Tottenham’s De Zerbi challenge laid bare by Newcastle defeat

Roberto De Zerbi’s hopes of rebuilding Tottenham Hotspur’s relationship with their supporters suffered another blow as familiar weaknesses returned in a 2-0 home defeat by Newcastle United.

Spurs showed a marked improvement from last weekend’s dismal 3-0 loss at Brentford, a result which arguably flattered the visitors, and produced some of the sharp attacking football De Zerbi was appointed to introduce.

But after a competitive opening hour, Tottenham fell apart in the second half and conceded two avoidable goals. The collapse underlined the scale of the task facing the Italian, who has already seen his side lose twice at the start of the campaign.

The defeat was Tottenham’s 21st in their past 39 home league matches. By the final whistle, thousands of supporters had left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, despite De Zerbi’s stated ambition of turning the ground into “a fortress”.

The club spent more than £300 million ($406 million) during the summer in an attempt to rebuild a squad that had ended two successive seasons in 17th place. Yet De Zerbi acknowledged that the transfer market could not solve every problem.

“You can’t buy mentality in the transfer market,” he said.

De Zerbi also apologised to the supporters and admitted he understood why back-to-back defeats might lead some to believe Tottenham were repeating the problems of the previous two seasons.

“I’m sorry for the fans, for the environment, because after two defeats, maybe somebody can think it’s the same history, the same as the last two seasons,” De Zerbi told reporters.

“I have no doubt it’s not like this. I can’t change my opinion for two defeats. I have big, big confidence in the qualities of my players.”

However, while describing the work at Tottenham as a “great project”, De Zerbi appeared to leave open the possibility that it could continue without him. He said the squad would demonstrate its quality “with me or with another coach”.

That comment added to the uncertainty around a club attempting to move beyond two difficult campaigns. Tottenham offered evidence against Newcastle that De Zerbi’s preferred style is beginning to emerge, but their inability to sustain the performance remains a major concern.

Newcastle, in contrast, have made an unbeaten start that has eased doubts raised during the summer. The club lost key players Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes, while Eddie Howe also departed as coach.

Yoane Wissa, who was troubled by injuries after joining Newcastle last summer, has already equalled his league goals tally from the whole of last season. He said the players who remain at the club must respond to the departures by taking on greater responsibility.

Wissa said Newcastle’s new signings had adapted quickly, with midfielder Nico Gonzalez making a particularly strong impression on his debut. He reserved his highest praise, though, for new coach Matthias Jaissle.

“I think he’s the best signing of Newcastle so far,” Wissa said.