Andy Robertson believes Tottenham are still feeling the effects of two difficult Premier League seasons, including the pressure created by last campaign’s relegation battle.
Spurs finished 17th in consecutive seasons and entered the international break at the foot of the table. They remain without a win, having collected just two points and scored only twice in their opening five matches.
The revival many expected after Roberto De Zerbi guided the team to improved form late last season has not arrived. Nor has the impact of Tottenham’s investment of almost £400 million during the summer transfer window.
‘They’ve had a couple of really tough seasons in terms of finishes in the league,’ Robertson, 32, told the Stick to Football podcast on Disney+. ‘They’ve had to go into the market in terms of they’ve spent a bit of money, but I do believe Tottenham are now starting a journey.
‘I don’t know how far that journey can go, nobody does, but the determination in that group is, like, you can see last season hurt them a lot. And maybe we’re still guilty of carrying that weight of last season on our shoulders.’
Scotland captain Robertson, who joined on a free transfer from Liverpool, is one of 10 arrivals brought in to add Premier League experience, character and maturity to the squad. So far, however, the changes have done little to improve Tottenham’s results.
Andy Robertson says Tottenham remain weighed down by two years of poor Premier League form
Tottenham’s expected revival under Roberto De Zerbi has yet to take shape
Following two successive 17th-place finishes, Spurs went into the international break bottom of the table
Tottenham’s start is even worse than their record under De Zerbi last season, when they took 11 points from their first seven league games.
‘We need to forget,’ Robertson said, pointing to the effect Newcastle’s opening goal had on the atmosphere during a 2-0 home defeat.
‘We need to now try and get Tottenham back to where we believe they belong. And the fans are still carrying it as well, and you don’t blame them. They’ve been through such a tough time.’
Despite Tottenham’s return of only two points from a possible 15 and their Carabao Cup elimination by Robertson’s former club at Anfield, he maintains that De Zerbi’s side has shown encouraging signs.
‘We need the first win, and once we get the first win, I think we’ll be really good this season,’ he added.
Tottenham first attempted to sign Robertson in January, but the defender was not prepared to leave Anfield halfway through the season.
‘I didn’t want to leave but Tottenham came in for me,’ he said. ‘They were bang in trouble at that point. It was never in my plan to leave in January. I had six months left and I had the World Cup.
‘But in January time, it started becoming real that I was going to leave, and that’s when I came to peace with it, really.
‘It was always Tottenham – as long as they stayed up! At that point, I didn’t quite want to go to the Championship. So that was the thing, I ended up then getting invested in Tottenham, watching them and especially when De Zerbi came in, I was fully confident.
‘They showed their interest first, and they really wanted me, and I was happy with how much they wanted me.’
De Zerbi’s plans and belief in Tottenham’s long-term direction ultimately helped persuade Robertson to join the club.
‘We had a couple of video calls over the summer,’ said the Scot. ‘He’s super ambitious. He wants to be able to win trophies, he wants to be competing and things like that, and he knows it will take time, but he also knows that we need to start showing it sooner rather than later.
‘He believes in the squad. And I believe in the squad. Even looking at the team we played against Liverpool in the cup… you’ve got so much quality, and so many good players, it’s just we all need to show it as one, instead of maybe a bit of individual quality.
‘We just need a little bit of luck, and we need a little bit more of forgetting about the past and how we need to move forward. I do think as the season goes on, we’ll get better.’
