De Zerbi will have to drop the Spurs star, who completed four passes in all games.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered another heavy defeat in the Premier League on Sunday, with Roberto de Zerbi failing to muster any confidence or conviction in his first game in the dugout.

This Spurs team is surprisingly lacking in fundamentals. Passion, energy and enterprise. When it rains, it pours, and we can only blame ourselves for not bringing umbrellas in this relegation storm, which makes the situation more dangerous every week.

This was supposed to be a transition to a brighter, more purposeful project. A bold approach under a manager who recognizes Tottenham’s beliefs – that is To dare is to do.

The Stadium of Light is a tough ground for any team, but with six Premier League games remaining, Spurs, who sit in 18th place, cannot afford to worry about their form book.

But with players like Richarlison trying to deceive Wearside, their terrible attacking form will require close attention.

Richarlison’s brave effort at Sunderland

Richarlison has probably been Tottenham’s most effective and incisive forward this season. Perhaps this is an example of how everything went wrong with Son Heung-min leaving last summer and Harry Kane leaving two years before that.

The Brazilian has scored nine goals in the Premier League this season, appearing in 27 games, only 16 of which were starts. However, apart from a modest shot early in the game against Sunderland, he failed to find the back of the net this weekend.

Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats were intense and physical, and Richarlison’s performance on the left was inconsistent. It is clear that he is at his best when he is in the middle, getting out of the way and pouncing on the slightest space in the danger area.

It’s also clear that Richarlison is not the only player who is currently struggling to show his talent, with Richarlison also definitely on the verge of being dropped due to his poor performance in the North.

Worse than Richarlison: Spurs’ flop must fall

It’s not Dominic Solanke’s fault that Tottenham spent £65m to poach him from Bournemouth in 2023, but there’s no denying the Londoner didn’t get his money’s worth.

The injury has been unfortunate for the English striker, but on the pitch he has also struggled to maintain consistent form in the final third. At what point do we have to face the fact that this was a bad buy and will Tottenham need to invest in a new marksman in the summer to survive this relegation battle?

The 28-year-old, once described by journalist George Sessions as a “pressing monster”, is currently unavailable.

In fact, journalist Zac Lowy said the Englishman was “not better than Richarlison”, joining the ranks of Brazilians who failed to fill a Harry Kane-type void to justify their high price tag.

Scoring goals has been an issue for Spurs this season. Creating chances is probably the bigger thing, and while some may sympathize with Solanke in that regard, the defeat at Sunderland showed De Zerbi that his centre-forwards need to do more, need to put in more effort.

To that end, Solanke should be left out of the starting XI, especially considering Richarlison is the team’s most prolific player and is depleted out wide.

Solanke’s locker has quality, you can’t go wrong with it. But he doesn’t apply it properly and needs to be dropped.

It’s not a striker’s job to take so many touches, but Solanke didn’t put in enough effort and couldn’t find the right timing in dangerous positions. His 17 touches and just four passes throughout the afternoon were largely unsuccessful, and all four of his shots failed to find the back of the net. Solanke actually didn’t watch as much football as Antonin Kinski, who was impressive between the sticks.

It wasn’t good enough and Spurs can’t afford to make any more mistakes in a working week of the campaign. Solanke needs to go back to the bench and is probably better utilized as a super sub.