Tottenham Stops the Bleeding with Goalless Draw Against Nottingham Forest

Tottenham finally stopped the bleeding on Saturday. They didn’t win, they still haven’t scored this Premier League season, but they walked out of the City Ground with something they hadn’t felt yet under Roberto De Zerbi: a point.

A goalless draw against Nottingham Forest is hardly a statement result, yet the manner of it mattered. This was a scruffy, physical contest, and Spurs showed they’re ready to scrap. For a side trying to reboot on the fly, that is at least a foothold.

De Zerbi: “Disappointing for the result, but for the performance, very happy”

De Zerbi cut a frustrated but strangely upbeat figure afterwards. The scoreline annoyed him; the display did not.

“Disappointing for the result, but for the performance, very happy,” he said. “Considering we started working together on Thursday for the first time, we played well. I think we can improve in the last pass. If we approve in the last third, I think we can score many, many goals because we have the players with big qualities. Now it’s a tough moment to accept this result, because I think we played well.”

That final third is the obsession already. De Zerbi was clear: the issue isn’t some mystical “unlocking” of defences, it’s basic execution.

“It’s not to unlock [the final third]. It’s the mistakes. We have to work in this part,” he said. “I think we played very well with the ball, we found the solutions because they press [our defenders] with three, but one of our full backs was always alone and we found him always in 90 minutes. So in build-up, we played very well. In the last third, I think we can be… better. Much better.”

The structure worked from deep. Spurs repeatedly escaped Forest’s press, used the spare full back, and advanced the ball with control. The problem came once they arrived near that white rectangle everyone keeps crowding around and trying to hit.

There, everything fell apart.

Risk, reward and a defence left on an island

De Zerbi’s system is built on edge. The back line is deliberately put under pressure, the idea being that the attacking benefits at the other end outweigh the jeopardy. When it clicks, you accept the chaos at the back because you’re hurting teams higher up.

Right now, Spurs are taking the risks without cashing in.

The saving grace is Micky van de Ven. The Dutch defender relishes those exposed situations and has started the season strongly alongside compatriot Jan Paul van Hecke. Even in last week’s defeat to Newcastle, it was set pieces that undid Spurs in what was otherwise another solid, if unspectacular, defensive outing.

Van de Ven doesn’t just help. He raises the floor of this team more than anyone else in the XI.

The ceiling, though? That’s another story.

The way Spurs are operating in the final third, Van de Ven could barely stand upright inside the club’s attacking “house”, never mind push it higher. De Zerbi admitted he has an impressive group of forwards “on paper”, but he also reminded everyone that games are not played there.

Substitutions, balance and a new squad still learning itself

De Zerbi also pointed to a key moment on the hour mark. Medical advice forced him into two big changes.

“The second half, I’m sorry because the medical stuff pushed to change Savio and Udogie after 60 minutes,” he said. “Kudus and Robertson played very well, but maybe two substitutions in that moment was not so good. But now we can’t take risk with injuries again. Savio is too important for us, the same Destiny. Maybe we lost some balance, some connection [when they came off].”

Spurs did lose rhythm. The connections that had helped them progress the ball started to fray. The replacements did their jobs, but the cohesion dipped, and in a game this tight, that mattered.

De Zerbi, though, was keen to highlight the other side of the ball.

“I think today we defended very, very well,” he said. “We have to improve the physical condition [of some players], the connection between the players. We changed, I don’t know how many players in this transfer window. We brought very, very good players, but the team doesn’t adjust like the names on paper or Football Manager.”

The message is blunt: this is not a plug-and-play squad. Spurs have been heavily reshaped, and the chemistry has to be built, not assumed.

The missing piece: a real creator

Strip away the tactical jargon and the problem is stark. Spurs are fine for two-thirds of the pitch and blunt in the third that decides seasons.

They lack a genuine creator in midfield. Without a true no. 10, they can progress the ball but only in predictable ways, funneling attacks wide and allowing opponents to drop, set themselves and mark up. Forest pressed high early, then sank back into a deep block, often with nine or 10 men in and around the box.

Spurs had no answer. A squad full of mercurial dribblers, but not a single natural conductor between the lines.

Maybe James Maddison returns from injury and instantly rediscovers top form after effectively a year away. Maybe he gives them that missing thread. The more realistic scenario is harsher: it could look like this for a while.

Until Spurs prove they can score, opponents will sit in, clog the box and dare them to find a way through. Can De Zerbi turn all that tidy build-up into something ruthless where it counts, or is this going to be the story of their season?