THE BREAK WE NEEDED
The break we needed
Two points from five, bottom of the league, out of the Carabao Cup. The season is not a disaster yet, because the international break is the one thing that arrives at the right time.
The table is not the whole story
I am not going to dress it up. Spurs are bottom of the Premier League on two points from five games, and we are out of the Carabao Cup as well. The opening day at Brentford was a defeat, Forest was a draw, Everton was a draw, Newcastle was a defeat, and there is a fifth result that has gone the same way. Vinai Venkatesham stood up at the Fan Advisory Board meeting and said he is encouraged by the underlying performances. I am not sure I would use that word, and I am sure most of you reading this would not either.
But the table is not the whole story, and it never is in October. The reason the table is what it is, is injuries. Dominic Solanke does not look fit. Mohammed Kudus is coming off a big injury and almost looks a bit tentative. Three of the new midfielders have played less than they should have. The international break lands at exactly the right minute, and it gives us three weeks to get the most important players back to something like full fitness.
Solanke and Kudus are the ones we needed to be fit
Solanke is the one. He profiles well in a De Zerbi team, but he has not looked like himself in any of the five games. The movement off the shoulder is half a yard short, the press is half a second late, and the link play is the thing that makes the whole front line work. If Solanke is at ninety per cent by the home game after the break, we win games we are drawing at the moment. If he is at seventy per cent, we are still where we are now. The break is make or break for him.
Kudus is the other one. He came off the back of a big layoff and the first few performances have been flat. There was a flash at Anfield and not much since. Three weeks with the Ghana staff, a clear plan, and a clean bill of health, is the minimum he needs. The fee was real money, and the first three weeks of the season have not shown what we paid for. The break is not a luxury for him. It is the reason we are still in the conversation about the top four.
Venkatesham is right to back De Zerbi, even now
The chief executive has backed the head coach. Ten new signings, a defence that lost Vicario, Spence, Romero, Danso, Palhinha and Vuskovic, and a midfield that took a long time to settle. The fans at the Fan Advisory Board were told the club recognises the disappointment, recognises the frustration, and still believes. I would respect it more if the underlying numbers were better, but I would also accept that October is not the time to change the manager. A new man does not learn the squad in three weeks, and we would still be playing Solanke at seventy per cent.
What I want from the next three weeks is not a new manager. What I want is Solanke fit, Kudus fit, the new midfielders settled into a shape that makes sense, and a back four that does not change every week. If we get that, the run after the break is the run that decides whether this season is salvageable. If we do not, the same conversations we are having now will be louder in November. For now, I am taking the break and I am hoping the medical staff do their job.