Despite spending a large sum of money in the transfer market, Tottenham Hotspur still entered the season with questions in two important positions: striker and goalkeeper. The defeat to Aston Villa continues to expose these problems.
Dominic Solanke is expected to become the spearhead in Tottenham's attack, but the English striker has not had many times to maintain his fitness and form at the best level since joining Spurs.
In goal, Antonin Kinsky has also not been able to bring the necessary stability. This goalkeeper had impressive performances at the end of last season, but the match against Aston Villa showed that he is still far from the top group of Premier League goalkeepers.
Tottenham has recruited 10 new players in the summer, but has not added a world-class goalkeeper and a center forward capable of making a difference. This is a decision that Roberto De Zerbi's team is paying the price for.
Spurs could only score when Aston Villa had created a safe gap. Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke were the scorers for Tottenham, instead of the expected strikers.
We definitely need him to perform better. I really appreciate Solanke and always support him. Solanke needs to maintain a more stable form and feel more comfortable when playing" - De Zerbi shared.
Solanke left the field right before Aston Villa scored the second goal. This situation partly shows the difference between the two teams and Tottenham's limitations.
Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki made a long pass for Nicolas Jackson. This striker coordinated with Johan Manzambi before passing Micky van de Ven and finishing to defeat Kinsky.
That was a quality goal, but Kinsky could have done better. A high-class goalkeeper is often expected to push this shot wide of the goal.
In the first half, Suzuki also made many saves to keep Aston Villa's net clean. The Japanese goalkeeper joined Villa for a fee of about 30 million pounds and is proving his ability to become Emiliano Martinez's replacement.
Meanwhile, Tottenham has not yet found a worthy successor to Hugo Lloris since the French goalkeeper left the team.
Tottenham once denied rumors related to Nicolas Jackson in the summer, before this striker moved from Chelsea to Aston Villa with an initial fee of £47.5 million, possibly increasing to £65 million.
When asked if Tottenham made a mistake in not recruiting a true center forward, De Zerbi said that the transfer market is dominated by many factors.
The transfer market is prolonged and the situation is constantly changing. There are also financial regulations at the end of the transfer window. We must comply with those regulations.
We cannot sell players that we initially thought could be sold. There are many reasons. I think the club and the coach both understand the characteristics of the players. If we don't make another decision, it's because we can't" - De Zerbi said.
