Tony Pulis defends De Zerbi as Spurs' £400m rebuild demands patience

Pulis: International break leaves De Zerbi short of time to build Spurs

Former Premier League manager Tony Pulis has leapt to the defence of Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto de Zerbi, insisting the September international break has arrived at precisely the wrong moment for a manager still attempting to integrate a club-record summer spend into a cohesive unit.

In his latest BBC Sport column, Pulis argued that patience is required after Spurs backed their manager with an outlay on new players of around £400m — an almost unprecedented show of financial commitment from a club long renowned for careful investment.

A £400m spree and sky-high expectations

"Big spending always means big ambitions, but shelling out so much money on so many players the way Tottenham did this summer produces problems for any manager, and there is no quick fix," Pulis wrote.

He used a vivid analogy to describe the challenge of assembling so many new faces at once: "If I was given a bundle of cash and asked to buy an outfit for a wedding, and I spent every penny of it on pink shoes, brown trousers, yellow shirt and orange tie, then I am sure you would all say that just doesn't work. That is similar to what has happened at Spurs."

The spending followed two successive seasons flirting with relegation, with the club finishing 17th twice in a row before De Zerbi took charge with seven games remaining and steered them to safety with three wins and two draws. Pulis noted that the influx of cash has sent expectations "through the roof", with some supporters now dreaming of trophies and a top-four finish despite the slow start.

'Let's give De Zerbi a chance'

Pulis was scathing about early criticism of the Italian, pointing out that Spurs, Fulham and Bournemouth are the only top-flight teams yet to win a league game this season. "We are only five games into the season but there are already some Spurs fans who seem to think De Zerbi is the worst manager in the world, even though he has proved elsewhere how good he is," he said.

"I like De Zerbi's passion, and his approach. That will count for nothing if Spurs don't eventually produce, but let's give him a proper chance."

The core problem, Pulis argued, is that the international break has stripped De Zerbi of the one thing he needs most: time on the training ground with his players. "De Zerbi has many other issues to deal with, from Tottenham's poor home form to their inability to recover from conceding the first goal in games. But his biggest challenge right now will be to fit those players who have just arrived in with the ones already at the club, into a unit that plays as a team."

Lessons from Stoke: Taggart and Duberry

Pulis drew on his own experience at Stoke to illustrate why new signings take time to settle. Having signed centre-halves Gerry Taggart and Michael Duberry — two opposites in how they handled space — he explained the delicate work required to make them function as a pair.

"Gerry always wanted to drop off deeper because he wasn't overly quick, whereas Michael was fast and didn't ever worry about leaving space behind him," Pulis recalled. "I couldn't make Gerry any quicker, so common sense locked in and I had to convince Michael that he would have to take a step away from his main strengths of pace and power and work along Gerry's lines instead. We spent a great deal of time on the grass in training until we finally got both working in unison."

Even then, he stressed, "it still took time for it to click."

The difference at clubs such as Brighton, Sunderland, Brentford and Bournemouth, Pulis argued, is that they possess a settled identity, so new signings know exactly what is required. "When you don't have that solid base behind you, knowing exactly what is needed for certain positions, then bringing 10 new signings and all in one window like Spurs have just done, is going to create many issues for the coach."

Getting to know the characters

Pulis closed by emphasising that building a team is as much about understanding personalities as tactics. He recalled a £1m-plus right-back at another club who refused to accept positional instructions in training, and how he was immediately replaced by a young reserve who understood "his role was for the team, and not for himself."

"Getting things right off the pitch is so important too, and that involves getting to know what your players' characters are like, finding out what they are like as individuals, and understanding their lifestyles," Pulis wrote — a process now interrupted for De Zerbi by three weeks of international duty.