and there is a question as to whether he could still have played the pass – but the overarching ideas are almost coming together. Igor Paixao’s goal in Marseille’s 2-2 draw with Toulouse last season was a strong example of those ideas working, with De Zerbi’s former club showing a good understanding of direct passing and well-timed off-ball movement.
Against Liverpool on Tuesday, Destiny Udogie also got into good positions on the left flank. Although Andy Robertson has played well for Tottenham this season, Udogie’s physicality and timing helped him exploit space when the game became stretched, allowing Spurs to get into crossing positions against a disorganised Liverpool shape. Udogie began one counter-attack and arrived in the box at pace to play a dangerous cross that Spurs were unable to convert from six yards out.
The final piece is finishing those moves. When an attacking side accelerates play, it is common for the defending team to drop back urgently to protect their goal, which opens up space in front of the defence for late-arriving midfielders or clever strikers who drop back. Marmoush has tried to exploit that on a number of occasions but has not always been found. Part of this may simply be a matter of players needing time to gel. For Savio, it may also be a wide player struggling to pull the ball back on his weaker foot: the left-footed right winger is better at reaching the byeline, while the left-footed Udogie and Robertson have created clearer chances via crosses. At Marseille, both the right winger and the right full-back were comfortable cutting the ball back on their right foot, and those deliveries were maximised by the excellent box movement of 37-year-old Aubameyang. Against Everton, Savio’s quick dribbling got him to the byeline and Dominic Solanke’s run towards goal forced the backline deep, with Marmoush recognising it and pulling into a great position for a cutback – only not to be found.
Looking at how De Zerbi is trying to work, many of Tottenham’s attacking moves are almost there in terms of creating clearer chances. That is not to say things will be perfect immediately: successful tactics depend on a team’s quality, and Marseille’s forwards were excellent finishers who thrived in space. But if the small details across the pitch are refined, Spurs should create enough chances to score – even if they miss a few.