Tottenham’s next improvement is the pass they choose not to shoot

Tottenham drew 0–0 at Nottingham Forest on 5 September. In his club interview afterwards, Roberto De Zerbi highlighted a late moment when an overlapping Robertson could have been used before a potential delivery towards Kudus. Spurs attempted 12 shots without testing Matz Sels. We read those details as a problem of choice as much as execution.

A shot can end a promising attack too early

The usual response to a scoreless afternoon is to ask the forwards to finish better. Sometimes that is correct. But the quality of the decision that produces the attempt is a separate question. If a defender is comfortable facing the ball and the goalkeeper can see the strike, shooting may spare the defence a more difficult action: turning towards its own goal to deal with an extra pass.

The overlap matters because it changes the defender’s orientation. A wide receiver closer to the byline can threaten a delivery across the goal, while an attacker arriving at the far side can move outside the goalkeeper’s immediate focus. None of that guarantees a goal. It simply creates a different defensive problem from another shot through an organised line.

Patience should still move the opponent

There is an important distinction between patience and hesitation. The answer is not to keep passing forever or to make every attacker afraid of shooting. It is to recognise when one additional action would improve the angle significantly. Good final-third decision-making is often quick precisely because the player has already scanned the next option.

Our practical priority for Spurs would be rehearsing those choices at realistic speed: the ball carrier must see both the shot and the overlap, while the far-side attacker must arrive in time to make the second option credible. If the movement is late, the player on the ball is being asked to wait for an opportunity that does not yet exist.

The defensive effort is a foundation, not the destination

Away resilience can be useful even on an unsatisfying afternoon. But it does not resolve the question at the other end. Tottenham should want to keep the collective commitment while making fewer attacks depend on a difficult individual finish.

Our verdict: this was a case for refining the last decision, not merely accumulating more attempts. The next match will be more revealing if Spurs repeatedly find a teammate in a better position than if they simply increase the shot count.