Tottenham were beaten 3-2 by Aston Villa in another disappointing Premier League outing.
Tottenham Hotspur’s disastrous start to the season continued on Saturday with a 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa in north London.
Emiliano Buendia’s screamer ultimately proved to be the winner for the visitors, with Spurs finally scoring their first goals of the Premier League season late on. The wait for victory goes on, however, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side sat in the relegation zone after five games played.
Roberto De Zerbi named an attacking line-up, with Dominic Solanke, Omar Marmoush and Savio comprising the front three. Summer signings Savio and Marmoush were industrious and busy as they tried their best to stretch the Aston Villa backline. Solanke, who led the attack, was anonymous for the best part of his 66 minutes, failing to provide the focal point that Tottenham so desperately craved.
Roberto De Zerbi opens up on Tottenham not signing a striker
Tottenham’s offensive cohesion remains severely lacking despite heavy summer spending. Barring flashes of brilliance, Savio and Marmoush couldn’t provide the clinical edge required in key moments, while Solanke barely managed to get behind Villa’s centre-backs, Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof.
It took late goals from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke to reduce the deficit, but that couldn’t mask Tottenham’s problems in attack. In the post-match press conference, Roberto De Zerbi was asked whether the club made a mistake in not signing a striker in the summer. To which the Spurs boss responded (h/t Football London):
“The transfer market is long to explain because I am happy for the squad first of all; otherwise, we create polemic, but the transfer market was long, they changed, the situation changed many times.
“There was also financial fair play at the end of the transfer market, and we had to respect financial fair play. We didn’t sell the players who we fought for in the beginning; there was the possibility of a chance to sell, there are a lot of reasons, I think the club and the coach, we are not sleeping, we know the characteristics of the players, we know everything, and if we didn’t make any different decisions, it was because we couldn’t.”
Lack of ruthless finishing comes back to haunt Spurs
Just looking at what happened against Villa pains the whole picture. Spurs started well and looked much the better side as they had a majority share of possession and the chances. However, Unai Emery’s side took their chances well when it came and scored thrice. The Lilywhites coming up with two late goals didn’t matter in the end.
Despite having 64 per cent possession, 20 shots and three big chances, none of the goals scored by Tottenham came from an attacker. It is clear as day that the De Zerbi-managed side are desperately short of answers in the penalty box. After investing heavily to rebuild the squad in the summer, the Hotspur Way chiefs certainly missed a trick by not signing a reliable goalscorer.
