Marbella’s autumn light has become Roberto De Zerbi’s chosen setting for a Tottenham Hotspur reset. With no European fixtures on the calendar, the Italian has taken his squad to the Costa del Sol after the defiant 1-1 draw at Manchester United, seeking to turn one late moment at Old Trafford into the beginning of a broader recovery.
Tottenham arrive in southern Spain still second from bottom in the Premier League and without a league victory after six matches. Yet the point in Manchester, earned while playing with 10 men, has brought a different mood around Enfield before Monday night’s meeting with Coventry City.
From Old Trafford resistance to Marbella work
- Tottenham fell 1-0 behind at Old Trafford and then lost Rodrigo Bentancur to a red card, leaving the visitors exposed late in the contest.
- Manchester United supporters taunted the Spurs players with relegation chants as the game appeared to be slipping away.
- Instead, Tottenham held on and found an equaliser with virtually the final attacking opportunity. Captain Dominic Solanke met Sandro Tonali’s delivery with a header to make it 1-1.
- The late goal, and the fight shown before it, was seen internally as evidence that De Zerbi’s work on mentality is beginning to register.
- The squad then travelled to the Marbella Football Center, where temperatures of around 25 degrees offer more stable conditions than the rain expected around Tottenham’s Enfield base.
De Zerbi wants the trip to be more than a warm-weather training camp. His programme is designed to bring together a group reshaped during the summer, with shared training, meals and time away from the usual routine intended to strengthen personal links.
“We need to work together, stay together, eat together and understand each other better,” De Zerbi said as he set out his approach for the coming fixtures.
A side still learning to finish
There are growing signs of the Italian’s preferred identity in Tottenham’s play. Tonali has become central to the midfield direction, while the team have increasingly looked to dominate possession, take the initiative and press opponents higher up the pitch.
The unresolved problem is in front of goal. Spurs have scored only three times in their first six league games, a return they have recorded on only four previous occasions in the club’s history. Omar Marmoush and Savio, both summer arrivals, have yet to provide a regular answer, nor have Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, Bruno Fernandes, Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison or Carragher.
That makes Solanke’s Manchester header especially significant. The striker’s intervention could become a marker for a change in momentum while Tottenham wait for injured attacking players to return.
- Dejan Kulusevski could be back at the start of November after a long-running kneecap problem that has kept him out since last May.
- Wilson Odobert and Mykhailo Mudryk are also among the forwards currently unavailable.
- Xavi Simons remains sidelined after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He has been completing rehabilitation in the United States and is not expected back until early next year.
De Zerbi accepts that the project has moved more slowly than anticipated, but remains convinced that the foundations are visible. “We have to trust ourselves and trust this way of playing,” he said. “If we do that, the goals and the victories will come.”
Backed by the owners for the next window
The Marbella camp comes during De Zerbi’s first full season in charge, following a summer spending programme worth more than £300 million. Support has also come from the Lewis family, who control the club through ENIC Sports Inc. and have indicated that further recruitment is planned for January.
A £120 million capital injection has increased the family’s investment to £320 million over the past 12 months. At the same time, Daniel Levy’s shareholding in ENIC has dropped to 25 per cent.
Vivienne Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher have taken a more hands-on role alongside sporting director Vinai Venkatesham and non-executive chairman Peter Charrington. De Zerbi has asked for fellow Italian Piero Ausilio to be appointed sporting director in January, while the club are also pursuing another forward option.
Endrick has emerged as a possible target should talks with Real Madrid over a loan move produce an agreement.
For now, De Zerbi’s immediate priority is to turn a group into a functioning collective. Tottenham supporters, despite the damaging start and their position in the relegation places, have largely stayed behind the former Brescia coach, who kept the club up last season after the unsettled spells involving Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor.
“We have a very good group of players, but we are not yet a team,” De Zerbi said. “A team plays for each other, suffers together and attacks together. That is the challenge in front of us.”
