MusaRoberto De Zerbi is facing renewed scrutiny at Tottenham Hotspur after another damaging Premier League result left Spurs still searching for their first league victory of the season.
Tottenham suffered a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, extending a miserable opening to the campaign and piling even more pressure on De Zerbi. The result came after Spurs had already collected just two points from their opening four league matches and failed to score in any of them.
The defeat was particularly painful because Tottenham finally ended their extraordinary league scoring drought. Conor Gallagher’s late goal gave the home supporters something to celebrate, but Villa had already done the damage through Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emiliano Buendía.
Instead of providing the immediate response supporters had demanded, Spurs were left facing another defeat and a growing sense of frustration around the club.
De Zerbi’s explanations come under scrutiny
The Italian has repeatedly attempted to explain Tottenham’s difficult start by pointing towards circumstances outside the team’s direct control.
Following the goalless draw with Everton, De Zerbi argued that Tottenham had started their preparation late because of the World Cup, injuries and the delayed arrival of summer signings such as Savio and Omar Marmoush.
He also stressed that he had only recently been able to work with the complete group and insisted that the situation should not simply be interpreted as an excuse.
After the defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, De Zerbi again accepted that his team needed to improve, particularly in finishing and defensive organisation, although he also described Spurs as having been unlucky in several matches.
Those explanations are now likely to receive even greater scrutiny after another Premier League defeat.
Tottenham have invested heavily in the squad and were expected to show significant progress after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. Instead, the opening weeks of the new campaign have produced frustration, uncertainty and increasing pressure on the manager.
The fans have reached their limit
The Tottenham supporters have endured a difficult period for several seasons, and the opening weeks of this campaign have done little to restore confidence.
Before the Aston Villa match, Spurs had gone through their first four Premier League games without scoring, with the team sitting 17th after collecting only two points.
That created an increasingly difficult atmosphere around the club.
The supporters can accept that a new manager needs time and that a heavily rebuilt squad will require time to develop an understanding. However, repeated explanations will inevitably become less convincing if results continue to go against the team.
De Zerbi has previously acknowledged the emotional impact of the poor run, admitting that the situation was difficult for the players as well as the supporters.
But after the latest defeat, attention will inevitably return to the manager himself.
One Tottenham star also comes under the microscope
The performance of one of Tottenham’s poorly rated players has also become part of the conversation surrounding the defeat.
A 5.7 player rating has been used to highlight another individual performance that failed to meet expectations, adding another layer to the criticism facing De Zerbi’s side.
However, placing the responsibility for Tottenham’s problems entirely on one player would overlook the bigger issue.
The team’s problems have been collective.
Spurs have struggled to turn possession into clear chances, have lacked consistency in the final third and have repeatedly failed to punish opponents when opportunities arrive. De Zerbi himself acknowledged after the Nottingham Forest draw that Tottenham needed to make better decisions in attacking areas.
That problem has now followed them into another Premier League fixture.
The £300m question
Perhaps the biggest question facing De Zerbi is how Tottenham can spend heavily during the summer yet continue to produce performances that leave supporters searching for answers.
Reuters reported before the Aston Villa game that Spurs had spent more than £300 million on new players, including Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio, Marmoush and Mykhailo Mudryk.
That level of investment naturally creates expectations.
De Zerbi has insisted that the team will improve once the players become more connected and the project begins to click. He previously said that Tottenham would win many matches once that happened.
But patience becomes harder to maintain when the same problems continue to appear.
The Aston Villa defeat therefore represents more than another three points dropped. It increases the questions surrounding the manager, his tactical approach and whether the expensive squad is being used effectively.
For Tottenham, the international break could now provide an important opportunity to regroup.
For De Zerbi, however, the pressure is unlikely to disappear simply because the calendar pauses.
The supporters want improvement. The board will want evidence that the project is moving forward. And after another damaging Premier League defeat, the Italian manager must now find a way to turn his explanations into results.
Musa
