"The way we play and concede goals is unacceptable." Jan Paul van Hecke didn't dress it up. Five games in, zero wins, and Tottenham are bottom of the Premier League. The £52 million centre-back signed from Brighton to help stabilise a defence, not anchor a relegation six-pointer.
Two goalless draws and three defeats have left Spurs below the relegation line on goal difference alone — Manchester United's point at Craven Cottage on Sunday was enough to send Tottenham to the foot of the table. Álvaro Arbeloa's side sit level on two points but edge it on goal difference. That's the company Spurs are keeping right now.
The Aston Villa moment that summed it all up
Van Hecke was particularly pointed about the loss to Aston Villa, specifically the moment Andy Robertson chose to keep the ball in play while Spurs were down to ten men — inadvertently feeding John McGinn possession inside the penalty area. Van Hecke's verdict was clinical: "You know you're down to 10 men. Then it's smarter to kick the ball out, so you can wait until Micky gets back. You say to each other: 'Come on, boys. We are much better.' And then you give it all away completely."
That sequence captures everything wrong with Spurs right now. Not just the tactical error, but the mental fragility — the energy draining out of a team that, on paper, shouldn't be anywhere near this conversation.
Van Hecke arrived alongside compatriot Micky van de Ven with the expectation of forming a reliable Dutch defensive partnership. So far, that partnership hasn't kept a clean sheet worth celebrating, and Robert De Zerbi is staring down a relegation battle he almost certainly didn't sign up for. Spurs' defensive odds will make grim reading for anyone who backed them to improve at the back this season.
International break, domestic mess
While Van Hecke heads off to link up with the Netherlands — where new manager Xavi Hernandez called him personally to discuss his place in the squad — De Zerbi is left working with those not called up. Maddison, Gallagher, Solanke, and others will be putting in extra physical work at Hotspur Way. De Zerbi was frank about it: "The physical condition, I didn't like even this game."
Van Hecke, at least, gets a reset. "A fresh start after the World Cup," he called it, enthused by Xavi's attacking philosophy. The problem is the restart that matters most comes when the international break ends — and Tottenham's schedule doesn't get kinder.
"We had imagined it would be different," Van Hecke admitted. So had everyone who watched them spend £52 million on a centre-back.
