Tottenham hit rock bottom: De Zerbi's side sit last at the first international break

Tottenham Hotspur reach the first international break of the campaign sitting dead last in the Premier League. Roberto De Zerbi's project, bolstered by a net summer spend of £175 million, is in freefall with just two points from a possible twelve. Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa confirmed the problems run far deeper than a lack of goals: the defensive structure is broken and fragile confidence has become a wider mental deterioration.

A £175m summer investment fails to stop Tottenham's slide

Back in March, with relegation closing in, Spurs moved decisively to bring in Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian turned the situation around and secured survival on the final day of the season. That response invited optimism, and the board backed it up with heavy spending, a clear statement that the fiscal caution of the Daniel Levy era was over. Yet Tottenham are bottom at the first pause in the calendar, a scenario nobody imagined a month ago.

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.

Brentford and Newcastle expose the first cracks in De Zerbi's setup

The campaign got off to a rough start. At Brentford, Tottenham fielded a strange mix of a side, clearly short of preparation. The hosts, with far more advanced transfer business behind them, ran out 3-0 winners. A week later, Newcastle took the points with a 2-0 victory in north London. Spurs started that game well but faded alarmingly as it wore on.

Two goalless draws masked a calm that was never real

Back-to-back 0-0 draws against Nottingham Forest and Everton appeared to steady the ship. The biggest problem seemed to be confidence: hesitant in possession, indecisive when chances arrived, unsure in the final third. The two goals scored against Aston Villa only lifted Tottenham above Coventry in the goal-scoring charts, leaving them as the second-lowest scorers in the division.

The shot statistics offer some reassurance. Spurs rank ninth, which suggests chances are being created and the goals will eventually come. But the Villa display produced more worrying signals than a simple dry spell in front of goal.

How Tottenham conceded three goals against Aston Villa

Spurs started well and the Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki made a string of saves. Then, just before half-time, Villa scored a shambolic goal. Micky van de Ven was off the pitch receiving treatment when Andy Robertson, trying to stop the ball running out for a corner, gifted possession to John McGinn. A cut-back, a scuffed shot and Johan Manzambi was left completely unmarked in the six-yard box to finish. A horrible goal to concede for a team in need of reassurance.

The second was just as bad. A long punt that went unclaimed, Nicolas Jackson bringing the ball down, Van de Ven not tight enough, and a shot that bounced in off Antonin Kinsky's hand. To compound matters, Emi Buendía whipped the third into the top corner. The Villa man had time and space to line up his strike before James Maddison, caught covering João Gomes, could close him down. Maddison could have been more aggressive and the slight turn of his back as Buendía shot was never a good sign, but the goal was above all a structural failure.

Summer signings under scrutiny as doubts grow

De Zerbi spoke of Tottenham being "too fragile", appearing to mean both their physicality and their mentality. Players are returning from injury and, like many clubs, Spurs brought in reinforcements late. Preseasons have been shortened and perhaps inadequate.

Where the initial instinct was to be impressed by the numbers and the change of policy, doubts are now emerging about the nature of those summer signings. Is Sandro Tonali really worth £100m? Mateus Fernandes arrives from a relegated side. Jan Paul van Hecke would not be the first player to leave Brighton and see his level dip outside that precisely configured environment. Sávio and Omar Marmoush struggled to break into the Manchester City team. Sávio managed just two league goals in two seasons at City and his performance against Villa offered little sign of improvement.

A bottom-placed side that no longer recognizes itself

The sense had been that this season could not be as bad as the previous two. With no European competition as a distraction, no comparable injury crisis expected and a manager of proven Premier League pedigree, everything suggested a fresh start. And yet this is as bad as it has ever been for Tottenham.

A club of Tottenham's stature would once have dismissed this as a passing blip, the kind of thing that sorts itself out as the season unfolds. After two grim campaigns, nobody can afford that confidence anymore. Relegation still seems implausible, and even a genuine survival battle feels unlikely, but those preseason thoughts of European qualification already look bafflingly optimistic. That reality will inevitably slow the rebuilding of the club.