Tottenham Hotspur have had a season from hell so far in 2026/27, despite Roberto De Zerbi's near £400m spend in the summer transfer window.
Andy Robertson, Martin Dubravka, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Savio, Omar Marmoush, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Mykhailo Mudryk all arrived at different stages of the window, but none have been able to make a positive impact so far.
Spurs have lost three of their five Premier League games so far this season, alongside two 0-0 draws, scoring just two goals in the process, while they were also eliminated from the EFL Cup after a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.
This past weekend the team finally scored their first goals of the Premier League season against Aston Villa, but they came with the team already 3-0 down at home and en route towards yet another defeat.
The crowd has grown frustrated at the situation and were booing the team throughout the second half, having gone into half-time 1-0 down. The players continue to struggle with the manager's instructions, with the system seemingly stifling the creativity of the attackers, while simultaneously leaving the defence open to being exposed.
Despite those issues with the system, De Zerbi is seemingly refusing to take any accountability at this stage and has now started to publicly blame the players.
Speaking after the game, the manager called out £85m man Mateus Fernandes for his performance, while also saying the team was the most 'fragile' team he'd ever coached in his 14 years as a manager.
"I didn't like the performance of Mateus [Fernandes] today," he said. "Otherwise I couldn't [wouldn't] change. He knows.
"But it's normal. It's not an attack on Mateus, I love Mateus. It's not a problem. But I think for Mateus, we need more from Mateus. Because he can, even in that position.
"It's a mental aspect for sure, but they have the right mentality. They work very well, they are good players.
"It's difficult to explain because, in my career, 14 years as a coach, I've never seen one team like us. So fragile, so inconsistent.
"You're good, or you're bad. You can't be very good in the first 30, 40 minutes, and then concede like this in this way. It's tough to accept for me."
De Zerbi Risking Spurs Mutiny
When things are going well, being extremely critical of your players can be seen as the tough love that can help them go to the next level. But when the team are performing poorly, it looks like passing the blame.
De Zerbi is consistently using Fernandes out of position, and it is causing him to struggle in his new club following a big-money move. As a result of that, it's causing more scrutiny on him as a player from outside sources, but also from fans who were expecting more.
The manager needs to make changes if he wants to see results change, and if he doesn't do that and continues to pick on individuals instead of accepting that he is getting things wrong, then he is risking causing big problems behind the scenes for himself.