LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi said that his side must make better decisions in the final third after failing to score for a third consecutive English Premier League game in the 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Despite splashing out more than £300 million ($406 million) on new signings, there has been little sign of improvement from a Spurs side which narrowly avoided relegation last season.
De Zerbi’s men stopped the rot after defeats to Brentford and Newcastle with a first point of the campaign, but still lacked conviction going forward.
“I think we played well but in the last third we have to improve. We have to take the better decisions. We have to keep more calm when we are very close to doing something important in the last third,” said the Italian.
De Zerbi is hoping that the close of the transfer window will now bring some certainty to his players, and he will have plenty of time to work on the training ground with no European football this season.
“We are not happy because we didn’t win, but I think this is the right spirit and the right way to move on in this moment,” added De Zerbi according to AFP.
“Because we started just last Thursday to work (all) together and to create, to build the team, to build the organisation, it’s not enough… the transfer market.”
Forest thought they had taken the lead when Neco Williams bundled home in the second half.
But after a lengthy VAR review, the Welsh full-back was deemed to have handled before the ball crossed the line.
Forest boss Oliver Glasner is still waiting for his first win in charge and accused the officials of “guessing” whether the ball touched Williams on the arm.
“I think the VAR can’t intervene when he is guessing. It was not clear and obvious,” said the former Crystal Palace manager.
“We had a briefing before the season that the threshold for VAR intervention this year should be very high, which is why this is a wrong intervention.”
