De Zerbi Asks Patience as Spurs Stay Scoreless — SkimNews
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- Tottenham drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest to claim their first point of the season, having lost to Brentford and Newcastle, and became the first Spurs side since 1974-75 to fail to score in their opening three league games.
- Roberto de Zerbi likened squad-building to "Football Manager," telling Sky Sports that 10 senior summer arrivals had only started training together the previous Thursday and that the team had yet to find an identity.
- Tottenham have spent over £300m this summer as part of a record £3.79bn Premier League transfer outlay, with Sandro Tonali, Jon Paul Van Hecke, Savio and Omar Marmoush starting at the City Ground.
- Omar Marmoush blazed a second-half chance over the bar when Andy Robertson was overlapping and Mohammed Kudus waited for a far-post tap-in — the missed decision De Zerbi singled out after the match.
- Neco Williams' bundled second-half effort was ruled out by VAR, sparing Spurs a third straight Premier League defeat; a draw was Tottenham's eighth in the league this calendar year, their most since 2020.
- Mykhailo Mudryk came off the bench for his first Premier League appearance since November 2024, on an initial loan from Chelsea after receiving a four-year ban for testing positive for meldonium in 2024.
Why it matters: Tottenham's £300m-plus summer rebuild under De Zerbi has produced zero goals and one point from three matches, the worst start since 1974-75. With 10 new signings still building chemistry and no shot on target at Forest, patience is the message — but the pressure on De Zerbi's project will intensify quickly if the goals don't arrive.
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