Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSPURS COACHES LASHES FRAGILE STARS<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cIn my 14 years as a coach, I\u2019ve never seen a team like us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberto De Zerbi has been left in disbelief at how \u2018fragile\u2019 his Tottenham side is after their misery continued on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Spurs were beaten 3-2 by Aston Villa to drop into the Premier League relegation zone on an embarrassing afternoon. <\/p>\n
De Zerbi\u2019s side looked to be heading for a 3-0 loss, which would have seen them go five games without scoring a single goalafter seeing Mohammed Kudus\u2018 tap-in ruled out by VAR. <\/p>\n
But late strikes from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke made the result look a lot more respectable on paper.<\/p>\n
In reality though, it was another very rough day for Tottenham, who spent over \u00a3300million on transfers over the summer \u2013 and their manager seems as confused as their fans. <\/p>\n
What has De Zerbi said about Tottenham\u2019s defeat to Aston Villa? Speaking post-match, De Zerbi admitted that he is baffledby his own players following their third loss of the season. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a mental aspect for sure, but they have the right mentality,\u201d the Italian told talkSPORT. \u201cThey work very well, theyare good players. <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Andrew Robertson of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League 2026\/27 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to explain because, in my career, 14 years as a coach, I\u2019ve never seen one team like us. So fragile, so inconsistent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re good, or you\u2019re bad. You can\u2019t be very good in the first 30, 40 minutes, and then concede like this in this way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to accept for me.\u201d De Zerbi has managed nine clubs in his 14 years on the touchline, but he is facing the toughestchallenge of his career at Spurs. <\/p>\n
What else did De Zerbi say?<\/p>\n
The Tottenham manager was also asked if he could explain the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
To which he admitted: \u201cListen, I\u2019m a coach, but I do not have all the answers\u2026for your question, I have no answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say what I think, what I\u2019ve seen today and I saw my team in the first half play very well, we had chances to score.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t score and then we conceded the first goal\u2026we have to stay closer and stay stronger, more compact.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Spurs have endured a nightmare start to the season.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cIn the second half, after Kudus\u2019 goal, I don\u2019t know if the players lost energy\u2026now we have to explain another defeat.\u201d DeZerbi added: \u201cMaybe the communication between the players [is the problem], maybe the leaders have to be stronger. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need leaders to drive and lead the team\u2026I don\u2019t know, I want to speak with the players when I stay with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Newcastle it was the same, in Liverpool it was the same, with Everton it was the same\u2026we have to find the solutions.\u201d Spurs have played 14 games in total under De Zerbi, winning on just four occasions and losing six in all competitions. <\/p>\n
His points-per-game average in North London is 1.14, which is his lowest since 2018 when he was Benevento boss.<\/p>\n
Across all of his matches at Tottenham, his side have conceded 19 goals and only managed to score 16.This season, their twogoals in the loss to Aston Villa are their only goals in the Premier League after five games, of which they have failed to win one \u2013 losing three and drawing two. <\/p>\n
CHAMPIONS STUNNED AS RED-CARD DRAMA ERUPTS<\/b><\/p>\n
Mikel Arteta said Arsenal\u2019s 3-0 defeat by Brighton on Saturday was a \u201cbig lesson\u201d for the defending Premier League champions after they were beaten for the first time this season. <\/p>\n
Brighton dominated from the off at the Amex Stadium and punched holes in Arsenal\u2019s normally resolute defence thanks to long-range strikes from Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas before half-time. <\/p>\n
Chema Andres rose highest to head in a third from a corner early in the second period as Arsenal lost by more than two goalsfor the first time in over three years. <\/p>\n
\u201cExtremely disappointed. First of all I think we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory, I think they deserve it,\u201d said Arteta. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they were the better team. From our side there were certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especiallyin the Premier League, that we were very far from.\u201d The Gunners have been tipped to cruise to the title after ending their 22-year wait to be crowned champions of England last season. <\/p>\n
Arsenal started the campaign in ominous fashion, winning all seven games before Saturday in all competitions.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>BRIGHTON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Christos Tzolis of Arsenal reacts<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-img>BRIGHTON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Gabriel and Declan Rice<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-img>BRIGHTON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Maxim de Cuyper and Georginio Rutter of Brighton and Hove Albion celebrate.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/amp-img>Arsenal’s English midfielder #41 Declan Rice emotional after the defeat.<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut Arteta said defeat served a timely reminder ahead of a three-week international break of how tough the season will be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big lesson for us,\u201d added the Spaniard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not going to take away what the team has done and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming backfrom the World Cup. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith 18 players coming back, what we\u2019ve done and the way we\u2019ve competed and the amount of games we\u2019ve won has been remarkable.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is a big lesson for all of us to understand what it takes to win at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n
It could have been even worse for the Gunner with skipper Declan Rice escaping a red card for lashing out in frustration.<\/p>\n
In the last few moments of the clash at the Amex Stadium, with the Brighton fans bouncing, the midfielder kicked out.<\/p>\n
Malick Yalcouye leant into the England international, slightly nudging him, which caused a reaction.<\/p>\n
Rice then chased down Yalcouye and swiped his legs from underneath him, sending him down to the ground. <\/p>\n
TalkSPORT\u2019s chief football correspondent Alex Crook said on commentary: \u201cDeclan Rice goes through the back of Yalcouye off the ball! That looked a bit nasty!\u201d <\/p>\n
Co-commentator Troy Deeney then said: \u201cDeclan\u2019s just lost his temper there. There\u2019s no real need for it, there\u2019s a little push in the back. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as Yalcouye walks across him, he has a little swipe at his legs.\u201d Crook went on to ask: \u201cIs that not a red card?<\/p>\n
To which Deeney replied: \u201cYou\u2019d have to ask [Mikel] Arteta if he\u2019d want that as a red card after his conference last weekabout referees.\u201d <\/p>\n
Rice was given a yellow card for the act.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Socceroos teen sensation Lucas Herrington made his first Premier League start as his side Hull went down 2-1 to Newcastle United. Herrington, who joined Hull from American side Colorado Rapids in \u00a312.6m ($33m) move ahead of the season, played all 90 minutes for the Tigers and was among their better performers. Get all the latest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-263481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}