Tottenham supporters have criticised a new signing after Saturday’s home defeat to Aston Villa, with one saying he looked like he “doesn’t know how to play football.”
It was another low point for a Spurs side hoping to leave behind three years of relegation-zone struggles. They wasted chances and ended the afternoon with a flat, subdued stadium watching yet another home defeat. Conor Gallagher scored Roberto De Zerbi’s side’s first league goal of the season late on, and Jan Paul van Hecke added a headed second in the final minute, but both were only consolation efforts as Spurs dropped to 18th.
Few players came out of the performance well. Spurs have now won just 10 of their last 38 matches, and the result ended Villa’s own winless start to the campaign. Most of the blame has landed on £85 million summer arrival Mateus Fernandes, who was substituted at half-time. One fan on X called him “extremely disappointing,” saying that although he was out of position, he held the ball too long and his touches were poor. Another said he simply doesn’t know how to play football, and a third claimed West Ham had “scammed” their London rivals by selling him. A fourth pointed out that Spurs created more once Maddison and Kudus came on, urging De Zerbi to stop using Fernandes in the number 10 role.
There were positives, though. Spurs controlled parts of the game and, with better finishing, could easily have led by two or three goals at half-time. That is speculative, of course, and the first goal they conceded came after a “stupid” Premier League rule forced Micky van de Ven off for up to a minute after he bled following an aerial challenge. Questions remain, but the new-look squad is starting to gel, and De Zerbi has a strong record of turning teams around when given time, as at Brighton and Marseille.
One thing to check before using this: the original gives the score as 3-1 at the start and 3-2 later, and the goal details fit 3-2.
