Tottenham Hotspur's goalless drought across the first four Premier League matches this season has set a club record and raised questions about the £320 million spent in the summer transfer window, according to the Daily Mail.

Nearly an hour after Saturday's match, Tottenham manager De Zerbi arrived at the press conference. De Zerbi spoke of a "blockade," but this time he was not referring to Everton's defence in the 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, but rather to the psychological barrier facing the strikers in front of goal.

De Zerbi explained that the team lacked self-confidence, with players overthinking their decisions, and the pressure from recent results making them hesitant to take decisive shots on goal.

Tottenham's goalless streak in the league has now exceeded six hours, with their last league goal coming from the 43rd minute of their final match last season against Everton. Palhinha is practically ancient history by now. Tottenham Hotspur has failed to score in all four Premier League matches this season, a club record that stands in stark contrast to the approximately £320 million spent in the summer transfer window.

De Zerbi currently has few options; if Tottenham Hotspur is to challenge for a place in the upper half of the table, he may not even have many players with elite-level qualities.

In a record-breaking transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur signed three wingers, a left-back, three centre-backs, two midfielders, and a backup goalkeeper. With Richarlison sidelined, the team was left with only Solanke as a clearly defined primary centre-forward.

Solanke has not scored a league goal since March and delivered an invisible performance on Saturday against Everton with just 19 touches and no shots on goal.

Tottenham's new signings have prioritised versatility, with players better suited to broader positional roles. Marmousch played as a left winger on Saturday after playing as a centre-forward against Nottingham Forest previously; Mathys Tel came on after an hour for Solanke. Tel repeatedly played backwards passes instead of driving forward, which visibly displeased De Zerbi.

Long-term, Marmousch appears best suited to the style of play De Zerbi wants to implement. This system is based on positional fluidity, reducing fixed positions within the team. De Zerbi wants the centre-forward to drop deeper to drag opponents out, allowing wingers or attacking midfielders to exploit the space.

During Saturday's match, such positional switches occurred throughout. Archie Gray occasionally swapped positions with Savio when overlapping from the right; Robertson and Marmousch made similar switches on the left flank, and Marmousch frequently interchanged with Solanke. This tactic can work beautifully in theory, but in Saturday's match against Everton and previously against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur looked more chaotic than cohesive.

Marmousch's mobility suits this role well. We have seen his finishing quality in Germany, and his inability to replicate his earlier numbers at Manchester City was partly due to Erling Haaland's presence. Solanke has been plagued by injuries over the past 18 months and still appears not to have returned to the consistent goalscoring level he showed for Bournemouth in the 2023-24 season.

More importantly, when De Zerbi asked Solanke to drop deeper to execute his tactical vision, he proved far less adaptable than Marmousch. Tottenham Hotspur also has several other wingers, such as Savio, who played on the right on Saturday, meaning a promotion for Marmousch would have no direct impact.

This can be described as the Tottenham Hotspur paradox: the team has multiple attacking options but cannot create enough chances. The problem is not just finishing quality, because chances must be created to score goals. In their last two matches, Tottenham Hotspur has had only one dangerous shot on goal—Lucas Bergvall's effort, which Pickford saved late in the match against Everton.

Savio's acceleration can pressure defenders; he beat Vitaliy Mykolenko twice in the early stages of the match. However, Savio's crosses and final passes were poor, falling far short of the performance expected from a £75 million signing. As Mykolenko gradually adapted to the duel, Savio could not adjust, repeatedly running into dead ends and eventually fading from the match.

Matheus Fernandes' transfer fee was £10 million higher than Savio's, but he has yet to prove his worth. He is very aggressive going forward and visually impressive when driving quickly upfield, but in a one-on-one opportunity in the first half, he needed four touches to control the ball, wasting a golden chance. This is no accident; he needs to be more decisive, especially given that the team's most expensive signing, Tonali, also struggled in the match.

Tel's situation also deserves attention. De Zerbi's questioning of his striker instincts is not unfounded. The manager believes Tel can play as a centre-forward based solely on his previous experience in that position, despite scoring just two goals in 15 appearances as a centre-forward last season. Tel's current mindset still resembles that of a creative player rather than a finisher.

Another issue with Tel is that too many Tottenham attackers do not view goalscoring as their responsibility. Perhaps this relates to De Zerbi's philosophy of positional fluidity, but whether it was wise for De Zerbi to publicly criticise a 21-year-old player on the pitch after the match remains questionable.

De Zerbi was emotional after the match and believes the team will improve in the long term. De Zerbi helped Tottenham Hotspur avoid relegation, so he deserves some credit, but Tottenham Hotspur's season start has not inspired much confidence. Scattered boos from the stands at the final whistle suggest a crisis may not be far away.

De Zerbi was right to highlight the performance in the first 30 minutes. During that period, Tottenham's ball movement was sharp, and they occasionally dominated the match. De Zerbi believes Tottenham would likely have won had the team maintained that level for an hour. But that is now irrelevant, because Tottenham did not and did not win.

De Zerbi also noted that he has had less than two weeks of training with the team and that players had tired legs following the international break. However, these conditions apply to all teams, and currently in the Premier League, only Fulham, Aston Villa, and Coventry are below Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham face Aston Villa in the league on Saturday following a League Cup match against Liverpool. A defeat will deepen the sense of crisis, and the team will have fewer excuses.

Übersetzt von KI.

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