Here are our Tottenham talking points after their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday evening
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi during the Premier League defeat to Newcastle United
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Roberto De Zerbi during the Premier League defeat to Newcastle United(Image: Getty )
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This all felt too familiar for Tottenham Hotspur when it was meant to be different. An injury before kick-off to a key player, flattering to deceive on the pitch before losing to Newcastle - one of their chief tormentors of recent seasons - while the crowd lost hope with every passing minute.
They sit at the bottom of the fledgling Premier League table and this new-look Spurs era is yet to look particularly... well new. Losing Savio to what Roberto De Zerbi called 'muscle fatigue' - the new 'just a knock' - after just a handful of days at the club and 20 minutes of match action was not the greatest pointer towards change.
There are little glimpses of De Zerbi football on display, a one-touch move from defence to attack in the first half was breathtaking, but that's nowhere near enough and mostly Tottenham's moves grind to a halt when they reach the attack.
That Mathys Tel was often Tottenham's most dangerous player in the first half but never particularly looked like scoring or assisting said plenty about why De Zerbi wants another attacker before the transfer window closes.
Tel's display in front of the 61,025-strong crowd was summed up by his final touch of the day - a free-kick that would have been a health and safety hazard had anyone been up cleaning the giant golden cockerel on top of the south stand.
For right now Spurs are all bark and no bite and even that bark is more Chihuahua than Alsatian.
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It will take Tottenham time to gel but it's not a good look when Matthias Jaissle brings his new-look Newcastle side to N17, shorn of their star names who departed this summer, and the new man in the opposition dugout has his team ready for the new season.
De Zerbi had a leg up on the Premier League's newer managers thanks to his couple of months in charge last season but at times his team looks like he arrived yesterday.
One of Newcastle's lost stars - Spurs' £100million man Sandro Tonali - was booed mercilessly from the moment his name was read out and then with every touch.
His performance on Saturday did not justify his move nor price tag and his former fans sang that he was a greedy... let's say so and so, and suggested "You should have stayed at a big club".
The most worrying thing is that De Zerbi still believes Tonali is not where he needs to be with his fitness. That only begs the question why and the Spurs boss fudges that answer when asked.
For the 26-year-old had no World Cup this summer, joined the Lilywhites right near the beginning of pre-season and has had almost two months to get into the required shape for this point in time.
"Sandro Tonali is another crucial player, he is not in the right condition, in the best condition yet, maybe physically, even though he worked with us at the beginning of the pre-season," De Zerbi told football.london.
When the man who is meant to set the tempo of De Zerbi's midfield is not able to do so, it's not a great building block for the team.
De Zerbi took members of the Lewis family to dinner on Thursday night at an Italian restaurant in London with CEO Vinai Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange.
The 47-year-old has held video calls with the owners every three days this summer, discussing the new players he needs and the plan moving forward, and while there will be patience for this new build, there needs to be more signs of what the Italian is implementing.
Actions not words. It's what the Lewis family, Venkatesham and Lange were going to be judged on this summer and to be fair to them, they have provided. Now De Zerbi must kick on from his efforts in saving the club last season and further prove why he's lauded as one of the best coaches in the world.
"I'm sorry for the fans, for the environment, because after two defeats, maybe somebody can think it's the same story, the same as the last two seasons. I have no doubt it's not like this. I think I can't change my opinion after two defeats," he told football.london.
"I have a big, big confidence in the qualities of my players. At the end, when we become a team, when we improve the connection between the players, when we improve the quality of the play, when we improve the defensive space, the distances between the attackers, defenders, midfielders, when we create a team, this group, with me or with another coach, nothing changes, because they are too good players.
"I'm sorry for the club, because they are building a great squad, but maybe now we are not ready yet, for many, many reasons. We are not ready yet, for many reasons, but today, I think, until the first goal, we played better than Newcastle."
His Tottenham side were reasonable for an hour of Saturday's game but they still look disjointed and unsure of exactly what gets the ball into the net in this system. Both of Newcastle's goals came from excellent finishes from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, and there was little else for Antonin Kinsky to deal with, but the new-look defence switched off twice in key moments despite the new personnel.
Sandro Tonali up against Anthony Elanga during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
Sandro Tonali up against Anthony Elanga during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
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At the other end of the pitch a fully fit Savio and Mohammed Kudus, who looked brighter than expected on his return after eight months out, will help.
