Tottenham players were put on their paces by Roberto De Zerbi at the training ground at Hotspur Way this week.
Tottenham Hotspur endured a disastrous 2025/26 campaign and avoided relegation to the Championship by the skin of their teeth after the appointment of head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
The club left no stone unturned to back the Italian tactician in the transfer market, signing as many as 10 new players. There were several departures as well, especially in defence. Tottenham supporters did see club captain Cristian Romero join Atletico Madrid in the summer, but welcomed Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and Tosin Adarabioyo to bolster their backline.
However, Roberto De Zerbi’s side have terribly started the season, as they are yet to win a match and are at rock bottom in the Premier League with a goal difference of minus six. The extended international break has given De Zerbi and his coaching staff time to reconsider their tactics and find solutions to his team’s problems, whilst players like James Maddison, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke work on their fitness.
Reliable journalist makes interesting training ground observation about Tottenham defender
After De Zerbi gave a week off to the Tottenham players that weren’t involved in international duty, many of them returned to training this week. Eight players, including Kulusevski, were spotted training at Hotspur Way, as our gaffer started preparations for October 10’s trip to Manchester United.
Reliable journalist Alasdair Gold has provided some interesting observations from training this week. He said that Tosin Adarabioyo’s voice could be heard throughout the four-minute training video released by the club.
“There was one noticeable player voice constantly heard during the training sessions, and that was summer signing Tosin Adarabioyo,” Alasdair Gold wrote in Football London.
“In the training footage shown this week, Adarabioyo was constantly talking to those around him and barking instructions at his teammates, young and old.
“Spurs need some strong voices and personalities in the squad, and they could need the former Chelsea and Fulham defender in the weeks ahead as Jan Paul van Hecke has suffered a toe injury.”
Tosin could replace injured Van Hecke vs. Man United
De Zerbi was dealt a big blow this week when Van Hecke suffered an injury and had to withdraw from the Netherlands squad. He sustained an injury against Serbia and subsequently dropped out of training, with Netherlands manager Xavi Hernandez saying that the defender was in a “lot of pain”.
If Van Hecke doesn’t recover in time, Tosin appears to be the favourite to replace him in Tottenham’s first XI. Being right-footed makes him a natural replacement, whilst providing some much-needed physicality and intimidating presence at the back.
The ex-Fulham man performed well, albeit in a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in the Carabao Cup third round last month, and based on that, De Zerbi could trust Tosin to partner Van de Ven in central defence vs. Man United at Old Trafford next weekend.
