Tottenham’s 52-Year Shame: Zero Shots on Target Despite $400M+ Spending Spree, Still Winless

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The story

Tottenham played out a goalless draw away at Nottingham Forest. Despite a summer spending spree of over £300 million (about ¥63.5 billion), the club has failed to score in three matches to start the season, and on this occasion didn’t manage a single shot on target — an ignominious first in 52 years. On 5ch, opinions split over manager De Zerbi’s tactics and how he’s using loan signing Mudryk, with plenty of comparisons to the days of Son Heung-min and Kane, and complaints that the new signings don’t match their price tags.

Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur played away at Nottingham Forest on the 5th (local time) and settled for a 0-0 draw. Despite splashing out more than £300 million (about ¥63.5 billion) this summer, the club has now gone scoreless for three straight matches to open the season. While they picked up their first point and clean sheet of the campaign, going without a single shot on target exposed a serious lack of firepower up front.

Winless through three openers

Tottenham opened the season with a 0-3 loss to Brentford, then fell 0-2 to Newcastle in matchday two. Against Forest, forward Omar Marmoush wasted a golden first-half chance by shooting wide, and substitute striker Dominic Solanke headed over the bar late on.

Source: footballchannel.jp / Original article here

What people said

3AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:52
They just don't have a striker.
Kane and Sonny (Son Heung-min) were truly great.
5AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:52
Spent that much money and still haven't scored — lol
7AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:54
Give Mudryk the ball more, come on
61AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:49
Re: #7
Mudryk himself is overrated, a product of the Ukraine transfer bubble. He's not worth anywhere near £75 million.
11AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:57
Re: #1
So was it actually a good thing that Takai got loaned out to STVV?
If he'd stayed, even getting playing time, he'd have just ended up as the scapegoat.
17AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:00
Re: #11
Centre-back is the one position where they've got needlessly deep depth, so he was never going to play anyway.
Even if he'd stayed he'd be their 5th-choice CB — with a back four and no European games, he'd never get a look-in.
12AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:57
Villa haven't scored either — can someone do something about this?
13AnonymousSep 7, 2026 20:58
They were fighting relegation right up to the last matchday last season, so this is about right.
Everyone's expecting too much.
18AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:01
At this rate they could actually get relegated lol
19AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:01
Is De Zerbi even suited to managing a big-spending club like this?
20AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:01
Guess they really can't do it without Sonny and 'Hurricane' (a punning nickname for Harry Kane)
21AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:03
Even in Son's last season here, they finished something like 17th in the league.
22AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:03
De Zerbi's reputation is way overhyped — it's all vibes, no substance.
23AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:03
There used to be a convenience store chain in Japan called 'Hot Spar' (just a coincidental name match with Tottenham's 'Hotspur' nickname).
24AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:04
Stacking up star players won't help.
De Zerbi's system only works with players who can run all day.
25AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:05
When did they transfer out 'Hekke'? Didn't even notice.
26AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:06
Guess the hole left by Son Heung-min really was huge.
37AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:18
Re: #26
They were 17th even when he was still there.
27AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:07
So Mudryk ended up at Tottenham.
He was originally one of De Zerbi's protégés — early on he used to get compared to Mitoma, and De Zerbi even talked about it.
29AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:12
¥63.5 billion? Transfer fees are getting way too inflated.
Only Middle Eastern money can keep up with this.
30AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:13
Hot Spar → Coco Store → FamilyMart (the real lineage of that convenience store chain).
31AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:13
Three teams still without a goal or a win:
Aston Villa — summer spending ¥54.0 billion
Spurs — summer spending ¥66.0 billion
Coventry — summer spending ¥29.0 billion
36AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:16
Re: #31
Makes you realize that even without being a powerhouse like City or Arsenal, just being a Premier League club means having a stupid amount of money.
32AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:14
Weak as hell but still so damn annoying.
Just get relegated already.
34AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:14
The squad looks strong on paper once all the injured players are back, but I haven't seen Kulusevski play in like two years — is he done?
35AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:15
Pouring big money into mediocre signings isn't going to win you games.
Mudryk, seriously? lol
Why would you take on a guy who was basically junk who couldn't even cut it at Chelsea?
40AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:21
Re: #35
They haven't spent big money on Mudryk at all — he's just on loan, no obligation to buy.
This is the same Mudryk who dominated for De Zerbi's Shakhtar and had every top Premier League club fighting over him.
If he's in good shape he could still deliver, and if not, they just send him back — low risk either way.
The big money was spent on a different position.
38AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:19
They should just start holding official Premier League matches in America already.
Right after the World Cup would be the perfect opportunity.
39AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:21
Kane really was something else, huh.
They were a team you couldn't take lightly when he was around, but the way they've fallen off since he left is genuinely scary.
45AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:28
A Premier League legend.
They were strong when Son Heung-min was still there.
70AnonymousSep 7, 2026 22:05
Re: #45
They were 17th even with him there.
58AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:42
They're saying Mudryk 'isn't ready yet' — well then don't play him.
It's like in baseball when a manager says of a player who made an error or a wild pitch, 'he's not at first-team level' — but you're the one who decided to use him before the game, so the responsibility is on you, the manager.
68AnonymousSep 7, 2026 21:56
Takai turned out to be a bust too.
79AnonymousSep 7, 2026 22:16
Re: #68
Wasn't he loaned out to Sint-Truiden (STVV)?

Background and Discussion Points

In recent years Tottenham has relied on proven goal-scorers like Kane and Son Heung-min, and replacing that firepower after their departures has been an ongoing challenge. This summer the club made aggressive moves, including bringing in Mudryk on loan, but as posters in the thread point out, Mudryk joined on a free loan with no transfer fee, and the fact that the big money was actually spent on a different position isn’t mentioned in the main article itself — worth keeping in mind. There are also posts noting that other clubs like Aston Villa and Coventry have made huge outlays of their own yet remain winless to start the season, reflecting a broader trend of inflated transfer fees across this year’s Premier League. While criticism tends to converge on the manager’s tactics, the thread also raises factors that can’t be explained by a managerial change alone — such as individual players’ fit and past league finishes (one poster notes the club was 17th even when Son was still there).

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Football] Tottenham’s Humiliating Record: Zero Shots on Target for First Time in 52 Years — Winless Through Three Openers Despite ¥63.5 Billion Spending Spree Slammed as a ‘Disappointment’ Locally.”

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