MusaRoberto De Zerbi finds himself dealing with a situation he rarely encounters as he attempts to guide Tottenham Hotspur out of their worrying Premier League goal drought.
The Italian manager has built his reputation around aggressive, entertaining and attack-minded football, with his teams usually capable of creating chances and finding the net regularly. However, Tottenham have failed to score in each of their opening four league matches this season.
Spurs will welcome Aston Villa in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, with Unai Emery’s side also struggling in front of goal after scoring just once in the Premier League so far this campaign.
It promises to be a meeting between two teams desperately searching for attacking inspiration, and De Zerbi admits Tottenham’s current situation is something he has never experienced before.
“No, never… Never. I conceded many goals maybe but to score, no!” the 47-year-old said.
De Zerbi believes Tottenham’s lack of goals is more a matter of coincidence than a reflection of their performances. He pointed to the opportunities created during the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool.
“But I think it’s a coincidence. If we score four or five goals in Liverpool, Bergvall and Kudus in the first half, Marmoush a couple of times in the second half as well as the goal we scored with Gallagher,” he explained.
“Nine chances to score at Anfield is not few. Also with Everton, not so many clear chances but a couple of clear chances and another three or four potential chances to score.”
Despite the disappointing statistics, De Zerbi insists he remains confident in the quality of the players at his disposal and has no intention of changing his opinion of them simply because goals have been difficult to come by.
“Even though we are not scoring I cannot change my opinion of the players,” he said.
“Marmoush is a fantastic player. Savio is a fantastic player. Solanke, when Solanke is fit, is a very good player. Maddison, Kudus, Gallagher and Mateus [Fernandes] with different characteristics, all four of these players are very good.”
The Tottenham boss also praised the strength of his defensive options, adding: “We have maybe the best full-backs in the Premier League. Robertson, Udogie and Pedro Porro. Five centre-backs, the qualities of the players, I cannot say anything different.”
De Zerbi explains his response
With Spurs still searching for their first Premier League goal, De Zerbi was asked what changes he is making to address the problem.
The former Brighton manager explained that there is no single solution and that sometimes the best response is to improve existing methods rather than completely overhaul them.
“Sometimes you have to change everything and sometimes you have to improve what you already are doing and sometimes you have to stay calm,” De Zerbi said.
“We are working to improve what we are doing to be better but also we have to stay calm because I know we have two points but for our performances we could have had more than two points.”
Lankshear decision comes under scrutiny
Tottenham’s decision to sell young striker Will Lankshear to Middlesbrough during the summer remains a talking point, particularly with Spurs struggling to score.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed an impressive start to life in the Championship, scoring eight goals in his first 10 appearances. His transfer was completed for £10million, with a further £10million available through add-ons.
Lankshear’s departure has attracted additional attention because Tottenham currently have a shortage of proven attacking options, although De Zerbi did not spend much time working with the youngster.
The striker spent last season on loan at Oxford before returning for pre-season and moving to Middlesbrough just over a week later. Tottenham also retained a 20 per cent sell-on clause and matching rights on future bids for the forward.
Lankshear was subsequently included in Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 squad.
However, De Zerbi insisted he has no regrets about allowing the youngster to leave.
“No, I think no [regrets],” he said.
“Solanke is a good player, Marmoush is another good player and then there was the Richarlison situation which changed in the last five days without my decision. Three strikers, how many strikers do you want in the squad? Three strikers I think are enough. To answer about the player in Middlesbrough, no.”
Gallagher earns De Zerbi’s praise
Tottenham finally found the net this week, although it came in the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Conor Gallagher headed home from a corner during the 3-1 loss at Anfield, providing Spurs with their first goal of the season.
De Zerbi has admired Gallagher since his time at Brighton and had previously wanted to bring the midfielder to the club. After arriving at Tottenham last season, he even used a motivational YouTube video titled ‘bossing the midfield’ in an attempt to boost Gallagher’s confidence during a difficult period.
The Italian remains a major admirer of the midfielder.
“Even if he doesn’t play every game, I love him. He’s generous, he’s a smart player, he has the right mentality,” De Zerbi said.
He explained that selection depends on the specific requirements of each match rather than a lack of faith in Gallagher.
“You have to understand before the game – because after the game it’s easier – what is the best characteristic you need for that game. When Conor has not played, it’s because I needed different characteristics just for that.”
