Football365

No goals in four does feel like the modern iteration of two points from eight. And how fitting that Harry Redknapp would probably fix this problem too, releasing a club-wide “mental block” by throwing Kevin Bond through the tactical whiteboards, giving Archie Gray creative freedom and telling Sandro Tonali he’s the second-best Sandro he’s ever managed.

Jamie’s grand predictions of Spurs scoring a single goal in a game of association football would likely be made to look slightly less foolish by his father.

As Rafael van der Vaart once said: “There are no long and boring speeches about tactics. There is a clipboard in our dressing room but Harry doesn’t write anything on it. It’s very relaxed. And the only words he speaks to me are ‘You play left or right, work hard, have fun and show the fans your best.”

It doesn’t feel like Roberto De Zerbi is capable of making Spurs “just enjoy our games” right now.

De Zerbi joked that consecutive clean sheets would see him crowned “the best coach” in Italy, and perhaps he’s right; only once before in a 309-game managerial career has he ever coached as many as three consecutive league shut-outs, and that was with Sassuolo six years ago, when his stock was on the rise.

But for a manager who established his reputation on building free-flowing, exciting attacking teams – not to mention a manager who has been given more than £300m worth of midfield and forward signings to do so in this case – it has been historically poor at one end especially.

Perhaps that is to be expected when the ‘3’ in a 4-2-3-1 has 17 goals and 20 assists in 168 Premier League career appearances between them, and the centre-forward leading that line has reached double figures in a solitary top-flight season – more than two years ago.

But De Zerbi is supposed to be gifted enough to counteract that; his remuneration and backing certainly suggests that Spurs should expect a slightly better return on their investment.

Still only two players have scored more than one goal under him at Spurs: the loaned midfielder who bid farewell at the end of last season after saving them from relegation; and a forward exiled from their Premier League squad.

That would be damning of a 12-game reign even without the absurd level of summer expenditure.

It is not entirely sarcastic to present an approach more akin to Redknapp’s as at least a short-term solution to a sustained goalscoring problem. The sight of De Zerbi instructing Mathys Tel at full-time what his body shape and movements should be as a striker summed up the risk of overcomplicating what can be simple.

That in itself is reductive: coaching patterns have to be far more elaborate now and asking players to wing it and express themselves is anachronistic.

But as Redknapp Junior said at the final whistle: “To not score in the Premier League in six hours of football is absolutely diabolical.”

For Spurs, after their summer, it’s embarrassing. For De Zerbi, it’s enough to ask the question of precisely what he is even doing.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein doubts that Tottenham have sacking Roberto De Zerbi “on the agenda” as things stand despite their poor start to the new season.

Spurs spent over £300m on new signings over the summer transfer window with Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, Martin Dubravka, Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Tosin Adarabioyo all arriving.

The Tottenham board took action over the summer after back-to-back 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League with Spurs avoiding relegation by two points on the final day of last season.

But, despite the exciting summer signings, Tottenham have not started the new season well with two defeats to Brentford and Newcastle United followed by two 0-0 draws.

Tottenham fans are still waiting for their side’s first Premier League goal of the season and Ornstein insists there is “very little patience” at the top of the club – but that De Zerbi’s position isn’t in jeaopardy just yet.

When asked “what’s going on at Spurs” on USA Sports, Ornstein said: “It feels like it’s history repeating itself. We’ve just passed the one-year anniversary of Daniel Levy leaving the club after 25 years at the helm and that saw the Lewis family almost reclaim control.

READ:Liverpool, Tottenham prove Premier League decline as two Man Utd ‘vital cogs’ key to rebuild

“You could ask what they were doing as ultimate owners in that period – but it set off the most remarkable overhaul we’ve seen in probably modern Premier League history. Where they came along with big promises for more wins, more regularly, huge spending.

“And they’ve certainly embarked upon that. Of course the managerial upheaval at the club led them to Roberto De Zerbi and they went all in on him. A five-year contract, no clause in the event of relegation to depart and a massive salary.

“He’s paid among the very biggest managers in the Premier League and European football. They got going in the market in remarkable fashion, in terms of numbers, in terms of transfer fees, in terms of salaries, which Tottenham had been so spendthrift on in the past.

