Football London

Tottenham Hotspur are in the spotlight after losing to Aston Villa in the Premier League, with Steven Gerrard weighing in afterwards about Spurs' biggest problem

Steven Gerrard believes opposition coaches and players will view Tottenham Hotspur as stoppable because they no longer have a superstar in their squad.

Harry Kane is who the pundit named, but Gareth Bale and Son Heung‑min also fell into that bracket during their time at Spurs. The latter left for Los Angeles and Major League Soccer last summer, 12 months after Bayern Munich signed the club's all-time leading goalscorer.

Gerrard believes Spurs still have several very good quality players. However, the former Liverpool captain does not consider any of them to be world-class individuals who strike fear into their opponents.

He said on TNT Sports inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: "I think Tottenham have signed good quality players, and you can see the squad is littered with really good players, but I look at this Tottenham team, and I do not see that world‑class superstar. Your Harry Kanes, obviously, he has moved on.

"If you are playing against this Spurs team, or coming up against them as an opposition player or coach, I think they are stoppable. I do not see any of the players that would strike fear into me.

"You think about Manchester City. (Erling) Haaland strikes fear into everyone because you know he can win a game at any given moment.

"You look at Chelsea's front three – Cole Palmer, he can change a game at any given moment, and they are consistently doing that. Liverpool with (Alexander) Isak, once he is fit and available, you have seen it at Newcastle (United).

"I look at Tottenham and think: 'they have got a lot of really good players, but have they got that real superstar?'" Gerrard continued: "Going forward, which is the big problem, the lack of goals, they haven't got a poacher, they haven't got a goal scorer.

"And I say that respectfully because they've got good players in the frontline, they've got exciting players, but who's going to get you 20 goals?

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"So the recruitment and those who decided to go for these certain types of players, they've got to look at each other and go: 'we haven't gone out and got a 20-goal-a-season man.' And if you haven't got that, and you're conceding goals at the back, it might be time to get concerned if you're Spurs fans again.

"There are two things: you either keep clean sheets, which keeps you in a safe place in this table, or you have phenomenal goal scorers in your team, as Harry Kane's done for many years here, they score the amount of goals that keep you up the top. If you're shaky at the back and you haven't got that poacher, watch out.

Tottenham are still searching for their first league win of the Premier League season as they fell to defeat against Aston Villa, and head into the international break bottom of the table

It's not been the start to the season that Tottenham Hotspur would have hoped for. A 3-2 loss against Aston Villa on Saturday means that the team are still searching for their first Premier League win of the season.

Of those games, Tottenham have lost three and drawn two. Following Fulham's draw against Manchester United, the club sit bottom of the table going into the international break.

The two late goals against Villa, courtesy of Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke were the team's first of the Premier League season, which could provide some light at the end of the tunnel.

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Tottenham were one of the big spenders in the transfer window, with a spend of around £344million in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the relegation battle last season. But given the position Spurs find themselves in, should the pressure be piling on manager Roberto De Zerbi? Our writers have had their say….

Amie Wilson

It’s hard to argue against the pressure mounting on De Zerbi, given the performances and results so far this season. After leading Spurs to safety on the final day of last season, the Italian was heavily backed in the transfer window.

So far, that has not yielded results, with the club finding itself in a similar position to last year. That ultimately led to the sacking of Thomas Frank.

I'm an advocate for giving managers time, especially if the transfer window has brought many changes to the squad. With a three-week break, it does give De Zerbi a chance to work on the training pitch with the players who are not on international duty.

It could though be argued that it would be the ideal time to make a change. I do believe that Spurs should hold out for a bit longer and hope the season can turn around under him.

Matt Abbott

Five matches into last season, Spurs were third after beating Manchester City and had conceded just one goal. It goes without saying that they went on to let in 56 more over the next 33 games and drop 14 places in the table.

That is to say, it is too small a sample size to make a change, despite how tempting it is to do so during a three-week international break. The club took too long to sack Thomas Frank, and they would be going too early if they were to dismiss De Zerbi at this juncture.

After a far-from-ideal pre-season for all clubs because of this summer's World Cup, the head coach deserves more time to work with those who are not representing their national teams this autumn. If results have not improved by the next break in mid-November, then there is a discussion to be had.

Mark Wakefield

There can be no denying that pressure will soon be mounting on Roberto De Zerbi’s job at Tottenham, especially if results don't improve. But there was always going to be a need for patience given the amount of change that has happened at the club.

Yes, De Zerbi was at the club towards the end of last season, but that was survival mode. This year, he has been given the chance to implement his own style and philosophy on the team.

What has also happened is that Tottenham have signed several players who all need time to adjust to their new surroundings and teammates.

Given the relegation battles over the last two seasons, it was never going to be the complete opposite this time around. Time is needed for De Zerbi to work with the players he’s got and get them all on the same page.

That being said, if Tottenham do not get a win under their belt in the first couple of games after the international break, questions will certainly be asked if De Zerbi is the right person to take the club forward.

Scott Trotter

We're only five matches into the Premier League season, and my grandad always used to say that there shouldn't even be a league table until after 10. Safe to say, it's a bit premature to be talking about sacking Roberto De Zerbi at the moment, not that it gives him any additional security following a dreadful start to the season.

The vast sums Spurs spent over the summer will certainly focus the minds of decision-makers with Spurs scarcely able to score a goal. However, it's probably not the Italian's fault he doesn't have much firepower.

De Zerbi's credentials were always questionable in my mind anyway, but he does need longer to be fairly judged at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Lilywhites have finished 17th in consecutive seasons, so any expectations need to bear that in mind.

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