Tottenham have flown to Marbella for a few days of warm-weather training before they return to Premier League action at home to Coventry.
Following their dramatic 1-1 draw with Manchester United, Spurs now have an extended break before their next game, and Roberto De Zerbi has taken the opportunity to organise a trip aimed at building the squad’s physical conditioning and morale as they continue to search for their first top-flight win of the season.
Premier League teams often head for hotter climates around the turn of the year as winter reaches its peak in England, but De Zerbi has chosen to escape abroad earlier in an attempt to re-energise his squad after a difficult start to the campaign.
Dominic Solanke’s stoppage-time goal earned 10-man Tottenham a deserved and much-needed point against United at Old Trafford.
However, a wasteful performance was so nearly punished by Bryan Mbeumo’s 73rd-minute opener, and there remains plenty for De Zerbi to work on, even though Spurs have now at least climbed off the bottom of the Premier League table.
After an extended international break, Tottenham flew out of the traps against United, pressing them high and creating several golden chances which they failed to convert.
Their intensity suffocated United early on, but they struggled to keep going for the full 90 minutes, allowing their hosts a route into the game as Mbeumo finished smartly from a rare foray forward.
Fighting back: Tottenham remain winless but will have taken heart from their last-gasp draw at Manchester United
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De Zerbi has consistently bemoaned his side’s poor physical conditioning this season, blaming a disrupted pre-season schedule, with players returning late from the World Cup and others seeing their minutes managed as part of the club’s more cautious approach to injury rehabilitation.
Nearly three months into the new season, though, and with a rare window of opportunity to get on the training pitch this week, De Zerbi can no longer use his side’s lack of fitness as an excuse.
De Zerbi understandably has a lot on his plate, but the priority over the next week has to be ensuring his squad are physically robust enough to compete at a high intensity for 90 minutes.
Spurs’ game centres on a high press - they rank second in the Premier League for high turnovers and allow the second fewest passes per defensive action - but they have struggled to maintain their level.
Tottenham often start games well, but if De Zerbi is to turn things around, then he needs his side to sustain pressure for longer while fixing their lack of cutting edge in the final third.
That is where this week’s trip to southern Spain should help, with De Zerbi afforded time to work with his players before they return to England for a must-win encounter with Frank Lampard’s newly-promoted Coventry team.