De Zerbi ‘at the heart’ of the Tottenham rebuild – Ornstein

“At the heart of it was Vinai Venkatesham, the chief executive, Johan Lange, the sporting director. They brought in a director of football operations from Manchester City in Rafael Moersen and also tried to get the former Borussia Dortmund executive Sebastian Kehl to help. That deal fell through but really at the heart of it all has been Roberto De Zerbi.

READ:Redknapp rips into Tottenham over ‘diabolical’ problem under De Zerbi – ‘Out of all the things’

“They’ve given him power in a way that no Tottenham Hotspur manager has seen before and they rebuilt the defence, the midfield, the attack. It’s a team that looks so different in personnel but at the moment not in results.

“Now it’s going to be a really interesting period ahead based on what they are going to do in the next windows because Peter Charrington, the non-executive chairman, has said it will take multiple transfer windows to get to where they want to be.

“As you said at the top, there’s very little patience, they are asking for time and Roberto De Zerbi will be judged ultimately as the man on the touchline.

“It would be very expensive if they were to part with him but I don’t think that’s on the agenda for now. I think it’s all about him getting results on the pitch and extracting maximum performances after the best part of £400m was spent. Now it’s time to deliver.”

Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi has been branded a “bully” with predictions made around his future in north London.

Spurs spent over £300m over the summer as the Tottenham hierarchy did everything to try and give De Zerbi the tools to push up the Premier League.

Back-to-back 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League saw the board take action in the transfer market with big-money deals for Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Omar Marmoush, Savinho and others exciting the fanbase.

However, it has been a terrible start to the new Premier League season that has seen Tottenham once again hug 17th position after four matches.

After two defeats to Brentford and Newcastle United to open the season, Tottenham have now drawn their last two matches 0-0 as they are yet to score a goal in the league.

TalkSPORT‘s chief football correspondent Alex Crook feels De Zerbi is “already getting his excuses in” ahead of his tenure at Tottenham potentially unravelling.

READ: Liverpool, Tottenham prove Premier League decline as two Man Utd ‘vital cogs’ key to rebuild

Crook said on the Premier League All-Access Podcast: “I think this is going to unravel pretty quickly for Tottenham and Roberto De Zerbi because he’s already getting his excuses in.

“I think he mentioned the number of passes they played, the number of opportunities they had, and he was basically saying, ‘well, it’s not my fault my team can’t put the ball in the back of the net. We kept a clean sheet, therefore, I’ve done my job.’

“But he is already passing responsibility. He is already outing players like Tel.

“I don’t think this is going to last very long.”

Deeney on Tottenham boss: ‘He stinks to me as a bit of a bully’

Before former Premier League striker Troy Deeney added: “What he is already doing is laying into everybody else, the media the fans and saying, ‘there’s your problem, it’s not me’.

“He stinks to me as a bit of a bully, to be honest.

“Richarlison, who I am not the biggest fan of, is not the same kid I knew at Watford, but he’d been doing alright now.

“He has a bit of fight about him and puts his body around and maybe get a goal.

READ: Redknapp rips into Tottenham over ‘diabolical’ problem under De Zerbi – ‘Out of all the things’

“Now, he’s not even in the squad, so Richarlison was a problem, and you made him look silly.

“Now, it’s Tel, and it’s so cheap and easy to find one person and say, ‘you’re the problem.’

“What about [Mateus] Fernandes? The kid you spent £85million on?

“He was f****** mint again, wasn’t he?

“[Sandro] Tonali, who you spent £100m on. Can he pass it and dictate a game?

“What about the winger you brought in [Savio]? Or are you going to just let [Omar] Marmoush keep shooting from 65 yards, so at some point, it’s got to be with the lads.

“I think his ability to self-harm and self-sabotage is going to be the unravelling of this over the next four to five weeks.”

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly looking at bolstering their forward line with the potential addition of powerhouse Bundesliga striker Igor Matanovic in the January transfer window.

Having spent over £300million during the summer, Spurs have begun the new Premier League season winless and without a goal to their name after four games to leave them sitting 17th in the table.

Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Everton made it back-to-back draws for Tottenham, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side continuing to fire blanks in front of goal.

While much of the club’s summer transfer business revolved around revamping the defence and midfield, it was only very late in the window that Savio, Omar Marmoush and Mykhailo Mudryk were brought in to bolster the frontline.

