Roberto De Zerbi finds himself dealing with unfamiliar territory as he attempts to guide Tottenham through an unexpected goal-scoring crisis.
The Italian manager has built his reputation around aggressive, attacking football, but his Tottenham side are yet to score a single Premier League goal after four matches. Their next challenge comes against Aston Villa on Saturday, with Unai Emery’s team also struggling in front of goal after managing just one league goal this season.
It sets up a meeting between two sides desperately searching for a breakthrough, and De Zerbi admits he has never experienced a situation like this before.
“Never. I’ve conceded many goals maybe, but to not score, no,” De Zerbi said. “But I think it’s a coincidence. Against Liverpool, we had nine chances to score. Bergvall and Kudus had opportunities in the first half, while Marmoush had a couple in the second half. We also scored with Gallagher.”
The Spurs boss insists the lack of goals has not changed his assessment of his squad.
“Even though we are not scoring, I cannot change my opinion of the players,” he explained. “Marmoush is a fantastic player. Savio is a fantastic player. Solanke, when he is fit, is a very good player. Maddison, Kudus, Gallagher and Mateus Fernandes are all very good players.”
De Zerbi also praised Tottenham’s defensive options, particularly their full-backs and centre-backs, while maintaining that the current problem is something the team can correct.
So how does he intend to end the drought?
According to De Zerbi, the answer is not necessarily to make dramatic changes. Instead, Spurs must continue improving while remaining composed.
“Sometimes you have to change everything, sometimes you have to improve what you are already doing and sometimes you have to stay calm,” he said. “We are working to improve what we are doing, but we also have to stay calm because I know we have two points. For our performances, we could have had more.”
Tottenham’s decision to sell young striker Will Lankshear to Middlesbrough for an initial £10million, potentially rising by another £10million in add-ons, is likely to remain a talking point while the goals continue to prove difficult to find.
The 21-year-old has made an impressive start to life in the Championship, scoring eight times in his first 10 appearances and earning recognition with a place in Lee Carsley’s latest England Under-21 squad.
However, De Zerbi says he has no regrets over the decision.
“Solanke is a good player, Marmoush is another good player and then there was the Richarlison situation, which changed in the last five days without my decision,” he explained. “Three strikers. How many strikers do you want in the squad? Three strikers, I think, are enough.”
One player who has already ended Tottenham’s wait for a goal this week is Conor Gallagher. The midfielder headed home from a corner during Spurs’ 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool.
De Zerbi has long admired Gallagher, having wanted to sign him during his time at Brighton. He also attempted to rebuild the midfielder’s confidence last season with a motivational video titled ‘Bossing the Midfield’.
The Tottenham manager remains a huge admirer of Gallagher.
“Even if he doesn’t play every game, I love him. He’s generous, he’s a smart player and he has the right mentality,” De Zerbi said.
Gallagher has made 22 appearances for England but has recently fallen out of favour at international level. De Zerbi, however, believes the midfielder is anything but underrated.
“For me, no, he’s not underrated. Maybe for other coaches or other people, but for me, no,” he said. “When I came last season, Conor didn’t play until my arrival. When I came, he played every game.”
“He’s my player. I know he’s reliable. When I call him, he’s always ready to fight and run.”
Meanwhile, Sandro Tonali is available again for Tottenham after missing the Liverpool defeat because of a knock picked up against Everton.
The midfielder has gradually improved following his big-money move from Newcastle, which made him Tottenham’s first £100million signing once all add-ons are taken into account.
De Zerbi believes Tonali simply needed time to adapt to his new surroundings.
“He’s a good guy, he’s working very hard and I’m happy to have Sandro,” the Spurs boss said. “The adaptation has not been so fast, but it can happen. It’s not easy to change city and change everything for players. Sometimes adaptation is immediate, sometimes you need more time.”
De Zerbi also believes Tonali has the versatility to operate as either a defensive midfielder or a number eight.
“He can play in both situations. He is good enough with the ball and good enough without the ball. He’s a complete midfielder, like Bergvall and Mateus Fernandes.”
The Italian also dismissed the idea that Tonali and Lucas Bergvall are competing for just one position.
“Bergvall is not a problem. Bergvall and Tonali can play together. They can stay on the bench together, they can play one and the other,” he explained.
With Tottenham preparing for an early kick-off, the squad stayed together at the club’s training-ground hotel on Friday night. De Zerbi sees the decision as another opportunity for his new-look group to develop greater understanding.
He insists nothing drastic has been done to address the goal drought.
“We want to win, we want to win scoring many goals. Everyone wants the win,” he said.
De Zerbi also insists the difficult opening period was always part of the rebuilding process and should not be viewed as a crisis.
“It’s not a challenge, it’s a plan,” he said. “Our club worked very well in the transfer market. We could have done better, for sure, but we could have done worse.”
The manager believes several of his summer arrivals are already beginning to settle.
JP van Hecke has improved considerably after a difficult opening couple of matches, while Marmoush impressed against Liverpool. Savio is now returning to full fitness, Robertson produced an excellent display against Everton, and Tosin and Senesi also impressed against Liverpool.
“There are no problems with the new players,” De Zerbi said. “I think we started late, for many reasons, but we have to work more and harder to close the gap.”
For Tottenham, Saturday’s meeting with Aston Villa provides another opportunity to finally end their Premier League goal drought and turn promising performances into results.
