De Zerbi says Spurs will come good with him or 'another coach' after dire start to season

[p]After ‌a dreadful display at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brentford/xYe7DwID/"]Brentford[/a] last weekend, in which the scoreline of 3-0 arguably ‌flattered the visitors, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Spurs[/a] looked sharper for much of the first ‌hour against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-utd/p6ahwuwJ/"]Newcastle[/a] before any optimism was dashed by two cheap goals.[/p][p]Spurs ‌showed glimpses of the crisp attacking play [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-zerbi-roberto/pYizckpN/"]De Zerbi[/a] was hired ‌to bring. Then the fragility that led to the Italian becoming their third coach of last season came to the fore as they unravelled in the ‌second half.[/p][p]De Zerbi wrote in his programme notes ⁠that he wanted the Tottenham ‌Hotspur Stadium to become "a fortress". Instead, there were thousands of empty seats by ​the end of Spurs' 21st defeat in their last 39 home league games.[/p][p]A summer splurge of more than £300 million ($406 million) ​was an attempt to overhaul a squad which had finished 17th in consecutive seasons. But, as De Zerbi frankly admitted, "you can't buy ⁠mentality in the transfer market".[/p][embed guid="8ea80925-a3cf-46c8-922e-827ec5c49a0b" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/2093765950096969948" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I'm sorry for the fans, for the environment, because after two defeats, maybe somebody can think it's the same history, the same as the last two seasons,"[/b] De Zerbi told reporters.[/p][p][b]"I have ‌no doubt it's not like this. I can't change my opinion for two defeats. I have big, big confidence in the qualities of my players."[/b][/p][p][b]Though even as De Zerbi talked up the "great project" of rebuilding Spurs, he hinted at a future without him, saying the squad would show its quality "with me or with another coach".[/b][/p][infobox id="02b45e73-9abc-454d-882a-650a1a621f7d" /][p]Newcastle, meanwhile, are almost a mirror image of Spurs, with an unbeaten start dispelling doubts which had grown over the summer after key players [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tonali-sandro/fmQVO5TQ/"]Sandro ‌Tonali[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gordon-anthony/EFo95m2P/"]Anthony Gordon[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bruno-guimaraes/xtyKanzU/"]Bruno Guimaraes[/a] left the club, as did coach ​Eddie Howe.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wissa-yoane/b35gWzB2/"]Wissa[/a], who suffered from injuries after he joined last ‌summer, has already matched his haul of league goals last season and said Newcastle's remaining players "have to step up" after a summer of significant departures.[/p][p]Newcastle's new recruits have started well, with midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gonzalez-nicolas/ID3evg0L/"]Nico Gonzalez[/a] particularly impressive on his debut, though Wissa reserved ⁠special praise for new coach Matthias ⁠Jaissle: [b]"I think he's the ‌best signing of Newcastle so far."[/b][/p]