READ: Redknapp rips into Tottenham over ‘diabolical’ problem under De Zerbi – ‘Out of all the things’

However, it’s abundantly clear that things are not clicking in the final third, with Chelsea loanee Mudryk already ruled out for a number of weeks after suffering an ankle injury in training last week.

And with Richarlison left out of the Premier League squad and still pursuing an exit route, the addition of a new No.9 now looks an increasingly glaring need for the winter window.

To that end, a fresh report from Germany claims that Spurs are ready to step up their interest in SC Freiburg striker Matanovic, who was on their radar, alongside interest from Man Utd, towards the end of the summer window.

Matanovic has emerged as one of the most impressive attacking players in Germany this season, registering six goals and two assists in only six appearances to date.

And a report from German outlet FussballNews claims that his performances have ‘attracted growing attention from England’, with both Tottenham and Manchester United ‘monitoring the 23-year-old’s physical profile and ability to lead the line’.

The 6ft 4in forward joined Freiburg from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2025 for a bargain €7m and has since established himself as a real force in Germany and was in Croatia’s World Cup squad.

Freiburg powerhouse gives De Zerbi a different dimension

Matanovic offers a different profile to De Zerbi’s current striking options and would offer a more physical presence in and around the area for the Italian, compared to Dominic Solanke and the pacy Marmoush.

However, Tottenham are facing the prospect of a battle with Man Utd for the player’s signature, with FussballNews claiming that Old Trafford scouts still view him as a player capable of competing with Benjamin Sesko for the No.9 spot after flirting with a summer move.

While the arrival of Marmoush has strengthened Spurs’ attacking options, and Solanke has at least started the season on the pitch rather than the sidelines, Matanovic would offer De Zerbi a different threat in a struggling forward line.

However, he will not come cheap, given that Freiburg are currently under no pressure to sell.

READ NEXT: Premier League sack race – Lampard and Carrick on the move after Super Sunday misery

It’s reported that the German outfit will demand in the region of €35-40m (£30-34m), if they were to consider cashing in on a player whose current market value is €22m (£19m).

It’s also reported that, at this stage, there have been no formal offers made and that Tottenham scouts will continue to monitor Matanovic’s progress throughout the first half of the season.

Coventry, a side that had taken their total attempts on goal to 39 for a return of zero actual goals, were probably already feeling like luck was not on their side even before Lewis Dunk scored an absurd 30-yard screamer that fizzed and dipped its way under the crossbar for the fourth of Brighton’s five goals.

It really is hard to imagine how the start of this season could have gone any worse for Coventry. The fixture list was not kind to them, but it’s not just their own desperate struggles that make it all look so grim.

While they sit on zero points and zero goals, their fellow promoted clubs – clubs who were simply not on their level in the Championship last season – have already racked up 14 points and 12 goals between them.

The early success of those teams already makes survival look near impossible for Coventry, who must now also suffer the ultimate indignity of finding themselves as bad as only Tottenham when it comes to scoring Premier League goals.

It feels like there could be some kind of curse at work here. That someone gave a Coventry fan a monkey’s paw 10 years ago and said ‘A decade from now you will be just like Tottenham’.

They have, in fairness, taken a different path to the same outcome this season. Spurs, aware that they have no finisher in their expensively assembled squad at all, have shown all their nous and experience by simply not wasting any time or effort on creating chances at all. It’s just easier that way.

Silly, callow, naïve Coventry have not been so canny. They have foolishly highlighted the scale of their inadequacies in front of goal by creating a great many chances. Several of them against Manchester City, for goodness’ sake.

Coventry’s xG in what was in the end a harrowing 4-0 defeat to a very good Brighton side was 1.72. There can’t be many times in a 5-0 game where the victorious keeper gets man of the match for his unlikely clean sheet.

And this was a game that showed just about more clearly than any other this season the obvious, trite yet no less meaningful fact that goals change games.

Charalampos Kostoulas’ superbly taken opening goal on 35 minutes came, ludicrous as it feels to say it given the final scoreline, entirely against the run of play.

Coventry were much the better side at that point, having already had eight attempts and forcing that eventual man of the match Verbruggen into significant action on more than one occasion.

