Well, Tottenham Hotspur managed to not lose a game for the first time this season on Saturday, however Roberto De Zerbi’s side remains winless and without a single goal scored in three Premier League games.

MORE — PL live blog: Updates, highlights from Saturday’s games

Below is the latest De Zerbi reaction, speaking after Spurs’ scoreless draw with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. It was a physical, scrappy old game and Spurs proved they’re well up for a fight any time, any day. A positive takeaway, perhaps.

Roberto De Zerbi reaction: What did Spurs boss say after first point of season vs Forest?

“Disappointing for the result, but for the performance, very happy. Considering we started working together on Thursday for the first time, we played well. I think we can improve in the last pass. If we approve in the last third, I think we can score many, many goals because we have the players with big qualities. Now it’s a tough moment to accept this result, because I think we played well.”

“It’s not to unlock [the final third]. It’s the mistakes. We have to work in this part. I think we played very well with the ball, we found the solutions because they press [our defenders] with three, but one of our full backs was always alone and we found him always in 90 minutes. So in build-up, we played very well. In the last third, I think we can be… better. Much better.”

“The second half, I’m sorry because the medical stuff pushed to change Savio and Udogie after 60 minutes. Kudus and Robertson played very well, but maybe two substitutions in that moment was not so good. But now we can’t take risk with injuries again. Savio is too important for us, the same Destiny. Maybe we lost some balance, some connection [when they came off].”

“I think today we defended very, very well. We have to improve the physical condition [of some players], the connection between the players. We changed, I don’t know how many players in this transfer window. We brought very, very good players, but the team doesn’t adjust like the names on paper or Football Manager.”

Where’s it all going wrong for Spurs right now?

So, you know that white rectangle they’re always congregating around and vaguely trying to kick the ball into? That’s the bit right there. De Zerbi pointed it out straight away as well, and he’s 100 percent correct to say that his team played very well in two-thirds of the field and quite poorly in the other.

The system is designed to put the backline into difficult situations because, when it’s going good, the attacking advantages gained outweigh any risks you’re taking at the back, otherwise you’re hanging them out to dry for virtually zero tangible value. And that’s where Spurs are at right now. Thankfully for them, Micky van de Ven thrives in those situations and he has started very well playing alongside compatriot Jan Paul van Hecke. Even last week in the defeat to Newcastle, it was set pieces that undid Spurs in another unspectacularly solid performance. Van de Ven raises the floor for Spurs more than any other player in the team.

Now, about the ceiling. The way this team is operating in the final third, Micky can’t even stand up inside Spurs’ house at the moment. De Zerbi acknowledged it’s an impressive attacking group on paper, but also that games aren’t played on paper. The squad has massively changed from last season, yet it’s still largely the same problem plaguing Spurs. They lack a true creator in midfield, thus they are only ever able to progress the ball out wide, which gives the opponent ample time to organize and mark up defensively. Forest pressed high early and then dropped deep to defend with nine or 10 men in and around the box.

And Spurs, a team full of mercurial dribblers and not a single no. 10 in sight, didn’t have an answer. Perhaps James Maddison will return from injury soon snap back to top form after effectively missing a whole year, but more realistically it’s probably going to look like this a lot this season, or at least until they prove they can score a few goals and force the opposition out of that shell.

35 games to go, out of the relegation zone early this year. UPDATE: Dang, back in.