Roberto De Zerbi's first full season in charge of Tottenham Hotspur could scarcely have begun worse. Brentford tore his expensively remodelled side apart 3-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, and the Italian did not try to dress it up afterwards. "I think we are not a team yet, for a lot of reasons," he said, in comments reported by ONE.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt scored either side of half-time, and Michael Kayode added a third just four minutes into the second half. It could have been worse still — Igor Thiago missed a 55th-minute penalty — but Spurs never recovered, failing to register a single shot on target in the entire first half.
De Zerbi, who succeeded Thomas Frank at the north London club before the season, said his team is still missing the basics that turn a collection of new signings into a functioning unit. "We need soul and playing style. When we find both, we'll be dangerous," he said, according to ONE's report.
He pointed to circumstances beyond the tactics board: several players returned late after the World Cup, and a pre-season trip to Australia ate further into training time. The result, he argued, was a side short of the physical conditioning needed to compete with a well-drilled Brentford outfit.
The manager also defended his decision to start 20-year-old Lucas Bergvall in midfield instead of the more experienced Rodrigo Bentancur, even though Bergvall's error contributed to Brentford's second goal. De Zerbi said the youngster would learn from the experience and improve with time.
Tottenham's summer rebuild has been extensive and costly — around £237 million spent on six new signings, according to Sky Sports — and five of those six arrivals were given competitive debuts against Brentford, including Archie Gray, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson in a reshaped back line, plus Sandro Tonali in midfield.
One moment stood out amid the wreckage. With regular skipper Micky van de Ven left out of the matchday squad, De Zerbi handed the armband to Gray, who at 20 years and 163 days became Tottenham's youngest-ever competitive captain — breaking a record held by club great Steve Perryman since a UEFA Cup tie against Lyn Oslo in 1972.
Gray's first taste of the captaincy was a chastening one. "We simply lost too many battles. They fought harder than us everywhere on the pitch," he said afterwards, taking responsibility for the display and acknowledging how galling the defeat would have been for travelling supporters.
The result piles early pressure on a club that finished 17th in the Premier League last season, avoiding relegation only on the final day. A repeat of that struggle was precisely what the summer spending spree was supposed to prevent, and instead Tottenham head into week two already needing answers.
There is no sign of the rebuild slowing down regardless: Tottenham have been continuing talks over Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush as De Zerbi looks to add further reinforcements to a squad he insists simply needs time to find its identity.
