Tottenham Hotspur

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Most of the time it is not that big a deal if you go into the international break having just lost a club game if I am honest, as teams lose games frequently.

That is just the life of a professional footballer. You have to be able to cope with disappointment as an individual and as a team.

‌Admittedly, players will sometimes say that they want another domestic game quickly, but it is almost always specifically after a 'bad' defeat as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill loss.

‌However, if the team has genuinely played terribly, or lost a game they were expected to win comfortably, you will commonly hear the phrase "we want to have a chance to get back out there and put it right quickly".

‌Players who have had a stinker, even if their team won, might also want to get out again as soon as possible to put it right in front of their fans, or 'reset'. The 'reset' argument is just current football jargon to say, "we will try to get it right next time, and we blew it this week, sorry".

‌The international break can also have the beneficial effect of taking your mind away from a bad defeat. This is not to say that you don't care, it is just that you must compartmentalise your thoughts and feelings. Footballers are among the best at this.

‌You simply cannot go to play for your national team and spend the time brooding about what happened against Brentford last week. That way lies madness and another poor performance, only this time in front of the entire nation.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Tottenham Hotspur have expressed an interest in South Korean defender Kim Min-jae, 29, from Bayern Munich. (Sport - in Spanish, external)

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Manchester City have responded to the Premier League's confirmation that the club has been found guilty of breaching 115 financial rules.

City have until Friday to appeal the decision but in a statement said: "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

"The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

"The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

"The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.

"The club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."

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Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of its commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says.

The League confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

An independent commission found that, during that time period, the club arranged the "sham contracts" as well as "relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until Friday to appeal.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

"It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

"It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

"This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans."

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Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Unbelievably, sensible and well-informed people are seriously discussing Manchester City getting a huge points deduction or being demoted or kicked out of the English leagues completely.

‌There is also reasonable talk about them being sued by just about every other major club in the domestic game, and a few beyond that. That is before you get to the concept of titles being stripped and trophies retrospectively re-awarded to others.

There is still an appeal to be heard, but they have been found guilty already. Serious consequences must be considered. Following the draconian punishments handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest, among others, City might find they don't just have the book thrown at them, it is the entire British Library lobbed in their general direction.

Those other clubs cooperated in the process. City have faced more charges and they involve larger sums and over a longer time period. In short, things are not looking good for the club that dominated English football for almost a decade.

This may be the biggest story in the Premier League's history and it is going to run and run.

Other serious considerations will follow hard on the heels of the Blues' dilemmas – specifically what long-term effects will this have on the Premier League? They will not all be good ones.

Some reasonably argue that the financial rules City have been found to have broken shouldn't have been put there in the first place. They were brought in to safeguard the financial security of the clubs and the league, but try telling that to many City, Everton and Nottingham Forest fans just now.

Newcastle and Aston Villa have plenty of financial backing, but these rules have hurt their ability to grow and stay competitive with the legacy clubs. This all feels unfair if you are a supporter of those two.

The money that will now be frittered away by the English game on lawyers and legal fees is eye-watering, and it will grow exponentially as the litigation increases.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Tottenham and Arsenal are monitoring Bayer Leverkusen's Algeria midfielder Ibrahim Maza, 20. (Teamtalk), external

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We asked you to rate Tottenham's start to the season and tell us what Roberto de Zerbi should be focusing on during this extended international break.

Here are some of your comments:

Mick: While I knew we would be rebuilding and learning, I didn't think we would be doing so in the manner we are. Taking five games to score a goal is just not good enough. Selling Vuskovic and bringing in Van Hecke made no sense to me. Not panicking yet, but its going to be a nervy couple of weeks after the break.

Leroy: He gets 10 games, for me. He has five to go. With a good striker we'd be ok. We're playing better and creating chances. Solanke is miles off it though.

Rick: Rather than revert to the long-term attitude of despair, this time I will give the squad and manager the benefit of the doubt. We are seeing flashes of what looks like a good future. We aren't that far off, despite no wins as yet.

Tom: I don't really understand what our transfer policy was attempting to achieve. Two or three good and necessary signings in defence and midfield, but last season we were screaming out for goals. Why on earth we didn't prioritise a 20-goal-a-season player in the summer window I can't comprehend. Letting Djed Spence leave after the best form of his career at the end of last season and at the World Cup, without a ready replacement, also now looks like insanity.

Aidy: It is unrealistic to expect simply throwing money at the team will fix it. It will take time to form. Give De Zerbi until Christmas to see if the team is starting to click. The biggest problem is the lack of support shown by Spurs fans at home.

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Big spending always means big ambitions, but shelling out so much money on so many players the way Tottenham did this summer produces problems for any manager - and there is no quick fix.

If I was given a bundle of cash and I spent every penny of it on pink shoes, brown trousers, a yellow shirt and an orange tie for a wedding, then I'm sure you would say it just doesn't work.

That's similar to what has happened at Spurs, where the board has backed Roberto de Zerbi to the hilt with an outlay of about £400m on new players.

It was an almost unprecedented occurrence from a club that has always been renowned for being careful with investment in their team, and it sent the expectations of many Spurs supporters through the roof.

