According to the BBC, journalist Rory Smith of The Observer believes Roberto de Zerbi has "almost made a rod for his own back" following his side's busy summer transfer business.
Having survived a relegation scrap last season, the north London club embarked on an extensive recruitment drive, bringing in 13 new signings during the window. Smith's point, as relayed by the BBC, is that such a large-scale overhaul creates its own pressures — with so many new faces to integrate, De Zerbi now faces the challenge of blending a heavily reshaped squad while still delivering results on the pitch.
The scale of the rebuild suggests the club were determined to move on quickly from last term's struggles, but Smith's comments highlight the flip side of major transfer activity: expectation rises sharply when a manager is backed with such numbers, and any inconsistency could be viewed through the lens of self-inflicted complexity rather than simple bad luck.