In March, with relegation a live fear, Tottenham spent big to bring in Roberto De Zerbi — a manager who, as Jonathan Wilson puts it, will probably never go into a negotiation with a stronger hand. The improvement was obvious and Spurs stayed up on the final day of the season. Since then the club has spent a net £175m ($234m) on improving the squad, an outlay that appeared to signal the end of the fiscal caution of the Daniel Levy era. Yet Tottenham go into the first international break bottom of the Premier League table, and pre-season thoughts of European qualification already look bafflingly optimistic.
Confidence is part of the problem. On the opening weekend Spurs were hammered 3-0 at Brentford with a weird mishmash of a side that was clearly undercooked, against opponents whose transfer business had been both sensible and completed early. More worrying was the following week, when Tottenham started well at home to Newcastle before fading and losing 2-0.
Goalless draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton seemed to have steadied the ship, and the diagnosis at that point was a simple lack of belief: tentative in possession, indecisive when chances did come. The two goals Spurs managed in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa lifted them above Coventry to second-bottom of the Premier League’s goal-scoring charts, even though they rank ninth for shots. That, the argument runs, should be grounds for frustration rather than panic — the goals ought to come eventually.
The Villa defeat, though, produced more concerning evidence. Spurs started well again, with Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki making a string of saves, before conceding a shambolic opening goal just before half-time. Micky van de Ven was off the pitch receiving treatment when Andy Robertson, attempting to stop the ball running out for a corner, gifted possession to John McGinn. A cut-back and a scuffed shot later, Johan Manzambi was unmarked in the six-yard box to score.
The second goal was little better. A long punt was not dealt with, Nicolas Jackson brought the ball down, Van de Ven did not get tight enough, and the shot bounced in off Antonin Kinsky’s hand. Villa’s third was whipped brilliantly into the top corner by Emi Buendía, but he had the space to line it up after James Maddison — who had been marking João Gomes — got out to him. Maddison might have been more aggressive, and the slight turn of his back as Buendía struck was never a good sign, but this was at least as much a failure of structure.
Spurs were, to an extent, unfortunate. Robertson might have cleared that ball for a throw-in, or at least got distance down the line, and Boubacar Kamara’s mishit cross could have gone anywhere. Jackson will not always be so deft in taking down a chest-high ball, and Buendía will not always pick out the top corner. But every goal followed some sort of error, and the Premier League is full of high-class players who will take advantage of any slip.
De Zerbi spoke of Spurs being “too fragile”, a comment that seemed to cover both their physicality and their mentality. They have players returning from injury, and — like so many clubs — they brought in signings late, with preseasons curtailed and perhaps inadequate.
Doubts are now emerging about the nature of those summer arrivals. Is Sandro Tonali really worth £100m? Mateus Fernandes played for a relegated side. Jan Paul van Hecke would not be the first player to leave Brighton and find his level dip outside that precisely configured environment. Sávio and Omar Marmoush struggled to get into the Manchester City team, and Sávio’s return of just two league goals in two seasons at City has not been followed by evidence of improved finishing.
The sense had been that this season could not possibly be as bad as the last two: no European football to distract them, injury crises that could hardly be as severe again, a manager who has proved his worth in the Premier League, and money spent. Instead, Wilson’s verdict is that this is as bad as it has ever been at Spurs. It remains implausible that they could be relegated, and unlikely even that they will be in another fight, but European qualification now looks a distant prospect — and that will inevitably slow the rebuilding of the club.