Much of the narrative about Tottenham Hotspur after this weekend's second consecutive 0-0 draw has been negative and understandably centered around the fact that Spurs can't buy a goal, even after spending nearly 400 million pounds this summer transfer window on upgrades.
Roberto De Zerbi moved new signing Omar Marmoush to the left and started a more traditional No. 9 in Dominic Solanke in the middle, but the results were arguably even worse, with only Savio even remotely posing a creative threat and not a single player on Tottenham proving capable of coming close to scoring.
But as much as everyone is putting De Zerbi under pressure and slagging off the new manager, Everton star center back James Tarkowski had a different take on the team Everton went up against and was actually full of praise for how Spurs played overall in their approach to the game.
James Tarkowski took notice of Tottenham's relentlessness
Tarkowski is one of the Premier League's elite center backs and has been around the block for a while, so his take on Spurs is quite interesting. He told reporters after the game, via Arabic Spurs, "I felt like the match was going at 100 miles an hour! Every time they lost the ball, they were straight back pressing you, and we weren't making the right decisions. They were completely on top of us. It was natural that the game would settle at some point, and when it did, we started to get into the game more, and we created our own chances."
It's actually really important for Tottenham Hotspur fans to recognize how much Spurs are pressing and harrying opponents and getting the other team out of a rhythm, because in addition to Roberto De Zerbi exerting more control over games with midfielders like Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali, and the resurgent Rodrigo Bentancur, he is not giving the other team any moment to breathe on the rare occasion they do get the ball from the Lilywhites.
Tottenham were nothing like this under Thomas Frank, which was not only a stark departure from Ange Postecoglou and Mauricio Pochettino, but it was a huge reason why Spurs were 17th and second best in nearly every game last season.
Already, De Zerb is instilling a better mentality and a more active tactical plan that is putting Spurs on the front foot. Other teams are noticing it going up against Spurs, and they sound more dangerous. All that is missing is the goals, but everything else is coming into place.
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