Mauricio Pochettino’s name is doing the work Tottenham’s front line cannot. Insider Mick Brown told Football365 the former manager’s public interest in the job could eventually force ENIC’s hand on De Zerbi, even as the club insists it wants to give the Italian time.
“Mauricio Pochettino has made no secret of the fact he would like to return to Tottenham,” Brown said.
The numbers around De Zerbi are the reason the question is being asked at all. Spurs have taken 51 shots in the Premier League without registering a goal, the highest tally of any side in the division, according to figures highlighted by Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports. The last time a Tottenham player scored in the league was Joao Palhinha against Everton in May.
Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tipped the drought into new territory. According to Goal, it was the first goalless draw at the stadium in the Premier League, ending a 140-game scoring streak, and the first time in club history that Spurs have failed to score in their opening four league fixtures: Brentford (0-3), Newcastle (0-2), Nottingham Forest (0-0) and Everton (0-0).
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Two points from four matches leaves them 17th.
The board wants time, not a change
The clear message from inside the club is that De Zerbi is not going anywhere in the short term. Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke reported that Tottenham have no immediate plans to sack the head coach, with former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness naming mid-November, ahead of the second international break, as the point at which pressure on De Zerbi’s long-term future will sharpen if results have not improved.
“He’s definitely got time on his side, De Zerbi, for what he did last year when he came in at the end of last season,” O’Rourke said.
There is also a financial argument for patience. Sportsmole cited David Ornstein as saying the hierarchy is not considering a sacking because of the cost of tearing up De Zerbi’s five-year deal, which contains no relegation escape clause. Ornstein noted “very little patience” at the club, but the ownership is asking for time to see the summer investment take hold.
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Pochettino is the pressure valve
Brown’s warning is that fan sentiment, not internal politics, is the real accelerant. Supporters’ “positive memories” of Pochettino’s previous spell, combined with his own public flirtations with a return, could build the frustration ENIC has been trying to hold off.
“You’ve spent £350 million. One of football’s most expensive jigsaw puzzles, and it’s like you’ve opened up the box and there’s two pieces missing. It must be so frustrating for Roberto de Zerbi,” Redknapp said.
Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio and Omar Marmoush are among the signings still waiting to influence a league match.
De Zerbi points to fitness and confidence
The head coach has laid part of the responsibility on integration. He told reporters after the Everton draw that Marmoush, Savio, Dominic Solanke and James Maddison had only rejoined training two days earlier.
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“When we didn’t score after 30 minutes, our confidence suffered too much,” De Zerbi said, according to Goal, before adding: “If we play 90 minutes like we did in the first 30, we will win lots of games.”
Spurs went out of the EFL Cup at Anfield on 15 September, beaten 3-1 by Liverpool, with Conor Gallagher’s consolation their first goal in any competition this season. The next league test, and the next chance to move the November clock, is the run of fixtures either side of the October international break.
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