Tony Pulis explains why international break could hurt Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham rebuild

Tony Pulis believes Tottenham’s international break has arrived at a particularly difficult moment for Roberto De Zerbi as the manager attempts to turn a heavily rebuilt squad into a functioning team.

Spurs spent around £400million on new players during an extraordinary summer overhaul after consecutive 17th-place Premier League finishes. Expectations increased accordingly, but De Zerbi’s side have collected only two points from their opening five league matches.

Pulis, writing for BBC Sport, believes judging the Tottenham manager this early ignores the scale of the work required behind the scenes.

Tottenham brought in 10 new signings, with several deals completed after pre-season had already finished.

For Pulis, that makes time on the training ground particularly important. The international break has instead removed many players from De Zerbi for another three weeks just as he needs to develop partnerships and establish his tactical demands.

“The majority of his players have now been taken away from him for another three weeks on international duty,” Pulis wrote.

His argument is that spending heavily does not automatically produce an effective team. Players have different tactical habits, personalities and adaptation periods, meaning De Zerbi must discover which combinations work.

Pulis believes Spurs lack the established identity seen at clubs such as Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth, where recruitment is generally built around a clearly defined playing model.

Tottenham's early results have inevitably increased scrutiny after such significant investment.

Their latest setback was a 3-2 home defeat against Aston Villa, leaving Spurs bottom of the Premier League with two points from five games.

However, Pulis believes suggestions that De Zerbi should already be under serious pressure are premature.

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

De Zerbi must also understand the personalities within his squad and integrate players arriving from different footballing cultures.

For Pulis, those processes cannot be accelerated simply because Tottenham spent heavily. The problem is that this international break has temporarily taken away the resource De Zerbi needs most: time with his players.

De Zerbi will have to work primarily with the players who remain at Tottenham during the international break before gradually reintegrating those returning from national-team duty.

Spurs will need improvements quickly once domestic football resumes, but Pulis believes the bigger test is whether De Zerbi can eventually turn Tottenham's expensive collection of players into a coherent team.