But while the scope of the defeat was no doubt influenced by Taiwo Awoniyi’s red card eight minutes into the second half, the contest was over by then. There was absolutely no sense that Coventry had it within them to recover from 2-0 down.

While Coventry’s attacking misfortune will obviously garner the most attention, they were also startlingly open at the back. That’s where the real agony lies, because there were legitimate positives to be taken from last week’s all-round effort even in defeat at Manchester City. Those were p*ssed away here.

There is a clear desire, bordering on desperation, in the football media for none of this to be Frank Lampard’s fault. The language used around a struggling side is always interesting. At half-time here, Roy Keane noted that Frank would be disappointed. Oddly for a man whose catchphrase is quite literally ‘That’s his job’ there was no indication that Coventry not being a disappointing football team might in some way be, well, his job. But reality can be ignored for only so long. If things don’t change soon, a beleaguering is inevitable.

Brighton were superb, though. Once they got in front and sensed blood, they really did look like a top-quality side. The early stages of this season always felt like a huge opportunity for Brighton, a team approaching the new season with what is this year a rare sense of equilibrium and continuity. They have taken that early chance and now sit cosily inside the top four and are comfortably the division’s leading scorers having racked up 13 more goals than Coventry in the first four games of the season.

There is nothing unsustainable about Brighton’s start to the season, which doesn’t necessarily feel like the case for everyone else currently breathing rarefied air. This is a season of huge opportunity for them.

Coventry can only take comfort from the fact that the only other team to endure a pointless and goalless four-game start to a Premier League season were 2017/18’s Crystal Palace (who didn’t actually get either goals or points on the board until game eight amid The De Boer Unpleasantness) and they still finished 11th.

But still finishing 11th after a bad start is about the most Crystal Palace-coded thing of which it’s possible to conceive. They’re literally on their way to finishing 11th after a bad start right now.

Coventry have no such status and, with 10 goals conceded, are right now technically and statistically twice as bad as Spurs, which really shouldn’t actually be possible.

Jamie Redknapp has torn into Tottenham and manager Roberto De Zerbi over their “diabolical” start to the Premier League season.

After finishing 17th in consecutive seasons and only just missing out on relegation last term, Spurs spent £300m in the summer in an attempt to avoid another similarly disappointing campaign.

But they’re off to a poor start again as De Zerbi – who was drafted in to save them from relegation at the end of last term – has struggled to get his philosophy to reap attacking rewards in the Premier League.

After shipping five goals in their first two games, Spurs have kept two clean sheets on the trot, but incredibly they’re yet to score a goal this season.

Redknapp can’t quite believe what he’s seen from his former side, labelling their inability to find the net “diabolical”.

He said on Sky Sports: “Out of all the things they have done spending £300 million, one of the problems I thought when they assembled this squad will not be a lack of goals, I did not see that one.

“I thought they might struggle to win games… but I thought about the players they have got in midfield -Fernandes, Tonali, Marmoush, Savinho, even Kudus coming off the bench – surely they have goals in this team. But to not score in the Premier League in six hours of football is absolutely diabolical whatever way you look at it.

“They defended better today, I think the two centre-backs were better than what they have been, but just not enough. Solanke up front, I look at the team that has started to take shape, but no, they have to find the net. How could you not score in six hours of football?”

READ: The first ever 0-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium gives Jamie Redknapp his Curb moment

De Zerbi shirking the blame

Ahead of the 0-0 draw with Everton on Saturday, pundit Chris Sutton hit out at De Zerbi and called for him to take “a bit of responsibility” for how Tottenham have started this season.

“This is absolutely massive for Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi. First and foremost, though, he needs to take a bit of responsibility for his side’s poor results,” Sutton stated.

“He blamed the Spurs strikers after their 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, but at least he has got some in his squad. Spurs are a ‘law of averages’ team, or at least that’s the way I see it.

“Eventually they have to score and eventually they have to win too, but I don’t see both things happening this weekend.”

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur proved with their draws against Fulham and Everton that the quality of the Premier League has declined.

Also, two supposed Manchester United ‘mercenaries’ are defended for being ‘vital cogs’ for Michael Carrick.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…

Sympathy for Mikel Arteta, kind of…

I can’t blame Mikel for raging at the Sunderland peno call.

He’s watched his players man handle anything with a pulse in the penalty area for years now and get away scott free – then all of a sudden a ref says opposition players ought to be able to actually move ?? Absolutely unacceptable.

