De Zerbi is right about the imbalance, but Tottenham still don't know how to fix it

Roberto De Zerbi did not hide his frustration after Tottenham Hotspur lost 3-2 to Aston Villa. At the Villa Park press conference, he spoke about his players' mentality, physical condition and game management as if describing a problem that had lasted for weeks. But if we stop at the criticism, we will miss the bigger story: Tottenham knew Aston Villa would play long balls, prepared for it, and still collapsed in exactly the way they feared.

According to De Zerbi, his players were well briefed about goalkeeper Zion Suzuki's long kicks. The first goal came from such a long ball, finished by Jackson. Villa did not need possession-based football to punish Tottenham. They only needed one moment of lost concentration, one lost duel, and the entire pre-match plan fell apart. This suggests Tottenham's problem is not a lack of information, but a lack of execution and focus in decisive moments.

De Zerbi also mentioned the home defeat to Newcastle. He hinted that Tottenham have a habit of losing control in the final stages, a recurring collapse rather than an accident. If a team keeps falling behind and cannot hold its structure, the problem must be traced back to mentality and physical condition, not just isolated tactical tweaks.

When De Zerbi said “we can't lose balance just because we are losing”, that sentence revealed a structural flaw. Tottenham's tactical blind spot is not the initial plan, but the way the team reacts after going behind. Aston Villa were organised to defend with resilience, wait, and punish. They did not need to press high. They needed Tottenham to rush their own game. Tottenham did exactly that.

I once wrote before listening. Now I listen even to the silence between answers. When De Zerbi talked to the four attackers in the 51st minute and asked them to “use their head”, the silence after that instruction carried frustration. A few minutes later, Tottenham conceded the second goal he called “incredible”. De Zerbi tried to correct the game early in the second half, but the adjustment was not strong enough to change the match's direction. The players heard the instruction, but could not turn it into action.

Another detail mentioned by De Zerbi was the introduction of Mohammed Kudus. He believed the substitute disrupted the team's balance. There is no data on positioning, substitution timing or formation to confirm the exact mechanism. But when a manager publicly points to a substitution as harmful, it signals a deeper personnel puzzle.

Listening is not just waiting for your turn to speak; it is reading the obsession of the person making the decisions. De Zerbi is obsessed with balance. He kept saying: don't lose balance when losing, don't concede the second goal. Aston Villa understood that. Unai Emery built a style based on patience and sharp long balls. Villa did not need to dominate the game to make Tottenham impatient. They only waited for Tottenham to leave their structure, and then struck.

Data is a problem here. De Zerbi's comments were not supported by xG, PPDA or pass maps. The only available number was that Aston Villa used 86% more long balls than last season. That is a useful signal, but it only shows part of the picture. Villa's long balls are not simply about bypassing midfield; they are a way to move the ball quickly into dangerous areas when Tottenham push high.

So what is the real story? Tottenham may have read the opponent correctly, but they did not read themselves. De Zerbi knew Villa would play long. The players knew Zion Suzuki could launch attacks with long kicks. But knowledge does not automatically become safety. In elite football, the gap between understanding and doing is sometimes a fraction of a second. Tottenham lost in that gap.

The real shock is not that Tottenham lost a match with known risks. The real shock is that they lost in exactly the way they had prepared to prevent. That makes this defeat more painful than a normal loss. It raises questions about their ability to handle pressure, their physical condition in a congested calendar, and their maturity as a team trying to build something under De Zerbi.

Looking back, everything started well for Tottenham. They scored first, then let Villa come back. The shift in momentum did not come from a single individual error, but from the team losing the balance between attacking desire and defensive duty. Once the team stretched, Villa had space for their long passes. That was not a surprise. It was the consequence of losing tactical discipline in the most difficult moments.

De Zerbi spoke about fitness, mentality and game management. But his message may lose direction without data. Modern football does not allow a manager to talk about imbalance without providing measurable evidence. Did Tottenham truly lose control in midfield? Did Kudus reduce pressing intensity? Did the defence drop too deep against long kicks? These questions need answers from data, not feelings.

From my experience following Tottenham, a pattern repeats: when the team goes behind, they push forward without a plan for counter-attacks. That is why direct teams like Aston Villa can exploit them. The pressing scheme can be well designed before the match, but when the game turns negative, players start adjusting positions on their own and the structure breaks. De Zerbi can describe this as a coach, but he needs more than a speech to fix it.

Another blind spot lies in how we view this defeat. If we only blame the players for losing focus, we ignore the physical context. Tottenham are facing a heavy fixture schedule. Fatigue reduces decision-making quality in the final minutes. De Zerbi mentioned the Newcastle defeat, and looking at the timeline, late goals are not random. They may be the result of players no longer having enough energy to maintain the required pressing intensity.

Unai Emery understands this better than anyone. He built Aston Villa to exploit the fatigue of opponents. They do not need more possession. They need the right moment to strike. His post-match comments made clear that this victory was a reminder of Villa's successful style. That is not an exaggeration; it is a tactical statement. Villa know who they are. Tottenham are still searching for themselves.

What happens next? Tottenham need a serious internal conversation, not just public criticism. De Zerbi may be right about mental issues, but he also needs to look at the numbers. If his team keeps conceding late goals, that is not only an individual problem. It is a structural problem. And to fix a structural problem, they must first admit that a pre-match plan has no value if it cannot survive the most difficult moments.

This lesson is not only for Tottenham. For Aston Villa, it proves that long-ball football is not outdated. For the Premier League, it is a warning that teams who know what they are doing will always have a chance against teams still searching for identity. Tottenham may progress under De Zerbi, but this defeat shows the road ahead is long. They do not lack ideas. They lack stability and the ability to stay calm in the storm.