De Zerbi Defends Tonali Amid Spurs' Early Struggles

Roberto De Zerbi refused to turn Sandro Tonali into an easy scapegoat, even as the Italian midfielder’s stuttering start in North London became the loudest talking point of Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle.

Tonali, Spurs’ first-ever nine-figure signing, found himself at the eye of the storm. Rested in midweek for the cup win over Charlton to sharpen his fitness, he returned to the Premier League stage looking short of rhythm and short of answers. He was partly at fault for Anthony Elanga’s opener, then hooked on 75 minutes to gleeful cheers from the away end. The soundtrack to a difficult afternoon.

De Zerbi heard the noise. He chose a different tune.

“No, I love Sandro Tonali,” he said afterwards, emotion cutting through the disappointment. “Today is the day where my emotion for my players is bigger than the other days because we are building together the club, Vinai (Venkatesham), Johan Lange, the owners, me and they (the players) are like our children.

“So, this day is so sad. We are all of us very disappointed for the result, but I love my players more today than the next win we will make. I believe more than the Brentford game of our project, I believe in our players.”

The words were protective, almost parental, and they come at a time when Tonali’s condition remains a puzzle. He played through pre-season against Chelsea, Getafe and Hoffenheim, yet still looks a yard short. De Zerbi did not hide from that reality, but he refused to downgrade the midfielder’s importance.

The head coach is juggling a complicated integration process. Several key players reported back late after international duty and injuries, forcing him to build a new structure on shifting ground. That context has shaped his early selections and, at times, his risk-taking.

“I think (Omar) Marmoush for the first game played very well,” De Zerbi said. “It was the first game for Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro, they came late and they are crucial for this team, after the World Cup, after two injuries. Sandro Tonali is another crucial player. He is not in the right condition, in the best condition yet, maybe physically.”

So the issue is bigger than one marquee arrival. When Elanga struck, an old Tottenham flaw resurfaced instantly.

Spurs under De Zerbi have lost every match in which they concede first. That weakness stretches back beyond his appointment. You have to rewind nearly two years, to November 2024, to find the last time Tottenham shipped the opening goal in a Premier League game and still found a way to win. The pattern is not tactical. It is psychological.

The moment Newcastle went ahead, the fragility was exposed again. Heads dipped, passes lost conviction, and the stadium felt the belief drain away.

“After the goal we conceded, I think we lost the confidence. The reaction was not good enough,” De Zerbi admitted. “Not the reaction I want to see on the pitch and I said immediately after the end of the game, to the players, because when you are building something new, it’s tough, there are problems.”

Two games, two defeats, and a summer of heavy spending now sits under a harsh light. Spurs did not invest this aggressively to watch the same old collapse unfold once the first punch lands. The expectation is simple: improvement, and quickly.

De Zerbi is pushing back against the idea that money alone can flip a club’s mentality. He keeps returning to culture, to habits, to the slow, awkward birth of a different Tottenham.

“You can’t buy winning mentality in the transfer market,” he said, a line that cuts to the heart of the current tension. Tonali’s £100m fee guarantees scrutiny, not certainty. The manager’s stance is clear: protect the player, protect the dressing room, ride out the early turbulence.

For now, Spurs are a project wrapped in pressure. Tonali is at the centre of it, learning a new league under a fierce spotlight. The question is no longer whether he is crucial to De Zerbi’s vision. It’s how long Tottenham can wait for that vision to take hold while the defeats, and the doubts, keep piling up.