Tottenham's Struggles Continue: De Zerbi Under Pressure
Tottenham’s troubles deepened on Saturday – and the questions around Roberto De Zerbi are getting louder.
A 3-2 defeat at home to Aston Villa left Spurs still searching for their first Premier League win of the season. Three defeats, two draws, and an uncomfortable truth: they will spend the international break in the relegation zone.
This is a club that has finished 17th in each of the last two campaigns and thrown more than £300m at making sure that nightmare didn’t repeat. It is repeating.
Bright start, brutal punch
For half an hour, you wouldn’t have guessed Spurs were a side in trouble.
They pressed high. They nicked the ball back in dangerous areas. They controlled the tempo. They tested the goalkeeper. It wasn’t wave-after-wave of clear-cut chances, but Aston Villa were forced into a couple of sharp saves and looked second best.
Then the familiar pattern returned.
As the first half wore on, Villa grew into the contest. Tottenham’s intensity dipped, the control slipped, and anxiety crept back into the stadium. Losing Micky van de Ven to injury didn’t just weaken the back line; it rattled the entire structure.
The punishment came in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Deep into added minutes, Johan Manzambi struck, and Villa went in at the break with a 1-0 lead. A gut punch, exactly when a fragile side could least afford it.
Danny Murphy, watching on for the BBC, summed up the shift.
“In the first half-hour they showed good intensity, controlled the tempo of the game and created a few chances – not great chances but shots that forced the keeper into a couple of good saves,” the former Tottenham midfielder said.
“And then, as has happened in weeks previous, they’ve let the opposition grow into the game and gain confidence. Then to concede when they’re down to 10-men with Van de Van off injured is a big blow to them and makes the second half very difficult.
“They didn’t really look like a team struggling for confidence, they won the ball back a lot high up and there was a lot to like, but ultimately if you can’t score when you’re on top in games in the Premier League you get punished.”
The script, once again, felt painfully familiar.
Villa take control, Spurs chase shadows
The second half only tightened the noose.
Aston Villa smelled weakness and went for it. Nicolas Jackson added a second, Emi Buendia a third, and suddenly the scoreline reflected the shift in authority. Spurs, who had started on the front foot, were now chasing a game that looked gone.
To their credit, they refused to fold completely. Conor Gallagher pulled one back. Jan Paul van Hecke added another late on to drag the scoreline to 3-2 and inject a flicker of life into the closing stages.
But this wasn’t a heroic near-miss. It was another example of Tottenham failing to turn dominance into goals when it matters, then paying the price when the opposition respond.
De Zerbi under the spotlight
The result leaves De Zerbi staring down an uncomfortable international break. No wins. A relegation place. A squad that has been heavily invested in but still looks brittle when the momentum turns.
And now, the noise around his leadership is growing.
Former Premier League midfielder Kevin Nolan didn’t hold back on BBC 5 Live before the game.
“I am really worried about Tottenham,” he said. “Every week Roberto de Zerbi has a different excuse. He doesn’t stay around much at clubs and falls out with a lot of his owners. He’s probably thinking: ‘Do I need this?’.”
Nolan’s concern runs deeper than results.
“He is not inspiring me as he was at the back end of last season in his interviews when he was very jolly and very positive about what he had to do.
“Everything is downbeat and it doesn’t feel right when you’re watching him in a press conference. Laying the blame on players and staff…it doesn’t go anywhere other than the wrong way.”
That line will sting at Tottenham. When a manager starts publicly pointing fingers, dressing rooms tend to close ranks – and not around him.
McKenna in the stands, questions in the air
Into that tense atmosphere dropped another intriguing detail: Kieran McKenna in the stands.
The former Ipswich Town boss, currently out of work, was spotted at Tottenham’s recent home draw with Everton, sitting in the crowd with his wife. One appearance, one camera shot, and the rumour mill whirred into life. Was he just taking in a game? Or was there more to it?
Stefan Borson, former Manchester City financial adviser, found it hard to brush off as nothing.
“We’re looking at £10m to bring somebody new in. Those are the sort of broad-brush numbers that we’re working to in the Premier League,” he told Football Insider.
“Obviously, if you get a manager that’s out of work… It was interesting and a bit weird, to be honest, to see Kieran McKenna in the crowd at the home game against Everton.
“He was in the crowd with his wife. It was a bit strange, really, that on a Saturday night, he would take his wife to watch Everton.
“I don’t know if there’s something behind that. It all looks a bit too obvious it’s all a bit strange. Maybe he was watching Everton.”
Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn’t.
What’s not in doubt is the picture in front of everyone: Tottenham, winless, stuck in the bottom three, a manager under fire, and a high-profile free agent coach casually taking in a game at their stadium.
The international break will give De Zerbi time on the training ground and space away from the weekly grind of fixtures. It will also give the club’s hierarchy time to think.
The only question now: when the Premier League resumes, will Spurs be kicking off a revival under De Zerbi – or starting again under someone new?
