Sherwood believes Tottenham Hotspur lacks leadership and the club's new recruits have failed to impress.

With Aston Villa leading 1-0 in North London, Tottenham Hotspur appeared destined to extend their winless streak in the Premier League heading into the international break.

Former Spurs manager Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports' Tottenham Hotspur podcast: "It's certainly a concern, especially at home, because that's when you need to be tough."

"You need someone to step up, show character and leadership, but there doesn't seem to be a leader or character player around them at the moment.

"I'm not sure if there's anyone who's genuinely lost their temper, or anyone motivating their teammates, trying to turn things around. It's a very poor trend because they're not fighting back when they fall behind."

"The head coach certainly is. He's clearly very passionate. But you need that on the pitch, in the dressing room, at the training ground, every single day. I'm not sure there's a character player here."

"When Roberto De Zerbi selected his five captain candidates, I asked him at the press conference, and Robertson wasn't among the five.

"Archie Gray was on the list, but Archie Gray won't be in the squad regularly, so I'm a bit concerned about the leadership in this dressing room.

"How many players are going to genuinely lift each other and push one another?

"Cristian Romero might be slightly too aggressive, but sometimes you really want that on your side, so I'd like to see these players toughen up."

An early-season Premier League winless run has left Tottenham Hotspur bottom of the table. After five matches, the club's worst start in Premier League history has raised questions about their substantial summer spending.

So, among the 10 new recruits brought in this summer at a cost of over £330 million, has any impressed Sherwood?

"No, not one," he stated firmly. "I can't say there's been one who's really impressed me. Whoever came in has performed worse than those who were there last season.

"They've performed poorly, that's all. We always judge on results, so I won't look at a player and think, 'Okay, you've still contributed something in this match,' because the team lost, and I don't think anyone played particularly well."

The fact that Tottenham Hotspur's new signings have struggled to establish themselves in the team also concerns Sherwood about the club's recruitment record.

"Tottenham Hotspur's transfer record over the last four or five years hasn't been good," he said.

"They haven't signed a really good player in a long time. Now I'm not saying these signings are bad, I'm saying they haven't proven themselves yet, and they still have plenty of time to rebuild their confidence and show their true quality.

"We've seen glimpses of their performances at other clubs, and some highlights, but playing for Tottenham Hotspur is a completely different thing."

He added: "Over the last five years in the transfer market, I've seen 'no' more often than 'yes'."

"I think their best signing in recent years has been Son Heung-min — and that was a long time ago! That was a truly successful signing.

"Maybe Dejan Kulusevski, but then he got injured. Other than that, I can't say they've had too many very successful cases in the transfer market.

"But it's Roberto De Zerbi's job to develop these players. Hopefully some of these players we've seen struggle over the years will eventually come good."

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