Tottenham came away from Nottingham Forest with a 0-0 draw on Saturday with a clean sheet and substantially more control of the match. Six months earlier, Forest had beaten Tottenham 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a defeat that preceded Igor Tudor's departure by just seven days. Before you dismiss a goalless stalemate — the context matters because this isn't about the scoreline. It's about what happened beneath it.
Spurs dominated possession (59%), completed 84% of their passes, and generated 1.57 expected goals. Forest mustered just 0.65. Tottenham recorded zero shots on target despite creating two big chances. That gap between territorial control and genuine threat is where the real story lives, but underneath it sits something more encouraging: a side that's starting to understand what De Zerbi is asking.
Start at the back, because that's where the meaningful progress shows. Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven formed a central defensive pairing that looked, for perhaps the first time this season, genuinely comfortable in the high line. Van Hecke worked under De Zerbi at Brighton; he understands the positional triggers, the stepping mechanics, when to squeeze and when to hold. On Saturday he led Spurs with 64 completed passes from 68 attempts. Van de Ven, meanwhile, has the physical frame and reading to thrive in this system once the timing becomes instinctive. Together, they didn't just defend — they initiated. Kinsky had a relatively quiet afternoon for long stretches. That's the aim.
Udogie started at left back and provided the kind of steady, positional discipline the system requires. Robertson came on in the 61st minute and added experience, but the starting defensive foundation was built on players who understand the mechanics: Van Hecke's Brighton familiarity, Van de Ven's physical presence, Porro's quality on the ball at right back. That's coherence.
The defensive platform looked considerably more solid. After 3-0 and 2-0 defeats in recent weeks, one clean sheet doesn't represent solidity — but it represents improvement.
Further forward, the picture is more mixed but more encouraging than the scoreline suggests. Spurs lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Sandro Tonali and Rodrigo Bentancur as the double pivot, giving them a genuine platform in midfield rather than asking one player to do both jobs. That pairing worked. Tonali recycled possession with the calm authority a £92.5m investment demands. Bentancur provided the press-resistant quality alongside him. The result: Conor Gallagher operated higher as the central attacking midfielder, a position that appears to suit his pressing and late movement better than some of the deeper responsibilities he carried under Frank. He had space to operate in and protection behind him. It's a simple point, but it matters.
In the attacking line, Savio made his first Tottenham start and completed four dribbles — a match-high — while creating one of Spurs' better openings. Through the middle, Omar Marmoush moved dynamically throughout, the kind of restless presence that makes defences hesitate. The issue wasn't getting players into promising positions. It was converting them. Marmoush's early miss carried just 0.22 expected goals; the glaring opportunity was Micky van de Ven's three-yard header, a 0.82 xG chance he headed over. Solanke's late effort added another 0.17 xG. Three promising opportunities, and not one forced a save.
This is now serious. Three Premier League games without a goal — the first time Tottenham have started a league season without scoring in their opening three matches since 1974-75. That's not a minor concern. That's a recruitment problem as much as a tactical one, and the club's summer pursuit of attacking reinforcements showed they knew it.
Spurs did walk a fine line between dominance and vulnerability. Neco Williams put the ball into the net after a Tottenham defensive lapse; VAR ruled it out for handball in a controversial decision. On another day, they lose 1-0 despite controlling most of the game. Fortune played a role as much as design.
No European football this season means De Zerbi has something he wouldn't otherwise have: time. Time on the training ground to drill movements, correct positioning, build the fluency his system genuinely requires before it works. The trajectory from that March collapse to Saturday's controlled, professional performance is real. The scoreline doesn't capture it. But the numbers do — 59% possession, 1.57 xG to 0.65, nearly three times as many penalty-area touches — and those numbers suggest this is a side that's starting to understand what's being asked of it.
The defensive structure looked considerably more sound. The midfield control is improving. The wide play is promising. What's missing is the ruthlessness that turns dominance into points. Fix that, and suddenly De Zerbi's system doesn't just look different — it looks dangerous.