Marbella was in the grip of a murder mystery as Tottenham descended for the sunshine training camp they hope will transform their season.Alexander Aslani, a Ferrari-driving cosmetic surgeon with a reputation as a butt lift expert, had been gunned down amid allegations of a contract killing taken out by a disgruntled patient. Shockwaves rippled through the gated communities of the Golden Mile and the designer stores, the golf clubs and marina bars.Roberto De Zerbi, however, was there in search of a different sort of surgery. More of a tactical nip and tuck. Maybe a little something to perk up his team.Just enough to lift them out of trouble at the bottom of the Premier League.The Spurs boss wanted the sort of dedicated training operation he felt he had been denied in pre-season, when a tour heavy with commercial obligations in Australia and New Zealand, combined with players filtering back from the World Cup, interfered with his preparations. Tottenham spent a few days in Marbella last week as part of a training camp after their difficult start to the season Although it was an intense trip with no distractions, the Spurs squad met with Anthony JoshuaDe Zerbi demanded no distractions in Spain. His team, he made it clear, would be going there simply to work and be together at a luxury retreat on the Costa del Sol west of Marbella, towards Estepona.The Hacienda del Mar is newly refurbished and reopened this summer as part of the Melia Collection, boasting an ‘oasis of calm, authenticity and elegance’, lush sub-tropical gardens and views over the Mediterranean Sea towards Gibraltar and Morocco.Marbella has become a training camp haven, with its feel-good warmth and elite facilities.The Marbella Football Center at La Quinta is a regular destination for Europe’s top clubs and national associations with 300 teams per year descending on its 38 pitches, gyms and massage areas.De Zerbi’s former club Marseille booked in there twice last season, a week after he had departed in February and again in April.At Spurs, the Italian has been at pains to keep everything tightly under wraps.No footage has appeared on the club’s own media channels. Nor on the social media accounts of the players who are there, although a group photo did emerge online after the squad’s visit to Anthony Joshua’s gym as he prepares for December’s long-awaited heavyweight fight against Tyson Fury.Tonight’s game against Coventry City has taken on a vital edge. Only six games into the Premier League campaign yet Spurs are winless and propping up the table.Coventry have won two in a row and no longer look like the whipping boys they did at the start of the season. Frank Lampard has his own history with Spurs. He did not lose many against them during his stellar playing career with London rivals Chelsea.Now, he has the Sky Blues up and running and is sure to prey on the anxieties of Spurs at home, where they have won only two league games in the last 12 months.If De Zerbi’s team look at any stage as if they might fail to beat Coventry, the mood will quickly sour inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.There were positive signs for Spurs at Manchester United, however, with a spirited fightback and a late equaliser — despite finishing the game with ten men because Rodrigo Bentancur failed the ‘No Red Cards ’til Marbs’ challenge. De Zerbi claimed afterwards it was the first time he had seen his players show they were ‘a team’ and promised to build on this foundation in Marbella. They flew out after training in London on Tuesday.De Zerbi values conversations and the bonding experience of a communal meal. He does not usually mind if his players want to drink wine or beer. He referred to alcohol as ‘good medicine’ at the end of last season when Spurs were fighting relegation and he took them out to high-end restaurant Bacchanalia in Mayfair. The trip gave De Zerbi more time to work with some of his new signings like Sandro TonaliThere will have been down-time and golf in Marbella but he is unlikely to have let his players out on the lash. De Zerbi’s mind is rarely on anything other than football.For him, the most critical aspect of these days in Spain will have been to have the luxury of undisturbed time with his players, to work tactically on the grass and to reflect together in meetings and analysis sessions.Twice during his two seasons at Brighton, he took his players away to Dubai. First during the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 when the focus was on training rather than bonding. They came home and took 14 points from the next seven games. Spurs would happily sign up for a similar points return if it is on offer.