Tottenham plan Marbella camp in bid to revive their season

Tottenham are planning a training camp in Marbella next week, with Roberto De Zerbi hoping the trip can help revive the team. The camp follows a summer in which Tottenham brought in 10 players for around £250 million.

The club are due to travel to Marbella after Saturday’s match against Manchester United. After the Old Trafford visit, the Italian intends to work with his squad in a different setting during the nine days before hosting Coventry on 19 October. The stay is also intended to improve relationships among the players and give De Zerbi time to focus on tactical details that have been difficult to establish amid a disrupted summer and international commitments.

Marbella also offers warmer conditions than London, where rain is forecast. De Zerbi has previously spoken about having too little time to work with his players in pre-season, after Tottenham’s tour of New Zealand and Australia was followed by the late return of some international players. In previous managerial spells, he has also used similar camps to strengthen team cohesion.

The need to improve was underlined by the 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa before the international break. De Zerbi said he was “very disappointed, very sad, very frustrated with the performance” and was particularly unhappy with the loss of defensive organisation after half-time. He also criticised Tottenham for forcing passes and rushing decisions after going behind.

“We can’t lose this game in this way. We can’t concede the second goal. We can’t lose balance,” he said. He also objected to his side conceding an avoidable goal from a long kick, noting that Aston Villa played, in his account, 86 per cent more long balls than last season. De Zerbi accepted responsibility but said his players had to stay composed and defend compactly when a match moved away from their preferred style. The camp comes ahead of a run of fixtures against Coventry, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leeds.