Tottenham's Struggles Continue Under De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi is running out of road. Tottenham’s head coach walked off at Villa Park with another defeat, another familiar story, and a Premier League table that will show his team in the relegation zone all the way through the international break.
A 3-2 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday leaves Spurs still searching for their first league win of the season. Defeats to Villa, Brentford and Newcastle United, plus draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton, have produced a start that looks alarming for a club that has spent over £300m trying to escape this exact scenario.
They were supposed to be nowhere near trouble this year. Instead, they are rooted in it.
Bright start, brutal punch
For half an hour, Tottenham looked nothing like a side drowning in doubt. They pressed high, snapped into tackles and dictated the tempo. Villa were pushed back, the home crowd restless, the pattern clear.
Danny Murphy, watching on duty for the BBC, saw plenty to admire.
“In the first half-hour they [Spurs] showed good intensity, controlled the tempo of the game and created a few chances – not great chances but shots that forced the keeper into a couple of good saves,” the former Tottenham midfielder said.
The pressure should have brought a lead. It didn’t. And that’s where the old story crept back in.
Slowly, Villa began to feel their way into the game. Tottenham’s grip loosened. An injury to Micky van de Ven left them down to 10 men temporarily, and the punishment was swift and ruthless.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Johan Manzambi struck. A gut punch. Spurs went in at the break behind, again.
Murphy summed up the turning point. “As has happened in weeks previous, they’ve let the opposition grow into the game and gain confidence. Then to concede when they’re down to 10-men with Van de Ven off injured is a big blow to them and makes the second half very difficult.”
Villa pull away, Spurs react too late
The second half brought more of the same pattern that has haunted De Zerbi’s early weeks in north London. Tottenham’s football wasn’t devoid of ideas, but their lack of ruthlessness at one end and vulnerability at the other told.
Villa seized on it. Nicolas Jackson added a second, Emi Buendia a third, and suddenly the contest looked done. Spurs, again, were left chasing shadows and chasing the game.
To their credit, they did not fold. Conor Gallagher pulled one back, Jan Paul van Hecke added another late on, and the scoreline tightened. The fightback, though, arrived too late to change the narrative.
Murphy’s verdict cut to the heart of the problem: “They didn’t really look like a team struggling for confidence, they won the ball back a lot high up and there was a lot to like, but ultimately if you can’t score when you’re on top in games in the Premier League you get punished.”
Tottenham are being punished weekly.
De Zerbi under fire – and under the microscope
The league table is one concern. De Zerbi’s demeanour is another.
Former Premier League midfielder Kevin Nolan sees danger in the way the Italian has handled this run, especially his public comments.
“I am really worried about Tottenham,” Nolan said on BBC 5 Live’s preview of the game. “Every week Roberto de Zerbi has a different excuse. He doesn’t stay around much at clubs and falls out with a lot of his owners. He’s probably thinking: ‘Do I need this?’”
The contrast with last season, when De Zerbi’s interviews were full of optimism, is stark in Nolan’s eyes.
“He is not inspiring me as he was at the back end of last season in his interviews when he was very jolly and very positive about what he had to do.
“Everything is downbeat and it doesn’t feel right when you’re watching him in a press conference. Laying the blame on players and staff…it doesn’t go anywhere other than the wrong way.”
That last line hangs heavy. Tottenham have finished 17th in each of the past two seasons. They have spent huge money to change the story. Instead, they look stuck in the same chapter, with a manager whose mood music has turned sour.
McKenna in the stands, questions in the air
All of this plays out against a backdrop of speculation. Kieran McKenna, out of work after leaving Ipswich Town, was spotted in the stands at Spurs’ recent home draw with Everton, sitting with his wife. That alone was enough to spark whispers.
Former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson raised an eyebrow at the sighting and at what it might mean for Tottenham’s next move.
“We’re looking at £10m to bring somebody new in. Those are the sort of broad-brush numbers that we’re working to in the Premier League,” he told Football Insider.
“Obviously, if you get a manager that’s out of work… It was interesting and a bit weird, to be honest, to see Kieran McKenna in the crowd at the home game against Everton.
“He was in the crowd with his wife. It was a bit strange, really, that on a Saturday night, he would take his wife to watch Everton.
“I don’t know if there’s something behind that. It all looks a bit too obvious it’s all a bit strange. Maybe he was watching Everton.”
Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn’t.
What is certain is this: Tottenham will spend the international break in the bottom three, under a manager being openly questioned, with a fanbase staring at the same old fears. The club paid over £300m to escape the relegation conversation.
If this run continues, the next big cheque may not be for a new signing, but for a new head coach.
