De Zerbi brands Tottenham most fragile team he has coached in 14-year career

Roberto De Zerbi has described Tottenham as the most mentally fragile team he has ever managed, following a 3-2 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday that left Spurs without a win in their opening five games of the season and sitting in the relegation zone.

The Italian, who kept Tottenham in the Premier League last term in his first season at the club, struggled to explain the latest collapse. “In my career, 14 years as a coach, I’ve never seen one team like us,” De Zerbi told talkSPORT. “So fragile, so inconsistent. You’re good, or you’re bad. You can’t be very good in the first 30, 40 minutes, and then concede like this in this way. It’s tough to accept for me.”

De Zerbi acknowledged that his side had performed well in the first half against Villa, creating chances before conceding the opening goal. The second half, however, unravelled. “After Kudus’ goal, I don’t know if the players lost energy,” he said. “Now we have to explain another defeat.”

The Spurs manager also pointed to a lack of leadership within the squad as a contributing factor. “Maybe the communication between the players is the problem, maybe the leaders have to be stronger,” he said. “We need leaders to drive and lead the team. With Newcastle it was the same, in Liverpool it was the same, with Everton it was the same. We have to find the solutions.”

Despite the damning assessment, De Zerbi stopped short of writing off his players entirely, insisting they possess the right mentality and quality. “They work very well, they are good players,” he said. “It’s difficult to explain.”

Tottenham now head into the first international break of the season in the bottom three. Their next Premier League fixture is away to Manchester United at Old Trafford.