Under-pressure Tottenham Hotspur boss Roberto De Zerbi has been slammed for taking his squad for warm-weather training to Marbella, along with his decision to completely banish last season’s leading goalscorer Richarlison.

After a disastrous start to the new season, which sees the north London club sitting in the relegation zone and without a win from their opening six Premier League games, De Zerbi decided to take his players to Spain ahead of Monday night’s visit of Coventry City.

After the encouraging performance at Manchester United, Tottenham had nine days to prepare for the Sky Blues and have spent much of that time this week in warmer surroundings. However, while former Everton striker Duncan Ferguson understands the pros and cons of the trip abroad, he does not understand the timing of the trip at all.

Speaking on a wide-ranging chat on the Overlap Daily, Ferguson ranted: “I thought that was ridiculous, and I’ll tell you why. They’ve just been away on an international break for three, four weeks, away from their families. They come back and then they go away again, unless they took all their families with them.

“We did it back in the day. We went to La Manga, and there was murder because everybody went on a night out to the nightclubs.

“It has been done before, so I’m not saying the game’s gone in general. But you shouldn’t be going on a warm-weather break after they’ve just been away on warm-weather training with their international teams.

“I thought that was a bad, bad move from the manager at Tottenham. If the club had a few quid, and it wasn’t straight after an international break, I think I would take a team. You could do that.”

Ferguson baffled by Richarlison banishment

Meanwhile, Ferguson cannot believe De Zerbi was willing to banish Richarlison from his Premier League squad, especially given Tottenham’s struggle for goals since.

The Brazilian, who failed to secure a summer exit, has been limited to appearances for the club’s U21s and scored in a midweek loss on penalties to Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy.

Ferguson knows the former Watford frontman well, having worked with him during his spell as an Everton coach and interim boss. And the Premier League cult hero has questioned De Zerbi’s ruthless approach.

He added: “I don’t know what the manager at Tottenham’s done. I don’t know if they’ve had a massive fall-out, and knowing Richy (Richarlison) they probably have, but you’ve got to put your arm around him and say, ‘Come on, Richy,’ and get him back in.

“You don’t leave a player like that out (of the squad) unless there’s been a real murder: he’s chinned him, or there’s been a proper scrap on the training ground. Richarlison’s a good player, and Tottenham are not that great, are they?

“It’s all hands-on deck. You need all your assets out there. The manager knows what he’s doing, he’s on the ground, but Richarlison’s a great player and I enjoyed working with him.”

Ferguson also gave an insight into what Richarlison is like to manage, adding: “I used to put the scores up on a board, like a chart of who’d scored the most goals in training and who’d won the most games, and I’d add it all up. Richarlison was a bugger for it. He used to come in and say, ‘Where’s my point?’ because I’d forgotten to put his point up. He was so competitive.

“He got a delegation together, Allan (Marques Lueriro), who played for Napoli, came in and said to me, ‘Richy’s (Richarlison) not happy with you, Duncan. He thinks you don’t like him.’ And I said to them for a laugh, ‘No, I don’t like him.’ He said, ‘You favour all the English players: Dominic (Calvert- Lewin), Mason Holgate and Tom Davies, all the British lads.’ I said, ‘That’s right, I’m favouring the British players.’

“But he was so competitive, and a great player for Everton. He was tough, he could head the ball, but he was always rolling around on the floor, and I hated that. He was always diving. In my whole career, I never dived once. Not once.”

In Richarlison’s absence, Dominic Solanke has scored twice in eight games in all competitions, with summer signing Omar Marmoush yet to find the target.

That has led to plenty of speculation over a January move to upgrade the position, with TEAMtalk sources confirming that five forwards are on De Zerbi’s radar.