Tottenham defender Andy Robertson has urged his teammates to put their difficult past behind them and stop carrying the weight of previous struggles as the club battles to climb off the foot of the Premier League table, according to an interview on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast reported by SuperSport and Yahoo Sports.
Early Season Struggles and Summer Spending
Spurs claimed just two points from their opening five league matches prior to the international break. Head coach Roberto De Zerbi described his squad as “fragile” following a 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa, a match where Tottenham finally scored their first league goals of the season. These struggles arrive despite a heavy summer investment under De Zerbi, with the club spending approximately £380 million to recruit 10 new players.
Overcoming the Weight of Past Relegation Battles
Robertson, who joined Spurs on a free transfer after leaving Liverpool at the end of his contract, explained that the scars of back-to-back 17th-placed finishes are still impacting the squad. According to the Scotland captain, the players are determined to improve but remain weighed down by last season’s relegation battle.
“You can see last season hurt them a lot, and maybe we are still guilty of carrying that weight of last season on our shoulders,” Robertson said on the podcast, as reported by SuperSport. “And that is, I suppose, the message of the manager, first and foremost. And also that kind of falls on me, on the new players – we need to forget. We need to now try and get Tottenham back to where we believe they belong.”
Shifting Momentum in Matches
He highlighted a 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool on September 15 and a 0-0 draw with Everton on September 12 as key examples where the squad’s mentality shifted rapidly after conceding or as pressure mounted near the final whistle.
He added that the team needs a little bit of luck and a stronger focus on moving forward rather than looking backward.
Why Robertson Chose Tottenham
Before moving to North London, the 32-year-old defender evaluated multiple offers following a successful spell at Anfield that included two Premier League titles and a 2019 Champions League victory against Spurs in Madrid. Robertson clarified that his switch depended entirely on the club maintaining its top-flight status.
“It was always Tottenham, as long as they stayed up,” Robertson stated, according to Yahoo Sports. “At that point, I didn’t quite want to go to the Championship with Tottenham, so I ended up then getting invested in Tottenham.”
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