The inconsistency must infuriate lego-hair Mikel. His players only managed to initiate a cross-faced crippler move this time. Hardly worthy of a peno when normally they dish out Stone-cold Stunners?

Patricio Del Toro

READ: Raya and Arsenal exorcise Sunderland demons to show strength of champions

Bull on Man Utd pair ‘must be a joke’

What a load of bullshit from Gaptoothfreak, Man Utd, New York. Calling Cunha and Mbeumo mercenaries must be a joke. If anything, it looks like they absolutely love the club and want to be there. They seem to have geled well, look happy and I am yet to hear any Rumors of dressing room discontent, or line ups leaking.

The usual buzz around transfer Rumors is that United under Ineos want players that actually want United over others.Hence why we gave up Mateus Fernandes,or that apparently we paid a bit less overall for Sesko vs what Newcastle was offering because he chose us.

Coming to football side of things, yes an argument can be made that their output has decreased at United but it was their first season at a big club (or back at a big club in case of Cunha), mostly under the misfiring “sufferings” of Amorim and the remaining under the then interim Carrick. Plus they no longer are the biggest Cog (best source of goals) in their team’s machinery.

At united, they have to compete with each other, Captain fantastic Bruno, Sesko, and a surprisingly goal scoring Casemiro. Add in Amad and a returning Rashford, and their appearances could further deplete too.

They are not the marquee Galacticos signings; they are vital cogs to a consistent United. Gone are the days of SAF where United were truly theatre of dreams with players like C. Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Van Persie etc. and even then there were players like Nani, Valencia and Park to fill in the gaps.

If Gaptoothfreak is worried about their fees? just look at the going rate this season for players, then add PL tax and United tax and the fees sound fair (not everyone can sign a Tzolis for just 30 mil).

Post SAF, United has signed plenty of these Galacticos wannabes, players like Di Maria, Pogba, Sancho,Sanchez, Onana et all and all of them have been some form of failure.

Most importantly they were bought for crazy money, on crazy wages, and are now textbook definition of mercenaries (want high salaries, were never value for money didnt settle well at club and gave some very half hearted performances among themselves).

Gaptoothfreak, NYC, should fill his gap in football knowledge and focus on electing better president than the Orange one and his corporate mercenaries before commenting on United players.

Rahil, MUFC

(did he call us Manyoo? isn’t that derogatory? is he a troll? why did mailbox publish a troll as their first mail)

Spurs and Liverpool prove Premier League decline

Re the recent debate about the lack of excitement/quality of the current PL, and the responses suggesting Kentona, me, and whoever else agrees it’s not a patch on the olden days of the 90s/00s are akin to old men shaking our fists at passing clouds: Care to explain the utter quality vacuum that was Spurs v Everton?

Or Liverpool not even managing to score versus Fulham at home with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of “talent” up front?

RHT/TS x

(Did I REALLY see a mail from an Arsenal fan stating that the present day Gooners would wipe the floor with the 97/8 vintage? Have you bumped your head mate?)

Mike, LFC, you’ve completely missed my point. I wholeheartedly agree with your notion railing against the idea of “the day”. I don’t think music was better back then, I don’t think film or TV was, nor literature. I had a lot more time for all of those things too, but I’m not glorifying them. Of course we enjoy things more when we’re younger, because we’re young, that’s the subjective. I purposefully acknowledged that, because I think football is different. I think it was objectively better.

Look at the leagues. There was quality, in depth, across Europe. Now you have Bournemouth signing Porto’s Brazilian international striker for £40m+. That’s bad for the wider game. Look at the state of Serie A, or La Liga outside of the big 3. Then there’s stats and marginal gains taking over. That for the better? Someone mentioned Ronaldinho; could he play that expressively in the systems heavy world of today? Would Riquelme succeed or would his pressing stats just be too bad.

I reiterate the point I made; that period of football was the sweet spot on the graph, balancing money and sports science. There was just the right amount of it. The set piece coaches, the xG, the VAR, the concentration of wealth into the Premier League has all made the wider sport worse. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of fans of non-PL clubs would agree too. I think it’s easy to miss how much fans across Europe are sick of the financial dominance.

