adminRoberto De Zerbi made no attempt to hide his frustration after Tottenham Hotspur suffered another damaging Premier League defeat, with Aston Villa leaving North London with a 3-2 victory.
Tottenham appeared to be heading for a heavy defeat after falling 3-0 behind with only a few minutes remaining. Although Spurs managed to score twice late on, their comeback came too late to prevent another home defeat.
The result means Tottenham remain without a league victory after their opening five matches, leaving De Zerbi with plenty of concerns to address during the international break.
The Italian manager was particularly unhappy with the way his side defended, describing their performance as too fragile and expressing anger at the manner in which Villa scored their goals.
De Zerbi was especially critical of Villa’s second goal, which came shortly after the interval when Nicolas Jackson caught Tottenham on the counter-attack.
“I was very disappointed, very sad, very frustrated for the performance,” De Zerbi said after the match.
“We can’t lose this game in this way, absolutely. We can’t concede the second goal. We can’t lose balance.”
The Tottenham boss revealed that he had specifically instructed his attacking players to remain calm and avoid taking unnecessary risks at the beginning of the second half.
He was therefore particularly frustrated when Villa immediately found a way through.
“It was minute 51. All the second half, be calm, play, enjoy, don’t take risks. But the goal we conceded, the second goal was incredible,” he added.
De Zerbi also questioned Tottenham’s defending for Aston Villa’s opening goal.
Villa took advantage of the fact that Spurs were temporarily reduced to 10 players after Micky van de Ven left the pitch to receive treatment following a clash of heads with Tyrone Mings.
Rather than focusing on the first-half opportunities Tottenham created, De Zerbi wanted his players to examine why they conceded at such a vulnerable moment.
“I don’t want to speak about the first half when we dominated and created more chances to score,” he explained.
“My focus is on why we concede the first goal with 10 players, just for one minute in that situation.”
According to De Zerbi, Tottenham should have responded with greater organisation and communication.
“We can stay stronger, we can communicate more, we can defend in a compact way,” he said.
The manager explained that he had moved Rodrigo Bentancur into central defence and placed Mateus Fernandes in midfield, insisting that playing with 10 men should not automatically have resulted in defensive chaos.
Tottenham briefly appeared to have restored parity when substitute Mohammed Kudus found the net, but VAR ruled out the goal for offside.
Villa then quickly restored their advantage and eventually extended it to three goals.
De Zerbi was particularly unhappy with the second goal, claiming that Tottenham should have been prepared for Villa’s direct approach.
“I don’t know if some players lost energy, but we conceded an unacceptable goal from a long goal kick, with a long ball,” he said.
The Spurs manager revealed that Aston Villa’s use of long balls had been discussed extensively before the match.
“We knew Aston Villa are playing 86 per cent more long balls than last season. We spoke about it in many meetings,” De Zerbi explained.
The defeat also reminded De Zerbi of Tottenham’s previous loss to Newcastle, where his team had also performed well during the opening period before struggling later in the match.
For the manager, the issue is not simply about possession or controlling the game in the opposition’s half. He believes Tottenham must learn how to respond when matches become more difficult and possession becomes less dominant.
“Aston Villa is not such a bad team. It is a good team, good players,” De Zerbi said.
“When the moment we have to defend, we have to defend compact. The leaders have to be leaders and lead the team.”
He summed up his message with a blunt assessment of the mentality required when adversity arrives.
“Football is like life, either you are stronger or you lose.”
De Zerbi also accepted responsibility for the result but insisted his players must improve their reaction when circumstances change.
“In the second half, we lost balance because we were losing,” he said. “We forced the pass, forced the situation, lost the ball.”
The Tottenham manager also addressed the performances of individual players.
Mateus Fernandes, the £85million summer signing, was withdrawn at half-time after De Zerbi decided his performance had not reached the required level.
“I have a big confidence in Mateus, but I didn’t like his performance. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change,” De Zerbi said.
He stressed that his criticism was not intended as a personal attack, but made it clear that he expects considerably more from the midfielder.
“He knows, but it’s normal, it’s not an attack on Mateus, I love Mateus, but we need more from Mateus,” he added.
De Zerbi was equally demanding when discussing Dominic Solanke, who has struggled to find his best form.
“We need more from him, for sure,” the Spurs boss admitted.
“I like Dom as a player, and I stay with him until the end. He needs to stay better, to feel better. The physical condition is not good enough.”
The Italian suggested that confidence could also be affecting Solanke’s performances.
“Maybe he doesn’t have enough confidence in himself in this moment, because he’s much better than this,” he said.
However, De Zerbi insisted that the situation cannot simply be reduced to one player’s struggles.
“There are many things that can be better. We can’t say everything is bad, but it’s not enough,” he added.
The Tottenham boss was also questioned about the club’s activity during the summer transfer window, particularly the failure to bring in another dependable goalscorer.
De Zerbi explained that several factors influenced the club’s recruitment decisions, including Financial Fair Play considerations and players who were expected to leave but ultimately remained at the club.
“The transfer market was long, and the situation changed many times,” he said.
“There was also the Financial Fair Play to respect at the end of the transfer market.”
He insisted that neither the club nor the coaching staff had been passive during the window.
“The club and the coach, we are not sleeping, we know the characteristics of the players, we know everything,” De Zerbi said.
“And if we didn’t make any different decisions, it was because we couldn’t.”
With Tottenham now facing an extended wait for their next Premier League fixture, De Zerbi will have time to analyse the problems exposed against Villa.
Spurs will return from the international break with another difficult assignment away to Manchester United, where the pressure will be on De Zerbi and his players to produce a much-improved performance.
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