Winless Spurs remain goalless after another bore draw against Everton
· Sky-PL
Tottenham’s winless and goalless start to the Premier League season continued with a 0-0 draw at home to unbeaten Everton.
De Zerbi was involved in an exchange at full-time on the pitch with Mathys Tel, who was brought on as a second-half substitute.
The Italian explained at his post-match press conference:
> "I coached him on the pitch. The body shape: he's a striker; the striker can't play with the shoulder on the goal. > > "If we are playing with (James) Maddison, (Mohammed) Kudus and Savio, he has to play as a striker, and the striker has to look at the goal, or for the cross of (Andy) Robertson. He has to stay inside. > > "He started as a striker; now he's playing as a winger, but he started his career as a striker. > > "But I love Mathys as a player, as a guy; that is not a problem."
Moyes pleased with Toffees' resilience but wanted more
Everton boss David Moyes:
> "I wanted much more from the team, but I told them about coming here. > > "We've not had a great record here. Only a couple months ago we missed out on Europe here. I generally felt that we had to come here and show a bit more.
> "Tottenham were so good for 20 minutes. They put us under so much pressure. We found it difficult to escape from it. We created a couple chances ourselves, but we didn't play well enough today when we had the ball. > > "We know exactly where we're short and what we could do better at and what we'd like to do better. But there'll be some games where we might have to play that way just to get ourselves through. It wasn't the plan, we were forced into it by Tottenham. I thought we did a really good job of being resilient."
The key moments from north London...
- 5: SPURS GO CLOSE! Jan Paul van Hecke puts over Andy Robertson's free-kick from close range. - 45+1: KINSKY SAVES! The first shot on target of the game is produced by Everton's James Garner from a long-range free-kick, which is palmed away by Antonin Kinsky. - HALF TIME: No shot on target for Tottenham, who fail to score in the first half for a 26th Premier League game since the start of last season. - 47: FIRST SPURS SHOT ON TARGET! Mateus Fernandes' weak low shot is straight at Jordan Pickford, but it brings ironic cheers from the Spurs fans. - 50: KINSKY SAVES! Thierno Barry's back-post header is saved by Kinsky, who didn't know much about it. - 66: KINSKY GETS LUCKY! The Spurs goalkeeper passes it straight to Dewsbury-Hall but he hits his shot straight at Kinsky. - 89: FROM ZERO TO HERO FOR PICKFORD! The Everton goalkeeper gives the ball away to allow Lucas Bergvall a shot, which he superbly saves.
Millions spent, but where is the goalscorer?
Analysis from Sky Sports' Callum Bishop:
> "It doesn't take a genius to figure out where Tottenham's biggest concern lies right now. You can't win games if you don't score goals. That's why Spurs haven't won a league game this season, after going 400 minutes without finding the net. > > "They have so many creative players, all of whom were on the pitch against the Toffees. Yet the man who they need to score the bulk of their goals was anonymous. Or at the very least, wasn't found. > > "Dominic Solanke's fitness for Tottenham feels imperative. As the only out and out number nine available to De Zerbi, the Englishman has to be picked when fit. Purely because it seems Spurs don't have a choice. > > "However, whether it be rustiness following his latest setbacks or another reason, Solanke didn't offer anywhere near enough as the number nine. He managed just 19 touches. That's less than Kinsky in goal. > > "More worryingly, he had zero shots. If the man whose job is to find the net isn't even letting fly at it, no wonder Spurs are struggling in the final third. > > "Only De Zerbi can answer if the reason for this is because his team-mates aren't utlising him enough, or if Solanke can't be relied upon to be the replacement to Harry Kane. Of course, replacing Kane is practically impossible. But, in the three years since he left for Germany, Solanke is the only one Spurs have splashed the cash on to fill his shoes. > > "While reinforcements were clearly needed across the pitch after last season, the fact a fitter, more reliable striker wasn't on the agenda is a concern. And it's biting Spurs now. They can't get an improvement until January now, so De Zerbi has to find a way to get Solanke more involved."
People in this story
- Harry Kane
- David Moyes
- Mathys Tel
- Jordan Pickford
- James Garner
- Jan Paul van Hecke
- Mateus Fernandes
- Lucas Bergvall
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