Roberto De Zerbi pointed the finger at Tottenham’s mentality after the club lost their first home Premier League game of the season, and the numbers show he was right.
Spurs gave a much better account of themselves against Newcastle United than they did at Brentford in their first game of the season.
There is an argument to be made that the Lilywhites could have emerged comfortable winners if they had scored the first goal, but it was the Magpies who opened the scoring on the break, eventually walking away with a 2-0 victory.
It was a bruising result for the North London club, with defeats in their first two league games sucking some of the optimism out of the fan base after an extremely ambitious summer window.
Tottenham have not come from behind to win in the Premier League for almost two years
After the 2-0 loss, Roberto De Zerbi admitted that the biggest challenge at Spurs is to change the mentality, confessing that it is not something that can be bought in the transfer market.
He said: “It’s the biggest problem, it’s the biggest challenge and the biggest target is to find the right mentality.
“You can’t find the right mentality in the transfer market. Football is a magical thing, you can change a lot of players and you can find the balance immediately or you need more time. I want to achieve this target as soon as possible … but I am in no doubt that we will reach it.”
Tottenham’s inability to win games from behind is perhaps a demonstration that the Italian was correct.
According to PA Sport journalist George Sessions, the last time that Spurs won a Premier League game after conceding first was all the way back in November 2024, when they won 4-1 at home against Aston Villa.
Since then, the North London club have sacked three managers, but that stat has not changed, with Tottenham still struggling to bounce back once they fall behind in matches.
Sessions wrote on X: “When did Tottenham last concede first and win a Premier League game? November 2024 – 4-1 win vs Aston Villa under Ange Postecoglou. Tottenham have sacked 3 head coaches during the past 21 months but that mentality issues remains – De Zerbi must fix it fast.”
Why Spurs fans should not be panicking after two losses
Just like how results are far more important than performances in the final few games of the season, the opposite is true in the early stages of the campaign.
Tottenham’s performance against Newcastle had plenty of positives, with the midfield build-up at times being levels above anything that we saw last season.
It was always going to take some time for the team to click after so many changes to the squad, but there are signs to suggest that Spurs will be a force to be reckoned with when they gel as a team and get some momentum.