De Zerbi is an intense, direct and highly driven coach who expects complete dedication from his players and firm support from the club’s leadership.
He has certainly received that support at Spurs, making their sluggish opening all the more surprising.
However, before the campaign began, I believed his toughest task would be turning a collection of very different new arrivals into a balanced team rather than leaving them as separate individuals.
I experienced something similar early in my time at Stoke after recruiting Gerry Taggart and Michael Duberry to form a central-defensive partnership, despite their contrasting approaches to managing space on the field.
Because Gerry lacked exceptional speed, he preferred to sit deeper, while Michael’s pace meant he felt comfortable playing with open space behind him.
I could not increase Gerry’s speed, so the practical solution was to persuade Michael to rely less on his natural pace and strength and adapt his game to complement Gerry’s positioning.
We devoted many training sessions to helping them operate as one unit. Although their qualities were different, they eventually recognised that working together as a partnership was essential for the team, but that understanding still required time to develop.
Any coach attempting to create a successful side through partnerships of this kind needs sufficient time on the training pitch with the squad.
Sometimes several newcomers adapt immediately and produce a strong start, as Sunderland did last season and Brighton have often managed after losing important players. The key difference is that, even when those clubs appoint a new coach, their underlying identity remains intact.
Sunderland, Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth all follow a clearly defined model, meaning any player recruited for a particular role must possess the specific qualities that system requires.
Without such a stable structure and a precise understanding of what every position demands, adding 10 players in a single transfer window, as Spurs have done, inevitably presents the coach with numerous difficulties.
Every player has a distinct character and may require a different period to become comfortable, both in unfamiliar surroundings and with the expectations of a determined, exacting coach such as De Zerbi.
A full pre-season together could have eased that transition, allowing the players to build relationships, improve their fitness and understand the aggressive, forward-thinking approach De Zerbi wants them to follow.
Instead, they did not have that opportunity, and Spurs continued recruiting additional players even after the competitive schedule had begun.
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