Gallagher has earned 22 England caps but has recently fallen out of favour under Thomas Tuchel. At club level, however, De Zerbi continues to place significant trust in him.
“For me, no, he’s not underrated. Maybe for other coaches or other people. For me, no,” he added.
“I think when I came last season, Conor didn’t play until my arrival. When I came, he played every game.”
The manager also highlighted Gallagher’s reliability and work ethic.
“But I love him. He’s my player. I know he’s a reliable player. When I call him, he’s always ready to fight, to run.”
Tonali ready to return
Sandro Tonali is available again for Tottenham’s clash with Villa after missing the trip to Anfield because of a knock suffered against Everton.
The midfielder’s performances have gradually improved following his big-money summer arrival from Newcastle, which made him Tottenham’s first £100million signing once all potential add-ons are included.
De Zerbi believes Tonali simply needs time to fully adapt to his new surroundings.
“He’s a good guy, he’s working very hard and I’m happy to have Sandro. We are lucky to have Sandro with us,” he said.
“The adaptation has been not so fast but it can happen, also in Milan in the first season, ok he was younger, but it is not so easy to change city, to change everything for the players.”
De Zerbi believes Tonali’s versatility makes him particularly valuable, with the Italian capable of operating both as a No.6 and No.8.
“He can play in both situations [as a six or eight] because his physical characteristics are to play box-to-box but he started his career as a playmaker,” he explained.
“He’s good enough with the ball, he’s good enough without the ball. He’s a complete midfielder, like Bergvall, like Mateus Fernandes. They are very close, not as characteristics, but these three players all have characteristics of the modern midfielder.”
Bergvall competition explained
De Zerbi also dismissed the idea that Lucas Bergvall represents a problem within his midfield selection.
“I think Bergvall is not a problem. Bergvall, Tonali, they can play together. They can stay on the bench both. They can play one and the other, no. I don’t know,” he said.
For De Zerbi, the most important factor is how Bergvall performs when given an opportunity.
“The most important is when they play, when Lucas plays, he has to play like the last two games. Because also with Everton he played well in the last part of the game.”
Spurs remain together ahead of Villa clash
Because Saturday’s fixture is an early kick-off, Tottenham’s players stayed overnight at the club’s training-ground hotel, The Lodge, on Friday.
The arrangement avoids an early-morning meeting and also gives the new-look squad another opportunity to strengthen their relationship as they continue adapting to one another.
De Zerbi insists there has been no panic within the group despite the lack of goals.
“Thursday after Liverpool I didn’t speak with the players too much, otherwise the voice of the coach is not [useful] every day,” he said.
“Yesterday we worked with the players who didn’t play, or they didn’t play 90 minutes, and today we stay together. We stay in The Lodge and we prepare the game. Normal game.”
The message from the Tottenham boss is straightforward: Spurs want to win and, ideally, they want to do so with goals.
“We want to win, we want to win scoring many goals. Everyone wants the win,” he added.
De Zerbi insists the rebuild is part of the plan
Despite Tottenham’s poor start in terms of results and goals, De Zerbi does not consider the current bedding-in period an unexpected challenge.
Instead, he sees it as part of the process that was always going to follow a major summer rebuild.
“It’s not a challenge, it’s a plan. You follow the plan or you have not planned it in your head,” De Zerbi said.
He acknowledged that Tottenham could have done better during the transfer window, but insisted the club worked effectively to reshape the squad.
“Our club worked very well in the transfer market. We could do better, for sure, but we could do worse. The transfer market you don’t know before you start the season if it worked well or not.”
De Zerbi admitted Spurs have not started as strongly as they would have wanted but believes the squad is gradually coming together.
“We didn’t start in the best way we can, for many reasons. Now we have to improve. We have to help the new players come inside,” he explained.
He pointed to several players whose performances have already improved as evidence that the adaptation process is progressing.
JP van Hecke, for example, struggled during his first two matches but has since impressed across his following games. De Zerbi also praised Omar Marmoush’s performance against Liverpool, Savio’s return to full fitness, Andy Robertson’s display against Everton and the performances of Tosin Adarabioyo and Marcos Senesi.
“There are no problems for the new players. I think we started late, for many reasons, but we work more and harder to regain the gap,” De Zerbi concluded.
Musa