"Savio was another tough player who didn't play. After the press conference, the medical staff came to me to inform Savio didn’t feel good. Small muscular problem," De Zerbi told football.london.
"Maybe Monday or Tuesday he can start with us, but the medical staff didn't want to take any risk with him and especially because he didn't work or do training in the last 15 days with Man City."
All the excitement about Savio from his cameo on Wednesday night would have washed into this match but instead it was lost.
His former Manchester City team-mate Omar Marmoush at least provided some positives. The Egyptian played the full 90 minutes and had a handful of explosive moments on the ball. He sent a couple of volleys at the back post from Robertson and Fernandes crosses into the side-netting and went on a couple of runs that got the Spurs fans out of their seats.
De Zerbi said the 27-year-old played "very well" for his debut and there were promising signs in his play, although whether he will end up as the central striker in the Italian's system or play off the left remains to be seen.
Spurs had chances beyond Marmoush's efforts. Tel, Pedro Porro and Jan Paul van Hecke all forced Lukas Hornicek into flying saves, with Porro having another big effort deflected over the crossbar. The hosts had 17 efforts at goal in all but they ultimately failed to find a way through.
"Newcastle are a good team, good coach, good players, good at everything, but we created more chances to score, we shot more times, we had the control of the ball more than Newcastle," De Zerbi told football.london.
"We suffered too much in two or three situations in the first half, because the distance between the attackers and defenders was too big, too much space, and then after the goal we conceded, I think we lost the confidence.
"The reaction was not good enough, not the reaction I want to see on the pitch, and I said immediately after the end of the game, the players, because when you are building something new, it's tough, there are problems, the difference is how you want to find the solution of these problems, and the solution is not to put down the head, but to react, because we had 20 minutes again to score one, two or maybe three goals."
De Zerbi wants another new attacking recruit in the final days of the window and he will also need to replace one or more of the trio of players who want to be playing elsewhere by the time September 2 ticks around.
"Richarlison, I don't know. He said too many times he wants to leave. Danso came to me two days ago and he said wants to leave and Pape Sarr, the same but he suffered a small injury but he is almost ready to train," De Zerbi told football.london.
"I love these players, they are great guys, I have very good relationships, but if they want to leave, they have to bring the solution, the economic solution, to the club, and they can go, and we find other players."
It's all happening so late in the window though. The Spurs boss said on the summer tour that Richarlison would sometimes say he wants to leave only to say he wants to stay.
It seems like patience has run out all round and with Marmoush arriving and De Zerbi preferring Dominic Solanke, the Brazilian has dropped down the pecking order.
The 29-year-old was up in the stands on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, sat with Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti and his assistant Paul Clements.
Spurs may have to drop their valuation of a player who has 10 months left on his contract plus the club's option to extend it by another year. Everton showed interest in bringing him back earlier in the summer while Flamengo back home in Brazil have been suitors in the past.
Richarlison's former Everton and Watford manager Marco Silva, now at Benfica, is very close to the player and could be keeping an eye on his situation.
Ultimately, Spurs might have to allow a forward they spent £60million on in 2022 leave for a far smaller fee or even on loan after 134 appearances across those four years and 32 goals.
If he does depart then it would be yet another year in which Tottenham have sold their previous season's top scorer.
With Cody Gakpo looking set for Manchester City, could the north London side look to offer Richarlison in a part exchange deal for Iliman Ndiaye as they seek another attacker?
A loan may could be the way out for Sarr, with Juventus linked with such a move; Tottenham are looking for an obligation rather than an option to buy if possible for a player with interest from clubs in England, France and Turkey as well.
An animated Roberto De Zerbi during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
An animated Roberto De Zerbi during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
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Sarr signed for Spurs half a decade ago as a teenager, spending a year back on loan at Metz.
Now 23, he has had some big moments over the years in big matches, not least a huge performance in their Europa League final triumph in Bilbao, but Sarr has struggled to find the consistency to his game over those four years in a Tottenham shirt.
He could yet become a star in Serie A but there are too many players ahead of him now at the north London club and he knows that.
Kevin Danso has played a third of the games the other two have for Spurs, just 52 appearances, but he could be the most problematic departee of all three for De Zerbi, his request to leave coming after not being started against Charlton.
That's because Tottenham are stacked with left-sided centre-backs in Micky van de Ven, Marcos Senesi and Ben Davies, but Danso is the only right-sided senior back-up to Van Hecke.
