"In my entire career, 14 years as a coach, I've never seen a team like ours. So fragile, so inconsistent." Roberto De Zerbi said that after Aston Villa put three past his side last weekend. He's been in charge for 14 matches. That it's already come to this tells you everything.
Tottenham sits dead last in the Premier League after five games of the 2026/27 season. Two points. Two goalless draws — against Nottingham Forest and Everton — followed by three defeats. The Villa game was actually the first time Spurs scored a league goal this campaign. They lost 3-2.
The full picture: two draws, three losses, two goals scored, eight conceded. Already knocked out of the League Cup by Liverpool. A club record summer spend of over $465 million, and this is where they are.
A home record that has no precedent in English football
The statistic that defines the scale of this collapse: since November 2024, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has hosted six Beyoncé concerts. In that same window, Spurs have won a Premier League home match just five times in 36 attempts.
According to The Times, that run is genuinely without precedent. Since the Football League was founded in 1888, no club has sustained such a poor home record across that many matches without being relegated during the period. Sunderland and Huddersfield Town had comparably grim stretches — but both completed those runs after dropping out of the top flight. Spurs are still here, somehow.
They finished 17th last season, two points above relegation. The season before, 17th again — seven points clear of the drop. Winning the Europa League in 2024/25 papered over those cracks. The paper has long since peeled away.
$465 million spent, and the questions keep mounting
The summer was supposed to reset everything. Sandro Tonali arrived for $125 million including add-ons. Savinho cost $116 million — and De Zerbi has already publicly called him out for his fitness levels. Mateus Fernandes came in at $113 million. Three of the four most expensive transfers in club history, all in one window.
De Zerbi also singled out James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Dominic Solanke, Tosin Adarabioyo and Marcos Senesi after the Villa defeat. That's not a manager fine-tuning — that's a manager running out of places to look except directly at his players.
Which makes the news from The Telegraph all the more baffling: during the international break, players not on international duty were given a full week off. Scheduled in advance, the club confirmed. Against the backdrop of a manager publicly criticising fitness levels, the optics are not good.
- Five home league wins in 36 matches — a top-flight record for a club that avoided relegation throughout
- $465 million spent in summer 2026 with nothing to show after five games
- De Zerbi's contract runs to 2031; speculation about his future has already started
- Players reportedly described the situation as "unacceptable"
The comparisons to Mourinho, Conte and Postecoglou are already being made — managers who all publicly questioned their squads before being shown the door. De Zerbi knows the history. So do Spurs fans.
When the Premier League resumes, Tottenham travel to Old Trafford, where Michael Carrick is also under pressure. One manager might get a foothold. For Spurs, their away record offers no particular comfort — and their home form offers even less. The draw price for that match deserves a serious look, given neither side has shown the consistency to win it convincingly.
De Zerbi called his squad fragile and inconsistent after 14 matches in charge. That's not a manager building toward something. That's a manager already wondering what he's walked into.
