Roberto De Zerbi has to kick a bad habit after the international break
Roberto De Zerbi has done an excellent job as Tottenham Hotspur manager thus far, and the club will always have to owe him a great debt of gratitude for the way he got the club to survive relegation last season. And even though Spurs are off to a rough start in the middle of the Premier League table so far in 2026/27, that's actually a significant improvement from where they were the previous two campaigns, finishing 17th twice in a row.
Even though most of the problems at Tottenham are on the players, De Zerbi could still afford to tighten up in some areas. He has to kick his bad habit of overrotating or not building consistency for players, especially when it comes to moving certain key players in and out of different positions or not having them play with teammates with whom they can build chemistry.
Tottenham fans are noticing a lot of choppiness in the attack and a lack of players on the same wavelength, which makes sense since there have been too many moving parts. The players are still not able to build consistency with each other. And a great counterexample is how well the center back duo of Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke have gelled. Not only do they play together almost every week, but they have that existing chemistry from the time they have spent as a partnership in defense with the Dutch national team (though Van de Ven does play as a left back for the Oranje).
Tottenham is messing around too much
Omar Marmoush has been utilized in about three or four different positions or roles under Roberto De Zerbi this season. Still, nobody has any idea what his best position, much less if he is any good for Tottenham Hotspur - or at the Premier League level at all. And Spurs are never going to figure that out if Marmoush keeps changing positions every week.
Mateus Fernandes is obviously a much better defensive midfielder and a No. 6 or 8 hybrid next to fellow blockbuster summer signing Sandro Tonali than he is a No. 10, and there is a clear difference in quality when he is at both positions. Yet De Zerbi jerked him back into something of a 10 role against Leeds United with disastrous consequences for the player and the team.
De Zerbi has to kick the bad habit. Yes, rotations are needed, and as the injuries to key players like James Maddison have shown, they are often unavoidable. But De Zerbi has been messing with a few players too much, preventing them and his squad from building consistency.
