Former Tottenham midfielder Paul Gascoigne has pinpointed the moment he knew Spurs would struggle this season.
The north London side have endured a nightmare start to their first full season under Roberto De Zerbi as they sit at the foot of the table without a win in five Premier League games.
Despite finishing 17th in back-to-back seasons, the Lilywhites – who spent over £300million on a rebuild in the summer – have hit a new low, with just two points from a possible 15, their worst-ever start to a top-flight campaign.
Spurs’ struggles have been a surprise to many due to the heaps of business they did in the summer transfer window. However, Gascoigne, who played over 100 times in white, is not so shocked.
‘Last season was incredible,’ Gascoigne told talkSPORT. ‘I went to their training ground; it was unbelievable. And straight away in my head, I thought, “They are going to struggle”.
‘Because everything is on a plate for them; when I played, the stuff and equipment we had. Everything is on a plate for them, but they have got to buck their ideas up.
Former Spurs midfielder Paul Gascoigne has said he expected Tottenham to struggle this season
The Lilywhites are rock bottom of the Premier League after the first five games of the campaign
Gascoigne says stars have ‘everything on a plate’ and don’t have to fight
‘The fans were fantastic when I was there, so they’ve got to do better this season.’
Tottenham’s torrid start is already taking its toll on De Zerbi, and following the third defeat of the season against Villa, he could not hide his emotions.
He hit out at his team’s defensive ‘fragility’ and the feeble manner of Villa’s goals, especially the ‘unacceptable’ second, scored on the break by Nicolas Jackson at the start of the second half.
‘I was very disappointed, very sad, very frustrated with the performance,’ fumed De Zerbi. ‘We can’t lose this game in this way, absolutely. We can’t concede the second goal. We can’t lose balance.
‘At the beginning of the second half I spoke with the four attackers, to use their heads, be calm. It was minute 51. All the second half, be calm, play, enjoy, don’t take risks. But the goal we conceded, the second goal, was incredible.’
De Zerbi was no happier about the opener, scored by Johan Manzambi when Spurs were down to ten men because Micky van de Ven was off having treatment for a facial cut after a clash of heads with Tyrone Mings.
‘I don’t want to speak about the first half when we dominated and created more chances to score,’ said De Zerbi. ‘My focus is on why we concede the first goal with 10 players, just for one minute in that situation.
‘We can stay stronger, we can communicate more, we can defend in a compact way. I put [Rodrigo] Bentancur to centre back and Mateus Fernandes into midfield. If we have a red card, we could play for 60 minutes with 10 players, so what is the problem?’
