LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s initially improved performance against Newcastle United gave way once again to familiar failings in Saturday’s limp 2-0 loss, leaving coach Roberto De Zerbi’s attempt to establish a connection with their fans in tatters.
After a dreadful display at Brentford last weekend, in which the scoreline of 3-0 arguably flattered the visitors, Spurs looked sharper for much of the first hour against Newcastle before any optimism was dashed by two cheap goals.
Spurs showed glimpses of the crisp attacking play De Zerbi 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 unraveled in the second half.
De Zerbi wrote in his program 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.
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.”