Personally, I’m increasingly invested in Altrincham, my local non-league team and am raising my kids as Altrincham fans, precisely because of how much the modern, elite game repulses me. It’s too late for me, the 7 year old’s first love will remain, no matter how much I’d like to move on, but it’s not too late for them. Up the Robins!

Lewis, Busby Way

RHT/TS’s dig at Arsenal debunked

‘RHT/TS x (Obviously swerved watching Arteta and his functional cheats bore their way to another 1-0 – does anyone choose to watch Arsenal bar their fans?)’

Do you even know what a football is or where it’s played – 25 shots, 9 on target, 58% possession, 93% pass accuracy and 6 corners – a boring game it was not – oh and BTW the other team Napoli’s home stats for the last 20 games, also recent champions of Italy – 14 Wins, 4 Draws, 2 Losses and +17 goals!!!!!

You have a crush, stay there if you want but oh please let the rest of us move on without having to know the details that flow through your mind about the coach, the club and if you know any Arsenal supporters personally I hope you’re resisting the urge to start the same with them.

I can tell you are obsessed (anyone caught you boiling bunnies yet…) as your ramblings are getting more desperate and you shoehorn any odd comment about Arteta and/or the Arsenal into all of your poorly thought out posts.

I am certain if you really tried you could one day say something positive about your own team and to show your weaning yourself off the Arsenal you could resist the urge to write anything associated with the Arsenal unless it’s a balanced well thought out comment – I believe in you!

Micky (I want stats on technical area entries, exits, distance covered etc…the same as the penalty area stats but based around the coaching team and the ref – will eventually prove all managers are actually as jumpy as all other managers – or everyone could just let it go – do we not remember what happened to sporn VAR?)

Andy Gray

Hey All,

I know you don’t like him but did you hear Andy Gray on commentary on talk sport? So good. He even managed a cheeky “what a hit son”.

It was brilliant. Good luck for the season all!

Chaz

According to reports, there are ‘increasing doubts’ about Roberto De Zerbi’s position at Tottenham Hotspur after Saturday’s draw against Everton.

De Zerbi was drafted in to save Tottenham towards the end of last season, and he just did enough to keep them in the Premier League following a prolonged relegation battle.

And De Zerbi was heavily backed in the summer transfer market as part of a huge Tottenham rebuild, with over £300m spent on signings.

Sandro Tonali, Matheus Fernandes, Omar Marmoush and Jan Paul van Hecke were among their big-money recruits, but they have made a poor start to the 2026/27 campaign.

After four games, Tottenham sit just above the relegation zone with two points, and they were booed by their home supporters after a 0-0 draw against Everton on Saturday evening.

READ: The first ever 0-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium gives Jamie Redknapp his Curb moment

Roberto De Zerbi facing ‘increasing doubts’ at Tottenham

Now, journalist Pete O’Rourke for Football Insider is reporting that De Zerbi has been told Tottenham’s ‘sack verdict’, with the head coach facing ‘increasing doubts’ about his position.

“Look, no manager in the Premier League can go on for too long with a losing start to the season,” O’Rourke told Football Insider.

“That’s the job, this game is based on getting results and Roberto De Zerbi will be fully aware of that. One point from three games is not good enough.

“It’s not what Tottenham expected this season following their heavy outlay in the transfer window to improve the squad, they were expecting an immediate impact.

“But there’ll be no knee-jerk reactions at Tottenham. The club are fully behind De Zerbi and they see him as the man to get things right.”

Before the Everton game, pundit Chris Sutton hit out at De Zerbi and called for him to take “a bit of responsibility” for how Tottenham have started this season.

“This is absolutely massive for Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi. First and foremost, though, he needs to take a bit of responsibility for his side’s poor results,” Sutton stated.

“He blamed the Spurs strikers after their 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest, but at least he has got some in his squad. Spurs are a ‘law of averages’ team, or at least that’s the way I see it.

“Eventually they have to score and eventually they have to win too, but I don’t see both things happening this weekend.”

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has explained why he was frustrated with Mathys Tel during the match against Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and has also expressed his delight with Andy Robertson’s performance.

Spurs endured a difficult afternoon at home on Saturday, as they failed to win against Everton.

The match between Tottenham and Everton finished in a goalless draw.

It was the first time in Tottenham’s history that they had failed to score in any of their first four league fixtures in a single campaign.

