Three-week international break deprives De Zerbi of time to fix Spurs after £400m summer
September 24, 2026 07:51
Roberto De Zerbi’s early weeks in charge of Tottenham have been disrupted by a three-week international break that will remove the majority of his squad from club duties. That interruption comes just five league games into a season in which Spurs invested around £400m on new players.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
The club’s heavy summer spending has raised expectations among supporters, but assembling so many new signings into a functioning team requires time on the grass and social interaction with players. The article notes De Zerbi has not been given that early window and now faces an enforced pause while international fixtures take place.
CONTEXT
De Zerbi took over with seven games remaining last season when Tottenham sat 17th in the Premier League; three wins and two draws were enough to keep them up. The piece highlights current problems De Zerbi must address, including Tottenham’s poor home form and a tendency not to recover after conceding first in games. It also points out that, after five matches this season, Spurs are among the top-flight teams yet to register a league win.
A former manager’s perspective in the source recalls the time it took to pair different types of centre‑halves at Stoke — an example used to underline how long integration of contrasting players can take.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
The squad will reconvene after the three-week international break. The task facing De Zerbi remains to blend the new arrivals with existing players into a coherent unit capable of producing results.