The Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season has gotten off to a poor start, with Spurs struggling to live up to the optimism that surrounded the team before the campaign began. That belief was largely driven by the club’s summer transfer plans and the confidence that they had strengthened enough to challenge for major honours given the quality of their squad.
Despite those expectations, reality now seems different from those initial hopes, as their season has started badly despite Tottenham signing 10 new players in the summer. With those early struggles continuing, the slow start has therefore raised questions about whether those changes have actually solved the problems within the squad, leaving the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season looking far from complete despite the scale of their summer activity.
Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League Season: Two Games, Zero Goals And Five Conceded
The Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season start can be described as one of their worst in decades, and a sudden improvement is needed to prevent a further fall. They currently sit bottom of the league standings after matchday 2 with zero goals and five conceded despite facing just Brentford and Newcastle United. Their performances have been disjointed on the pitch, with evidence of a lack of team cohesion rather than simply being unlucky or lacking finishing quality.
Despite heavy investment in the Tottenham summer signings, with over £300 million spent to give Roberto De Zerbi more solutions and a stronger squad after the team’s poor end to last campaign, a terrible start is now surrounding their season. Several arrivals have had limited minutes, which points to the deeper issue of how the current group functions as a cohesive unit under De Zerbi.
As a result, the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season is currently being overshadowed by poor midfield coordination, defensive vulnerability and a lack of cutting edge in attack. The central question now remains: where exactly are Spurs going wrong tactically and structurally, and what adjustments does De Zerbi need to make to get them back on track?
Tottenham Are Losing The Battle In The Middle Of The Pitch
For all the quality in Tottenham’s squad, one major issue currently surrounding the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season is how easily Spurs are being overrun in the centre of the pitch despite having top-quality players. This is particularly concerning considering the profile of the Tottenham summer signings, which produced midfielders like Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes, and despite their involvement, Brentford and Newcastle found it relatively easy to progress the ball around their midfield unit with little resistance.
As a result, large spaces are evidently opening up between the midfield and the back line, inviting opposition runners and creating dangerous transitions. Communication also seems to be lacking in midfield over when to stay, when to support attacks in transition, and how to respond when they are caught in possession, with gaps becoming increasingly apparent. Without midfield control, Spurs are finding it hard to dictate the tempo, protect the defence effectively or launch organised, sustained attacks even in transition, leaving them unbalanced in all directions.
This failure of the midfield to offer adequate protection is at the root of how vulnerable their defence has been in both matches played, which now raises the concern of how exposed Tottenham’s back line is becoming.
Tottenham’s Back Line Is Leaving De Zerbi With Too Many Questions
With Spurs’ midfield currently vulnerable when possession breaks down, De Zerbi is now facing several issues that need to be addressed along the back line. Given the start of the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season, De Zerbi is still searching for his right combination at the heart of the defence. Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke were used in their league opener loss against Brentford, while Van Hecke and Micky van de Ven were used in their defeat against Newcastle, highlighting the lack of a clear partnership after two matches.
Spurs are now extremely open when the ball is lost as opponents quickly break into the defence at high speed, with large gaps appearing around and between the central defenders, inviting runners and creating high-quality chances. When the midfield is bypassed with direct balls into the penalty area, Spurs’ defence has looked uncertain and poorly prepared to deal with the threat. The Tottenham summer signings, which involved a defensive rebuild, now embody a structure with problems of communication, positioning and decision-making in the box, leading to cheap goals being conceded and a lack of solidity.
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Tottenham’s Attack Has No Answer To Their Defensive Problems
The Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season start has exposed a major imbalance, with Spurs conceding cheap goals while their attack has offered little response on the other side of the pitch. Despite quality attackers added in the Tottenham summer signings, they have failed to score after two league matches with only three big chances created, leaving them with no goals to offset their defensive vulnerabilities.
Their attack looks blunt and one-dimensional, struggling to create a consistent or sustained threat against their opponents so far. There has also been a clear lack of quality service reaching the forwards as the midfield fails to progress the ball cleanly and deliver effective line-breaking passes. Spurs’ movement ahead of the ball has been limited, with players rarely creating enough space or making intelligent runs to unsettle the opposition defence line. Most importantly, when opponents sit deep or defend compactly, Spurs now find it hard to force openings in the final third.
The Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season’s first two matches have shown weaknesses at the back while also failing to generate enough attacking threat to compensate for the goals they are conceding.
10 New Signings, But Tottenham Still Look Disconnected
The Tottenham summer signings represented heavy spending, with 10 new players arriving across several areas, but the team still looks disconnected at the early stages. Some new players have featured so far, while some incomings are yet to make their debut and could be involved in the upcoming games. However, simply adding a large group of new players does not automatically produce a functioning and cohesive team that will hit the ground running.
The new signings are still adapting to De Zerbi’s tactics, understanding their teammates and learning the positional requirements of the system. Some of the new players may eventually address the current weaknesses, but the team cannot afford to wait indefinitely for that to happen as pressure is currently mounting. The large volume of Tottenham summer signings appears to have disrupted the team’s chemistry and on-pitch rhythm in the opening matches, and the main challenge is now integrating the new signings while retaining enough continuity for the side to function as a unit and get back on track in due time.
What De Zerbi Must Change To Bring Spurs Back To Life
With the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season starting on a bad note, De Zerbi needs some immediate changes to lift the team out of 20th place in the league. The Italian manager needs clear tactical adjustments rather than just demanding better individual performances from the players. There should be a focus on shielding the defence, especially in transition, while enabling more progressive ball movement through the centre of the pitch.
The forward line consists of several quality players, and they need better support from deeper areas and greater dynamism in movement to create a more consistent threat. A clearer structure is needed when Spurs are in possession of the ball and also when they lose it, to reduce the current disjointed outlook of the team. More importantly, despite many Tottenham summer signings, De Zerbi must quickly identify his strongest and most effective XI and adhere to it rather than continue experimenting.
Ultimately, the Tottenham Hotspur 2026/27 Premier League season started with performances below expectations, but if these changes can be implemented, the team has the possibility to get back on track and challenge for major titles.
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