Roberto De Zerbi has said he is positive Tottenham will come good this season, but the Italian goes into this weekend's clash with Everton under growing pressure after a worryingly goalless start to the campaign.
Spurs spent well over £300million on transfers this summer and revamped the majority of their starting lineup, with the club's owners making a statement of intent by handing De Zerbi a long-term contract at the end of March.
Summer spending spree
After staying up by the skin of their teeth last season, Spurs followed an ever-growing trend this summer in prioritising Premier League proven players, with the likes of Sandro Tonali and Jan Paul van Hecke joining for big money and the clever free transfers of Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson bringing experience and depth to a defence that has been close to shambolic in recent seasons.
They have raised the overall technical ability in midfield with Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes in for Joao Palhinha and Pape Matar Sarr to enact the manager's complex tactical plan. In attack, however, they may have stretched the definition of 'proven' slightly too far.
Omar Marmoush scored three Premier League goals for Manchester City last year and will cost £60million at the end of this season regardless of his performances, Savio is full of potential but struggled for game time under Pep Guardiola while the only thing anyone can confidently say Mykhailo Mudryk has proven is that he's lacking in fitness after picking up an injury this week following his first competitive appearance since 2024.
Mudryk injury blow
The Ukrainian winger sustained what De Zerbi has called a 'stupid' injury with a blow to his left ankle in training earlier this week and has been pictured wearing a protective boot.
'He felt pain in his ankle, and then after two days he made the medical check, and we knew the problem,' De Zerbi said. 'But after a long time we knew. Stupid injury, but we are not stupid. We knew when we signed Mudryk, we knew it could be difficult to come back as a normal player.'
De Zerbi remains positive
'I think we are better than last season,' De Zerbi said in his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of Everton's visit to north London. 'Especially the end of the season, [we had] many, many injuries.
'It's difficult to believe right now because we are not winning, we are not scoring, but I am positive because I believe in my players, I believe in this group. The players have big, big qualities, big potential and now I am positive. I don't say more because at the end there is always the result on the pitch and the performance but I think we are working well this week.
'In Nottingham I watched something different than in Brentford for sure, and Newcastle was a particular game because until an hour of the game I think we deserved to win and then we lost two nil.'
For Spurs fans at the moment, as difficult as it may be, patience is the name of the game. If you've got the right manager it can still work to build everything around them. Unai Emery is the undisputed king of Aston Villa while Mikel Arteta has almost single handedly turned Arsenal into winners after moulding them in his image.
And while De Zerbi is undoubtedly a brilliant thinker – albeit potentially more mad than genius – there is not yet that much evidence that he can do the same. His most successful period in management came at one of the best-run clubs in the world in Brighton, while in his absence over the past couple of years the Premier League has become better than ever at countering the exact style of football the Italian has pioneered.
There's still reason to be optimistic for Spurs fans, though. When De Zerbi clicks, he really clicks and if the constant injury crisis of the past few seasons can finally be curbed, he has enough players of enough quality to challenge for one of the seemingly endless European spots on offer for English clubs.
A goal or three against Everton this evening would do a lot to quell any growing concerns. Otherwise, in today's world devoid of patience, that five-year deal might start to look like a rather expensive mistake.
