Tony Pulis column: Why international break has come at worst time for De Zerbi & Spurs

Big spending always means big ambitions, but shelling out so much money on so many players the way Tottenham did this summer produces problems for any manager, and there is no quick fix.

That is similar to what has happened at Spurs, where the board backed Roberto de Zerbi to the hilt with an outlay on new players of around £400m.

The club had just avoided relegation two seasons running, finishing 17th twice in a row, but suddenly some fans were looking forward to a season competing for trophies and a top-four finish.

De Zerbi (left) took over as Spurs boss with seven games to go last season and the club 17th in the Premier League. Three wins and two draws were enough to keep them up

Finding a way for your club to win takes a manager in lots of different directions but they all involve time - on the grass or with social interaction with the players.

De Zerbi has many other issues to deal with, from Tottenham's poor home form to their inability to recover from conceding the first goal in games.

All of this will take time, and patience, and all the kinds of little detail that supporters never see.

We are only five games into the season but there are already some Spurs fans who seem to think De Zerbi is the worst manager in the world, even though he has proved elsewhere how good he is.

Spurs, Fulham and Bournemouth are the only top-flight teams yet to win a league game this season

De Zerbi is a very passionate, straight-talking and ambitious manager who demands total commitment and backing from his board.

But, before the season started, I thought his biggest challenge with so many different types of players arriving would be to put players together that fit as a team, not as a group of individuals.

Gerry always wanted to drop off deeper because he wasn't overly quick, whereas Michael was fast and didn't ever worry about leaving space behind him.