Spurs bottom of PL despite £300m spend as De Zerbi laments fragility — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Tottenham sit bottom of the Premier League after five games with two points and two goals — their worst start in 18 years — following a 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Roberto De Zerbi was handed relative carte blanche in a £300m+ summer window (the biggest in club history) and got most of what he asked for, bar a top-class left-winger, but his side have now picked up just 18 points in 2026.
- De Zerbi conceded after the Villa loss: "In my 14 years as a coach, I've never seen a team like us, so fragile and inconsistent," with Spurs having failed to win a Premier League game when conceding first in nearly two years.
- The summer departures of Cristian Romero and combative midfielder Joao Palhinha — against De Zerbi's wishes in Palhinha's case — have left a leadership void the £200m midfield pairing of Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes has yet to fill, with Tonali yet to recapture his Newcastle form after a club-record transfer.
- Spurs have the lowest average xG per shot in the Premier League, with Dominic Solanke still off-form and last season's top scorer Richarlison in a partly self-imposed exile, leaving De Zerbi almost apologetic: "he's much better than this Dominic Solanke."
- Since the start of 2024/25, Tottenham have collected just one more point than relegated West Ham, finishing 17th in back-to-back seasons — and their next test is an under-pressure Manchester United side at Old Trafford on October 10.
Why it matters: Tottenham have spent more than £300m to worsen, not improve — they've now collected just one more point than relegated West Ham since 2024/25, and with over half Saturday's starting XI new to the club and De Zerbi's previous spells ending sourly, the £300m gamble risks repeating the 17th-place cycle the spending was meant to break.
Ask SkimNews