However, finding a way for your team to win takes a manager in lots of different directions and they all involve time. Not only has De Zerbi not been given that early time, the majority of his players have now been taken away from him for another three weeks on international duty.

His biggest challenge right now will be integrating those players who have just arrived with the players already at the club, so the money spent is justified. All of this will take time, patience and little details that supporters never see.

In my day, we were given time to create a team and a family. For today's managers, time seems more limited than ever.

We are only five games into the season and there are already some Spurs fans who think he is the worst manager in the world, even though he has proven elsewhere how good he is. Let's give him a proper chance.

Each player needs a different amount of time to settle in a new environment and adjust to the demands of a very single-minded and demanding coach like De Zerbi.

Coaching a team to be a team takes time, patience and a sound idea of the strengths of all your players. Even when you've got that, trying to knit every player together takes time - and that is still De Zerbi's issue.

He was always playing catch-up because his players weren't all in place when the season began. He missed the opportunity to assess his squad and impose his own principles.

He is a coach at heart and he will want to be out on the training pitch putting together a system that he believes will bring success to the club. Unfortunately, this international break means he cannot do that with all of his players.

Read more of this week's Going Direct column

Atalanta and Italy defender Giorgio Scalvini, 22, is the subject of interest from Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea. (Caught Offside), external

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As we enter the season's first international break, we want to hear your thoughts on the opening five games in the Premier League.

It has not been a good start for Roberto de Zerbi's side as they sit bottom of the table with just two draws and no wins at the beginning of his full first campaign in charge.

The Italian will hope that scoring their first goals of the league season in Saturday's 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa shows some green shoots for a new-look Tottenham squad that was rebuilt by extensive summer spending.

How do you rate Spurs' start to the season and why? And what should De Zerbi be focusing on during the extended break?

Get in touch with your views here

Tottenham's Roberto de Zerbi as well as Xabi Alonso of Chelsea are in an "impossible position" this season, believes The Observer's Rory Smith.

The managers took charge of their clubs in the spring and oversaw a lot of activity in the transfer window, with Chelsea and Spurs ending the summer as the second and third highest spenders respectively.

Smith says the changes to their squads is why De Zerbi and Alonso need time to build coherence in their sides.

"We're kind of asking them to do something impossible," Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"The Premier League spends July and August pumping three-and-a-half billion pounds around Europe to buy all of these players and then on 1 September it's like 'right, we want to see coherent football teams immediately'. It doesn't work like that.

"Football's about connections and relationships and understanding and the reason none of those teams have any is because they're constantly full of new players. It seems really obvious.

"It strikes me the managers are in an impossible position because as soon as the results don't come, the easy thing to do is sack them, but the real problem is we're asking them to build coherent sides instantly out of all of these random resources."

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Former Tottenham defender Chris Hughton says he is "very confident things will improve" under Roberto de Zerbi despite a poor start to the 2026-27 season.

Spurs have two points from five matches, their lowest tally since the start of the 2008-09 campaign.

Speaking after being inducted into the Tottenham Hall of Fame, Hughton said: "We're five games into the season and I think for some it's disappointing, which is normal.

"We have to take stock. I think what the club have at this particular moment is, in De Zerbi, a very good coach that's thought very well of.

"And I genuinely feel that the players that have been brought in are good players. I think it's a good level of player and of course only time will tell on each of these individuals, but I think the club have bought well.

"What the club have done is bought over a shorter period of time.

"I think particularly because of last season and the desperation of going to the last game of the season, it was a conscious effort to bring these players in quickly. Sometimes it clicks straight away, sometimes it takes time.

"I'm very confident that there will be a turnaround, but I understand supporters want to see things now. But I'm very confident things will improve."

The Observer's Rory Smith says Roberto de Zerbi has "almost made a rod for his own back" this season by signing so many players in the transfer window.

Following a relegation battle last season, there was a vast summer of recruitment in north London, with 13 players joining.

However results haven't improved - with Tottenham bottom of the Premier League table after five games, with just two points gained from a possible 15.

"I don't think Tottenham should be bottom [of the table], but I don't think it's a shock that a team with eight or nine new signings on the pitch doesn't know what it's doing," said Smith on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"But De Zerbi wanted the changes, so he's almost made a rod for his own back."

BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton added: "You would expect De Zerbi to be getting more out of a group of players that he has brought in.

"Every week he consistently criticises the performance of the players and it's reasonable to think they should be doing better than they have done."

Former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha also believes Spurs can't use new signings needing time to gel as an excuse for their poor start.

"I think it's fair for them to get grief," said Onuoha. "I'm on board with it.

"They should have won more games by now and they should have scored more goals based on the profile of players they have.

"Most of them have had a pre-season for De Zerbi to get his ideas across. When a player isn't performing, it's the manager's job to make a session on who to keep in the team.

"I don't think just because they've signed loads of new players that they can't be successful because they absolutely can when the quality is there."

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Tottenham will not try to sign 33-year-old Argentine striker Mauro Icardi, who is available on a free transfer. (Football Insider), external

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Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison has backed Tottenham to "still have a good season", despite their poor start in Roberto de Zerbi's first full campaign in charge.

