The Tottenham £300m rebuild was supposed to drag Spurs away from another season near the bottom of the Premier League. Roberto De Zerbi has described the players at his disposal as a “great squad”, yet after two matches they have two defeats, zero goals scored and five conceded.
A 3-0 defeat at Brentford was bad enough. Losing 2-0 to Newcastle in front of your own supporters a week later feels considerably harder to excuse, particularly when those supporters spent the summer being told that this enormous rebuild was supposed to drag Spurs away from another season at the wrong end of the table.
It is far too early to declare the Tottenham £300m rebuild a failure. It is not too early to ask why a squad containing this much attacking talent has yet to score a Premier League goal.
A great Tottenham squad isn’t necessarily a great team
De Zerbi can be right when he says Tottenham have assembled a great squad while also being right when he admitted after the Brentford defeat that Spurs were “not a team yet”. Those two statements aren’t contradictory — and right now they perfectly describe the problem.
There is some incredible individual talent in this Tottenham squad. Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andy Robertson were already part of a huge summer overhaul before Sávio arrived from Manchester City for an initial £75m and Omar Marmoush followed on a loan that carries a £50m obligation to buy. Reuters puts Spurs’ investment at more than £300m, while Sky Sports calculates the total at around £320m.
But buying talented players and creating a football team are two completely different things.
Tottenham haven’t developed that cohesion yet. The passing combinations aren’t natural, the attacking movements don’t look instinctive and, when games turn against them, they still look like a collection of individuals trying to find an answer rather than a side that already knows where the answer is.
The Tottenham £300m rebuild has clearly improved the individual quality available to De Zerbi; the challenge now is turning those individuals into something coherent.
That can change.
With this much money invested, however, Tottenham need it to change quickly.
Why the Tottenham £300m rebuild hasn’t solved the attack
The most alarming number isn’t the money. It is zero.
Two Premier League matches. No goals.
Spurs weren’t completely hopeless against Newcastle. They had the better of the first half and forced Lucas Hornicek into saves, but once Anthony Elanga put Newcastle ahead after 62 minutes, Tottenham never looked particularly convincing in their attempts to respond. Yoane Wissa doubled the lead ten minutes later and the home support made its frustration clear at full-time.
That’s what should concern De Zerbi.
Tottenham aren’t creating enough clear-cut opportunities. Marmoush gives them another high-quality attacking option, while Sávio looked exciting on his debut against Charlton, scoring and assisting after coming off the bench. But that was a 5-1 Carabao Cup victory against lower-league opposition that had made ten changes, and Sávio subsequently missed Newcastle through muscle fatigue.
The Premier League is providing a much harsher reality check.
Spurs still haven’t properly replaced what Harry Kane gave them at centre-forward, and losing Son Heung-min only widened the attacking hole. Dominic Solanke and Richarlison have had opportunities without convincing that either can become the reliable long-term goalscorer Tottenham need.
Marmoush could help, but another striker would still appeal to me if the right player becomes available before the deadline. Players capable of scoring goals can rescue a team even when everything around them isn’t functioning perfectly.
Right now Tottenham don’t have that insurance.
Goalkeeper should still be on Tottenham’s shopping list
There is another position I’d address before the window closes.
Antonin Kinsky isn’t the long-term answer in goal for me.
He played an important role in keeping Spurs up last season and deserves credit for that, particularly after stepping into the team during a difficult period. Tottenham themselves rewarded him with a new contract this summer after seven appearances under De Zerbi during the run-in.
But if Tottenham genuinely want to become a top-four side again, goalkeeper is one of the positions where they can still raise the level.
Spending another substantial fee after already going beyond £300m might sound excessive. At this point, though, Spurs have committed themselves to the project. That is why the Tottenham £300m rebuild may not be finished yet, despite the extraordinary amount already invested. If De Zerbi believes another goalkeeper and forward substantially improve the side, stopping just short of finishing the rebuild would make little sense.
They’ve backed him this far.
Keep going.
Newcastle showed what Tottenham are still missing
There should also be some credit for Newcastle rather than treating Saturday solely as another Tottenham disaster.
Newcastle have undergone substantial upheaval themselves. Anthony Gordon, Bruno Guimarães and Tonali all left during the summer, yet Matthias Jaissle has already produced an organised side capable of drawing 2-2 with Liverpool and then winning convincingly at Tottenham. The £52m arrival of Nico González from Manchester City is one of several additions made to rebuild what looked like a badly depleted squad.
That makes Tottenham’s display harder to dismiss as simply the consequence of too many new players.
Newcastle have experienced major turnover too.
The difference on Saturday was that they looked like they understood what they were trying to do.
There was also an uncomfortable subplot for Tonali. Tottenham paid enormous money to take him from Newcastle, yet he struggled to impose himself against his former club before being substituted. Newcastle’s travelling support certainly enjoyed the occasion.
Maybe the grass isn’t always greener.
£300m changes what Tottenham should expect
Spurs supporters should not be demanding De Zerbi’s dismissal after two Premier League matches. That would be ridiculous.
Last season was unacceptable, and part of Tottenham’s problem was the instability surrounding the club. Cycling through managers every time something went wrong never allowed a proper identity to develop. If the hierarchy has decided De Zerbi is the man worth entrusting with this extraordinary level of investment, they need to give him a genuine opportunity to build something with it.
That means more than a few weeks.
Unless Tottenham somehow find themselves dragged into another genuine relegation battle, De Zerbi deserves the season. A more sensible point to make a meaningful assessment would be after roughly a third of the campaign, when there is enough evidence to distinguish early teething problems from something more fundamental.
But patience does not mean lowering expectations.
Tottenham’s minimum should be a top-six finish. The target should still be the top four.
That was my prediction before the season and two defeats aren’t enough to rip it up. It would be absurd to spend the entire summer making predictions and then abandon them after 180 minutes simply because the opening fortnight went badly.
The concern is what happens if this becomes five or six matches rather than two.
If Tottenham reach that stage without accumulating significant points or showing signs that the attack is beginning to function, another season spent looking down the table rather than up it becomes a much more legitimate fear.
South stand of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with fans displaying the Spurs motto
De Zerbi has been backed — now Spurs need a return
Tottenham’s owners have done something supporters spent years demanding: they have spent serious money.
This isn’t a manager being asked to transform an ageing, underfunded squad with one hand tied behind his back. De Zerbi has been heavily involved in a rebuild that has exceeded even his own expectations, and he has publicly praised the quality of the players brought into the club.
That means there eventually has to be a return.
Football is a results business, and spending more than £300m naturally accelerates expectations. You would expect players of this quality to make an immediate difference even while the wider team is still developing.
Ultimately, the Tottenham £300m rebuild will not be judged on what Spurs spent in August, but on whether De Zerbi can turn that investment into Champions League football.
Spurs don’t have European football complicating their schedule either. Their focus is domestic, which gives De Zerbi more training-ground time than many of the clubs Tottenham are trying to catch.
Top four remains realistic.
It also has to remain the target.
The question isn’t whether De Zerbi should be sacked after two matches. He shouldn’t.
The question is why Tottenham suddenly decided this was the summer to invest at a level we haven’t seen from them in recent years — and whether the hierarchy genuinely believes De Zerbi is the manager capable of turning that investment into something substantial.
They’ve bought him a great squad.
Now he has to build a great team.