Tottenham's £320m Attack Runs Dry Under De Zerbi
Tottenham drew 0-0 with Everton, extending a goalless run to four league games as De Zerbi still seeks his first win despite the club's record summer spending.
Tottenham have gone four Premier League matches without scoring for the first time in the club's history, after a goalless draw with Everton left Roberto De Zerbi still waiting for his first league win in charge.
Spurs had 14 shots at Goodison Park's visitors and put only two of them on target. The finishing, not the chance creation, is the problem for a squad assembled at a cost of around £320million over the summer. The drought now runs beyond six hours of league football, stretching back to the 43rd minute of last season's final fixture — also against Everton.
De Zerbi pointed to the players' heads Rather than their legs. He said his forwards were suffering "blockages" in front of goal, and that confidence, not creation, was the missing part of the picture.
Jan Paul van Hecke, a centre-half by trade, spurned an early sight of goal — forgivable, given defending is his job. Less forgivable was Matheus Fernandes needing four touches to bring down a through ball with a one-on-one there to be taken, the kind of moment that has come to define Tottenham's evenings in the final third. As with the draw against Nottingham Forest, finishing was again the glaring shortcoming. Sandro Tonali, signed for a further £100million, is yet to show much for the outlay either.
With Richarlison left out of the Premier League squad, Omar Marmoush stands as the only recognised cover for Solanke through the middle — thin depth for a squad built on a record-breaking spend.
Tottenham stayed up last season at West Ham's expense, which makes a stat circulating among Spurs supporters harder to take: West Ham, despite no longer being in the Premier League, have scored in the division more recently than Tottenham have. West Ham Central posted the figures on Saturday evening.
Tottenham's hierarchy have no plans to make a "knee-jerk" change and sack De Zerbi, Football Insider reported this week, with the Italian still viewed internally as the right man to lead the project despite the alarming start.
Back-to-back 17th-placed finishes leave little patience in reserve. De Zerbi's position may not be under threat this week, but another blank without a win will sharpen questions the club has so far avoided answering.
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