There is a certain irony to the fact that Spurs sold Luka Vuskovic because the 19-year-old felt there was no chance of him getting minutes at the club, yet if Danso departs then the club will have sold two of the players in the Croatian's path, with Cristian Romero the other.
To be fair to the teenager, he's played every minute of Brighton's first three games, helping them keep clean sheets in all of them, so he will certainly have no regrets.
Danso would be a loss to Spurs, not only with his mentality, but also because he is one of their best players in the air in the defensive third, and scored his first goal on Wednesday night with his head at the other. The club could be vulnerable from set pieces this season with the exits this summer and the new arrivals not exactly packed with aerial challengers.
Danso has been courted by Sunderland and Aston Villa are said to be interested and the 27-year-old Austria international would be more confident of starting regularly for both clubs.
Another big issue for Spurs is that Danso qualifies as a homegrown player in Premier League terms because he was in the youth academies at Reading and MK Dons for years before leaving England at the age of 16 and later returning for a season at Southampton.
Richarlison and Sarr departing would bring Tottenham down to the maximum number of 17 non-homegrown players aged over 21 they can have in their Premier League squad.
There is Kota Takai, a right-sided centre-back, but the 21-year-old Japan international does not appear to be at the level required yet. His departure on loan in the coming days would free up another space for a foreign signing.
Danso's exit though would leave Spurs one short of the eight required homegrown players, with Dane Scarlett also a potential departee from that group in the coming days. Tottenham have younger homegrown players on the U21s list but it's not a great look that they cannot fill that senior quota.
The club have some talented centre-backs coming through the academy in 18-year-old Malachi Hardy and 17-year-old Jun'ai Byfield, but that's likely to be too big a step up to become the next in line behind Van Hecke this quickly.
If the new attacker is a foreign signing then any new centre-back would need to be a homegrown player or vice versa, unless Xavi Simons, who was sat up in his box with Savio, is left out of the squad.
Suddenly a window that looked well planned and executed by Tottenham is in danger of suffering from a messy finale.
Omar Marmoush rues a missed opportunity during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
Omar Marmoush rues a missed opportunity during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United
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De Zerbi wants another attacker and he admitted to football.london this week that it was not necessarily a bad thing to turn to other options than Plan A, which will be the case with Gakpo now off the table.
"Always we have a Plan B or Plan C, but the players are not like smartphones. They're different. Different personalities, different experiences, different characteristics, different potential also," he explained.
De Zerbi has said he is not looking to sign another right-back and Archie Gray seems to have the back-up gig behind Porro.
The Italian will need another centre-back though if Danso departs and that means Tottenham would end this summer with a whopping 10 new recruits if they can fill both vacancies. It's a huge rebuild and the gelling process will only take longer.
Key for De Zerbi is to rid Tottenham of the moping 'woe is me' mentality that has lingered around the club for too long in the Premier League. It has become a familiar refrain from Spurs head coaches to speak about the need to change how people think inside the building.
It seeps on to the pitch and into the stands and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's been going on too long. Setbacks hit harder at the north London outfit. The last time Spurs conceded first and won the game came almost two years ago against Aston Villa.
They struggle to believe in themselves even though the end to last season shows they should and £382million of talented new arrivals should only bolster the confidence.
Yet it is the first time Tottenham have lost their opening two league matches without scoring a single goal in 52 years.
"It's the biggest problem, the biggest challenge and biggest target to find the right mentality," admitted De Zerbi. "Unfortunately, you can't buy the mentality in the transfer market or by putting many players in the team.
"Football is like a magic thing, you know? You can change many players in one window of transfer market and you can find the balance immediately or you need more time. I think we will achieve this target and this goal.
"I would like to achieve this target quickly and as soon as possible because it is crucial to play football, but the plan and the project of the club and what we are doing to build and rebuild a new team with great players is a great plan and a great project.
"I have no doubt the result of this project. We have to accept and be stronger to move on after this defeat. I think in the first half, if we scored two goals today, now we would have talked about different things, unfortunately we lost the game, and you know in Italian we say 'who wins, celebrates and who loses, explain why'."
Tottenham have three more days to complete their transfer window plans but far more work lies beyond for Roberto De Zerbi.
There is no pressure on him right now - he is only two games into the Premier League season - but the Italian has been backed like no Spurs manager before and like never before in his own career. He must transform an expensively-assembled squad from serial mopers into serial winners.
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