De Zerbi urges patience as Tottenham fail to score in three straight Premier League openers for first time since 1975

Roberto De Zerbi called for patience after Tottenham were held to a goalless draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, leaving Spurs without a win or a goal in their first three Premier League games — a scoreless opening run the club has not suffered since the 1974-75 season.

The result is a jarring early return on a summer in which Tottenham spent more than £300 million on new players after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. Yet De Zerbi was quick to contextualise the slow start, pointing out that his squad only trained together for the first time the previous Thursday.

“We bought very, very good players but you can’t just build the team with the names like in Football Manager,” the Italian said after the match. “We are disappointed for the result but for the performance very happy. Considering we started to work together last Thursday for the first time, for the first day.”

Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul Van Hecke, Savio and Omar Marmoush all started at the City Ground, while Andy Robertson, Mateus Fernandes and Mykhailo Mudryk came off the bench. Mudryk, signed on loan from Chelsea on deadline day, made his first Premier League appearance since November 2024 after serving a ban for testing positive for a banned substance.

De Zerbi, who previously worked with the Ukrainian winger, has described the 25-year-old as a future Ballon d’Or contender, but tempered expectations on Saturday. “He needs time and he needs work,” the head coach said, before turning his attention to fellow forward Mathys Tel. “We have in that position Mathys Tel — big potential — but also Tel takes too many wrong decisions. Two big players with potential.”

De Zerbi acknowledged there is clear room for improvement in the final third, even as he took encouragement from defensive solidity and ball retention. “We have to improve in every part of football, organisation with and without the ball,” he said. “I think we played very well with the ball, we found the solution. I think we can be much better in the final third.”

With fixtures coming thick and fast, Tottenham will need to convert that promise into goals and points before the patience De Zerbi is asking for begins to wear thin.