Tottenham manager De Zerbi cut a hugely frustrating figure in the dugout during the game.

Immediately after the full-time whistle, De Zerbi went on to the pitch and started speaking animatedly to Tel.

READ: Jamie O’Hara tears into five Tottenham players after Everton draw – ‘Cement in his feet’

Tel did not start the match against Everton, but the 21-year-old former Bayern Munich forward came on for Dominic Solanke in the 63rd minute.

Roberto De Zerbi on Tottenham forward Mathys Tel

De Zerbi said about Tel, as relayed by The Independent journalist Miguel Delaney on X at 8:19pm on September 12: “Yes, I coach him on the pitch… the striker can’t play with his back to the goal.

“He has to play like a striker, looking at the goal, or on the cross for Robertson.

“He has to stay inside.

“He started as a striker, eh, now he’s playing as a winger.”

The Tottenham manager added: “But I love Mathys as a player and a guy, there is not a problem.”

Roberto De Zerbi on Tottenham left-back Andy Robertson

While De Zerbi was not pleased with Tel, the Tottenham manager has praised left-back Robertson for his efforts during the game.

The former Liverpool left-back took one shot, played two key passes, and put in seven crosses – of which one was accurate.

Football.London quoted De Zerbi as saying: “There is a word in Italian that literally translates as we unblock ourselves.

“I think the team is incredibly strong and we can win games.

“We can find the goals with the quality of our players.

“The full-backs and their quality.

“Andy Robertson was very good today but we didn’t maybe trust his crosses enough.”

The Tottenham manager further said about his team’s performance: “I came last season when the s*** was like this (puts his hand up to his forehead), you know?

“S***, I repeat.

“And I’ve always been, not positive, but realistic.

“Now I explained, I’m sorry for the results, but it’s not immediate, no?

“Not the improvement, not immediate to make a team.

“Today we played as a team.

“We didn’t score, we didn’t win, but today and Nottingham I think we played as a team.

“And I can’t say nothing as an attitude, as a behaviour of the players, no, no.

“I said to stay calm, maybe to not lose the confidence because we are not scoring, we are not winning.

“Stay calm, improve, work hard and individually try to understand where is the improvement, no?”

Jamie O’Hara has been fuming following Tottenham Hotspur’s failure to win against Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the talkSPORT pundit picking five players for criticism after the Premier League game.

Tottenham played out a goalless draw with Everton at home in the league on Saturday.

It was the first time in Tottenham’s history that they have failed to score in their opening four games of the season.

Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham find themselves 17th in the Premier League table at the moment with just two points from four matches.

Former Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara was following the match, and he laid into five players – Savio, Omar Marmoush, Dominic Solanke, Lucas Bergvall and Sandro Tonali.

Jamie O’Hara reacts to Tottenham 0-0 Everton

O’Hara said on talkSPORT (7:22pm, September 12, 2026): “We have played four games, we haven’t scored a goal.

READ: The first ever 0-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium gives Jamie Redknapp his Curb moment

“We haven’t scored.

“What is going on?

“Seriously, what is going on?

“I can’t get over this team.

“I can’t get over it, mate, how bad it’s gone.

“We spent £350million, we can’t score a goal.

“Savio runs down dead ends, Marmoush looks like he has got cement in his feet, Solanke’s miles off it, Bergvall comes on, he’s like a kid, Tonali, we spent £100million (on), he’s non-existent in the game.

“What is going on with this side?

“It’s absolutely shocking.”

Jarrad Branthwaite and David Moyes react

Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite said after the match: “You look at the game from the start, they put us under pressure and we had to dig deep to stay in the game.

“Then we grew into the game towards the end of the first half and showed that mentality again in the second half.

“We had chances to win the game as well.

“The backs to the wall mentality will help us go a long way.

“If we can keep clean sheets, you can go a long way in the league.

“But it’s not just us the defenders.

“It’s the whole team working hard.

“It’s a team effort.”

Everton manager David Moyes said: “It felt like Tottenham had more [shots on target] than we did.

“Was I happy with the performance? No, not really.

“I told the players about coming here and our club’s record here.

“Tottenham were so good for 20 minutes, put us under so much pressure and we struggled to get out of it.

“We didn’t play well enough today though and turned the ball over too much.”