Sandro Tonali touched on a critical Roberto De Zerbi error

After winning three straight games to shed a winless start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign, Tottenahm Hotspur got embarrassed by a fairly mediocre Leeds United side at Elland Road, falling 1-0. Not only did Spurs fail to put away their chances once more, but in a cruel twist, they honestly didn't even create chances for the forward line.

Spurs defensive midfielder Sandro Tonali has been such a rock for the team over the past several weeks, bringing his best games during the winning streak, most memorably bossing Stamford Bridge in the 2-0 win over Chelsea.

But Tonali had no control over the game against Leeds, and a lot of it was not his fault. Spurs were set up in a very cowardly way by Roberto De Zerbi, much differently to what they have been doing this season, and it was almost as if Thomas Frank was coaching the team.

Sandro Tonali loves De Zerbi and did not want to fully throw his compatriot and fellow Brescia native under the bus, but he admitted that Spurs played too slow when talking to reporters after the loss to Leeds, via Chris Cowlin, “I think it was tough. We knew everything. This week we trained a lot to play this game. From the start we played a little bit slow. We made a lot of mistakes on the ball and I think we conceded a few chances. The last four games were different. Apart from 10 minutes against Coventry, and the second half against Man United, all the four games were really positive for us. But (Saturday) was different.”

It is absurd to look back at how Roberto De Zerbi approaced the game against Leeds United. Instead of going right after an inferior opponent in their own house, De Zerbi was sitting back defensively, not pressing as much as even Leeds were, and he was playing at a molasses pace.

Sandro Tonali had his worst game of the season since that Matchday 1 disaster class of a debut in a 3-0 loss to Brentford, and it's no surprise that he did when De Zerbi was taking the ball off of his feet and making Spurs play leisurely with their best players not able to get the ball in the best positions. Tonali and Spurs players sound just as confused as everyone else while the team begins to regroup at the November break.