Roberto De Zerbi is confident Tottenham will find their attacking rhythm after a third straight game without a goal after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Notts Forest.
Spurs were unable to register a shot on target at the City Ground, extending a difficult start to the campaign following defeats by Brentford and Newcastle. They have now failed to score in their opening three league matches for the first time since 1974.
De Zerbi, however, believes Tottenham’s problems are more about decision-making than a lack of attacking threat.
“We could have scored three or four goals today,” the Spurs boss said. “In the last third we have to improve. We have to take the better decisions and keep more calm when we are very close to doing something important.”
The Italian also felt Tottenham’s momentum was affected when Savio and Destiny Udogie were replaced after about an hour on the advice of the medical staff.
“The medical staff pushed to change Savinho and Udogie after 60 minutes,” De Zerbi said. “Two substitutions in that moment was not so good. Maybe we lost some balance, some connection.”
Tottenham had looked increasingly dangerous early in the second half before Forest regained control, while the hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock when Neco Williams had a goal ruled out for handball following a VAR review.
Forest manager Oliver Glasner strongly criticised the intervention, arguing there was insufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision.
“The VAR can’t intervene when he is guessing,” Glasner said. “It was not clear and obvious.”
Despite the frustration, De Zerbi insisted he was encouraged by his team’s overall performance, particularly given that the squad only began working together last Thursday following a transfer window in which Tottenham spent more than 300 million pounds on new players.
“You can’t just build the team with the names like in Football Manager,” he said. “We have to work because I think we played very well with the ball. I think we can be much better in the final third.”