Saturday's 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa has left Spurs rooted to the bottom of the Premier League going into the international break, but they did score league goals for the first time in 2026-27.

"Spurs were the better team in that first half and [Zion] Suzuki made three or four outstanding saves," Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"I feel like we've been saying this a lot with Tottenham so far this season - dominating matches, not being clinical enough, and then getting punished.

"The defending is nowhere near good enough and they are conceding too many easy goals at the moment. It is a recipe for disaster.

"But, I do think they will turn it around and I do think they will have a good season.

"When it clicks for them, they are going to give some team a hiding very soon.

"I think they have good attacking players, they will score goals and win games at some point.

"The only thing they have missed is when signing all these midfielders and attacking players, they have missed a centre forward.

"De Zerbi will not put his arm around you - it's his way or the highway and you have to produce for him. The hierarchy has backed him and given him the money, now he has to get results.

"But, their upcoming fixtures don't look too bad. I do think scoring their first two Premier league goals, even in defeat, does help moving forward."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds here

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Tottenham and Aston Villa.

Here are some of your comments:

Spurs fans

Anthony: Great players and no glue. You have to look at the spending and the homework done on the new squad. It's missing so much and yet it's not as far off as people are saying. The problem is time and it will run out by Christmas for the manager if the weak mentality is not addressed. We need lions, we've got lambs.

Jezza: It is a measure of how poor we have become that the only positive after five games is the fact that we have at last scored a goal! A shocking start to the season and an absolute indictment of our totally incompetent transfer strategy (if indeed there is a strategy) over several seasons. We have let talented young players leave, massively overpaid for new players, who are either average or permanently injured, and decided we don't need to invest in a striker who can actually score goals but instead will persist with those who have manifestly failed in that role. What an utter shambles!

Simon: Not a team and maybe never will be. So disappointing to see individuals on the pitch for Spurs, but no team. They look like they've never met before, despite the team meals and bonding.

Neil: Why did we spend £85m on Fernandes? A player we didn't need. Surely signing a dominant central striker was paramount. Solanke has been a poor signing and Marmoush isn't the answer. It's quite incredible that the lavish spending didn't address to the glaring 'goalscorer' chasm (even a forward that actually troubles opposition defenders)

Villa fans

Johnson: That was a great away performance from us, if we hadn't lost concentration and concede two cheap goals in the last 10 minutes. Suzuki deserved a clean sheet. Manzambi had a great game, so did Jackson. One to build on, especially with the international break coming handy to us. With Madjo, Goretzka and Torres back after that we should be in an even better position than recently.

Mike: Despite the nervy ending, we scored three goals, took three points and are going into the international break with our heads held high. I'll stick my neck out and say that in almost every position our new recruits were an improvement on their counterparts last season. This team is still some way from reaching its peak but the signs are that we can be a threat in all competitions. Ollie who?

Ian: Positive. There's the beginnings of a team here. Long term, Lindelof and Mings cannot be expected to play 90 minutes, and when Kamara and McGinn were substituted, we looked weak down the right flank. Suzuki was full throttle in the first half and would have been disappointed with conceding two, neither of which were particularly his fault. Jackson and Manzambi looked to be developing a good understanding of each other. Onwards and upwards!

Luyimbaazi: At last we have our first win of the Premier League campaign! The forward line did very well but Unai Emery has to address the shaky defence that almost allowed Spurs a comeback. I am going to stay largely positive. Three wonderful points in the bag. Hopefully we'll keep going after the international break.

Tottenham have set their sights on a possible £125m January move for Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 26, after nearly signing the England international during the 2025 summer transfer window. (Football Insider), external

Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester City and Fulham are among several Premier League clubs monitoring 24-year-old Venezuela and Real Sociedad defender Jon Aramburu. (Teamtalk), external

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Former Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole questioned Tottenham's transfer business after their spend of about £302m.

After Sandro Tonali, £85m went on bringing in Mateus Fernandes from West Ham. The Portuguese midfielder was subbed at half-time and Roberto de Zerbi said he "didn't like" Fernandes' performance, while £75m was spent on Savio from Manchester City.

Omar Marmoush will cost £60m once his loan becomes permanent, but Spurs need their big-money buys to prove their worth and perform sooner rather than later.

"Spurs are dominant, chances, and you felt the tension growing - all of a sudden Spurs were just wanting to get to half-time. Once you defend with anxiety, things happen," Cole told TNT.

"When these things go against you, they go against you. Van de Ven going off was a factor, they didn't deal with it well. When you are anxious you make rash decisions.

"Villa defended well but didn't deserve to go in a goal up, and then this place deflated.

"They are not picking up points, a club flirting with relegation two years in a row, I feel they have overpaid for every player they bought this summer - you can't rule them out from being in and around the relegation battle."

De Zerbi, though, defended Tottenham's summer window spending despite their current malaise.

"I am happy with the squad, but the market was long, the situation changed many times," he said.

"There was also financial fair play and we have to respect that. We didn't sell the players we thought there was a possibility to sell.

"The club and the coach, we are not sleeping, we know the characteristics of the players. If we didn't make any different decisions it was because we couldn't."

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