LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur’s £300 million squad rebuild is showing little sign of reviving the club’s fortunes after a 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa left them winless after five Premier League games on Saturday.
While Villa celebrated their first league win of the season, Tottenham were left staring at another familiar afternoon of frustration as the dark clouds that hung over the club last season returned despite a summer of lavish spending.
Roberto De Zerbi’s team did finally get on the scoresheet, with late goals from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke, but they came only after a clinical Villa had taken a 3-0 lead.
Long-suffering Tottenham fans probably sensed trouble when Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki produced a string of saves early on, and the mood darkened further when Johan Manzambi struck in first-half stoppage time after an error by Andy Robertson.
Tottenham were temporarily down to 10 men after Micky van de Ven suffered a facial injury and De Zerbi could not hide his frustration at the manner of the goal.
“My focus is why we concede the first goal with 10 players, just for one minute in that situation,” the Italian said. “We can stay stronger, we can communicate more and more and more, we can defend in a compact way.”
Mohammed Kudus thought he had levelled after coming off the bench, but joy turned to despair as the effort was ruled out for offside in the build-up after a VAR check.
Any hopes of a comeback were then extinguished when Nicolas Jackson exposed Tottenham’s defensive frailties to double Villa’s lead before Emi Buendia’s superb dipping strike made it 3-0 and sent home supporters streaming for the exits.
Tottenham have now won only three of their last 25 Premier League home games, losing 15 of them, and their two points from five matches represent their worst start to a league campaign since 2008 when Juande Ramos was sacked.
With an away trip to Manchester United after the international break, the pressure could soon start to ramp up on De Zerbi, who came in seven games from the end of last season and saved the club from relegation.
“Today I am very disappointed, very sad and very frustrated for the performance. We can’t lose this game in this way, absolutely,” he said.
The Italian also demanded more from striker Dominic Solanke, who again struggled to make an impact.
“We need more from him, for sure, but he’s one of my players,” De Zerbi said. “He needs to stay better, to feel better. The physical condition is not good enough. He’s much better than this Dom Solanke.”
For Villa, after a turbulent summer of arrivals and departures, there were finally signs that Unai Emery’s rebuilt side is beginning to settle.
“It’s a relief. Leading up to the international break, you don’t want to be in the bottom three,” captain John McGinn said.
“The new players are buying into it, it takes time. It’s not easy but it’s rewarding.”
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
