Pre-season thoughts of European qualification are already beginning to look bafflingly optimistic for Roberto De Zerbi’s team

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In March, Tottenham, fearing possible relegation, spent big to bring in Roberto De Zerbi, who will probably never go into a negotiation with a stronger hand. There was obvious improvement and they stayed up on the final day of the season. Since then, Spurs have spent a net £175m ($234m) on improving the squad. The message seemed clear: the fiscal caution of the Daniel Levy era was over and this was a club willing to spend. Yet Spurs go into the first international break bottom of the Premier League table.

To an extent, the issue is confidence. On the opening weekend at Brentford, with a weird mishmash of a side, a team that was clearly undercooked, they were hammered 3-0 by much better-prepared opponents. That was not hugely surprising given how sensible Brentford’s transfer dealing had been and how early they had done it. More worrying was what happened the following week as Spurs, starting well before fading, lost 2-0 at home to Newcastle.

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