Tottenham's start to the season has been anything but smooth, with Roberto De Zerbi's side picking up just one point from their opening three Premier League fixtures.

The draw with Nottingham Forest was arguably the most encouraging of the three results, even if it left Spurs still searching for their first win of the campaign.

De Zerbi didn't shy away from where the game slipped from his side's grasp, pointing to a lack of composure in the final third rather than any issue with effort or structure.

"I think we played well, but in the last third we have to improve. We have to take the better decisions. We have to keep more calm when we are very close to doing something important in the last third," the Italian said.

"I remember the chance when Marmoush shot at goal, the way we had Robertson overlapping, if we take the right decision and we play with Robertson, then on the second post there is Kudus to score like this. Or how many crosses went over the second post?

"From Mathys Tel, two times, Savio, one time. Savio, I think it's the last decision. The ball from Pedro Porro on Mateus Fernandes when he played with Kudus and then for the header of Solanke, Mateus was completely alone to go forward to score. Anyway, I'm very happy for the spirit of the team, for the organisation, with and without the ball. We didn't suffer nothing.

"Their style of play is very clear, long ball and second ball, but even this second ball, we won many, many duels. They have good players and taking a point in this stadium is not so easy.

It's a measured response from De Zerbi, but the underlying message is clear - give us time to get the pieces clicking together. That's a slightly awkward admission given how much Tottenham spent over the summer to put those pieces in place. A rebuild of this scale was supposed to come with sharper end product, not fine margins going the wrong way in three separate matches.

Lange and Paratici both facing pressure in new roles

Some of that pressure inevitably falls on Johan Lange, who has been left to run recruitment largely alone since Fabio Paratici's second Spurs exit. The Italian returned to north London as joint sporting director only for his stay to be short-lived, and Lange effectively inherited full control of the technical side without the shared decision-making the pair were originally brought in to provide.

Whether that structure was the right one for a summer of such heavy spending is a question Tottenham may end up revisiting if results don't turn quickly - £100m man Sandro Tonali was outperformed by Rodrigo Bentancur at the City Ground.

As for Paratici himself, life since leaving Spurs hasn't exactly gone to plan either. His move to Fiorentina was pitched as a fresh start after the turbulence of his time in England, but the early signs point to a different kind of mess altogether.

Fabio Grosso didn't survive long enough to make an impression, sacked without a win in his first three games despite arriving on the back of an impressive spell at Sassuolo. Paolo Vanoli, the man who many felt Paratici unfairly replaced after keeping Fiorentina up last season, is now the favourite to walk straight back into the job, a U-turn which has seen the sporting director's judgement called into question.

La Viola overhauled a huge chunk of the squad in one window, and Radu Dragusin, who Paratici brought with him from his Tottenham days, has been one of the more obvious struggles, while the makeshift attack has lacked a focal point, leading to a last-minute move for Everton's Beto on deadline day.

Then there's the stadium saga, which is arguably the strangest part of the whole picture. Fiorentina are said to be short of the money required to complete work on the Artemio Franchi, meaning the club is playing home fixtures at a stadium still mid-renovation, all while somehow finding upwards of €150million to spend in the transfer market over the summer. It's a set of priorities that doesn't add up on paper, and it leaves Paratici facing a situation that, in its own way, looks even messier than the one he left behind in north London.