Tottenham Hotspur invested a whopping 185 million pounds combined on the signings of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, landing two of the biggest names on the midfield transfer market with links to clubs as big as Manchester United, Manchester City, and Real Madrid.
So far, Fernandes and Tonali have played decently well, even including the fact that Fernandes has struggled recently by persistently being played as a No. 10 when he is actually a defensive midfielder, but there has been little to suggest that they are worth 85 and 100 million pounds, respectively.
Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi does have Spurs playing better this season, as they are actually on the front foot with more of the ball and more of the shots. But they are struggling to score goals or even get into threatening areas.
Tottenham are not creating enough with their possession
Tonali, Fernandes, and the midfield have done a better job of staying in possession, but they are taking a lot of the credit on the ball that should go to the center back duo of Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven, too, as they have been, by far, especially Van Hecke, the best center back duo on the ball in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the analytics show that while Tottenham Hotspur are above the Premier League average in terms of expected threat generated from carrying the ball and dribbling attempts, they are one of the worst teams in all of European football in terms of expected threat from passing. And that is despite Van Hecke being one of the league leaders in progressive passes at any position.
That goes back to Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. Roberto De Zerbi has to do better as a coach, but anyone who watches the team can see that there are several star players who are not living up to their quality, which is why Tottenham are winless and in last place after five games, heading into the September international break.
Omar Marmoush, Mathys Tel, Dominic Solanke, and the forwards besides Savio are the biggest culprits in Spurs underperformance and lack of goals, but the statistics are also showing a lack of threat in terms of the passing that is going to them.
Yes, a lot of that is down to James Maddison and Xavi Simons missing due to injury, but Tonali and Fernandes are 185 million pound players who should be doing better at generating threat, even if Fernandes is out of position and Tonali is playing deeper. They won't want Spurs fans to see just how inadequate they have been at actually helping their team meaningfully with their passing when they were both touted for being top players in this regard.
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