Well, at least Tottenham Hotspur have broken their Premier League duck, that’s something, right?
Alas, the Lilywhites’ two late efforts on Saturday afternoon proved mere consolations in the end, with Roberto De Zerbi‘s men suffering yet another grim result at home to Aston Villa.
An initial bright start was undone just before the break courtesy of Johan Manzambi, while former Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson added a second midway through the second-half, the Senegalese star capitalising on some shaky Spurs defending.
Emi Buendia’s thumping third left the hosts with a mountain to climb, despite a late rally, with the wait for a first league win of the season rumbling on.
How Spurs came undone again against Aston Villa
This wasn’t quite the collapse that was seen away at Brentford, but much of the good work done since then has now been washed away by Saturday’s events.
Like against Everton a week ago, Spurs started on the front foot yet simply couldn’t find a way to score, having been repeatedly denied by the impressive Zion Suzuki.
The young Japanese ‘keeper notably made a swift double save to keep out Savio, while also again thwarting the Brazilian’s volleyed effort with another fine intervention.
An opener looked inevitable, amid Spurs’ dominance, and yet a slack clearance from Andy Robertson presented Villa with a rare opportunity, with Boubacar Kamara teeing up World Cup hero, Manzambi, to slot home.
Denied an equaliser courtesy of the offside flag, the aforementioned Jackson then rubbed salt into the wounds by firing past the outstretched Antonin Kinsky, the Czech stopper surely culpable for not keeping the ball out.
There was little Kinsky could do about Buendia’s belting effort, of course, albeit with the Argentine allowed far too much time to get his shot off.
That space in between the midfield and defensive unit was exposed time and again, with even the late goals from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke unable to paper over the cracks of another worrying defensive display.
Spurs star might have just had his worst game for the club
The key issue of late has been scoring goals, undoubtedly, but there are still alarm bells ringing regarding the backline, not least after the debacle at the Gtech.
Exposed again against Newcastle United, there does still appear to be a hangover from last season, even with fresh faces having been brought into the building over the summer.
Indeed, the centre-back pairing of Micky van de Ven and Van Hecke endured a torrid time of it up against the lively Jackson, a man who hadn’t scored a league goal as yet this season causing all sorts of problems for the Dutch duo.
Van de Ven, now the man with the armband, needs to ensure he isn’t falling into Cristian Romero territory, while for Van Hecke, a strong start to life at Spurs rather came undone against Unai Emery’s side.
The opening weekend aside, in which the key issue was arguably the midfield anyway, Van Hecke has been a solid performer in recent weeks, his ability to play out from the back a real asset in De Zerbi’s system.
For all the line-breaking passes and driving runs forward, however, the 26-year-old can’t overlook his key responsibility – defending – having been given the run around by Jackson.
The £52m signing was caught out of position for the game’s second goal, looking all at sea all afternoon, in truth, having been dribbled past twice on the day.
He also won just three of his eight total duels and failed to win any of his attempted tackles, looking worryingly lightweight up against this new-look Villa attack.
Even his quality on the ball wasn’t seen on this occasion either, squandering possession on 11 occasions, with his last-gasp goal unable to mask what was a dismal display on the whole.
|
Spurs Player Ratings vs Villa |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Rating |
|
GK – Kinsky |
4/10 |
|
RB – Porro |
N/A |
|
CB – Van Hecke |
3/10 |
|
CB – Van de Ven |
3/10 |
|
LB – Robertson |
3/10 |
|
DM – Bentancur |
4/10 |
|
DM – Tonali |
5/10 |
|
RM – Savio |
6/10 |
|
AM – Fernandes |
5/10 |
|
LM – Marmoush |
5/10 |
|
ST – Solanke |
4/10 |
It’s so early into his time in north London, but that felt like Van Hecke’s most uncomfortable outing to date in a Spurs shirt, the type of performance that will only further feed the narrative that the club shouldn’t have sold Luka Vuskovic.
Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that Van Hecke was the only issue as the Lilywhites wilted in the second-half, but it was so noticeable how much Jackson enjoyed his afternoon’s work, stretching the Spurs backline time and again.
Hopefully, it will be a lesson learned as far as Spurs’ summer signing is concerned, although for De Zerbi, this is far from the ideal way to head into the international break.
