Tottenham Faces Defeat at Brentford: De Zerbi's Warning on Team Building

Tottenham’s Premier League season started with a thud, not a bang. A 3-0 defeat at Brentford, a performance as flat as the scoreline was brutal, and a head coach who walked into the press room with more explanations than excuses.

Roberto De Zerbi did not try to dress it up.

“For many reasons. I think we are not a team yet,” he said, the words landing with the same weight as the result.

Brentford ruthless, Spurs ragged

The game was barely settling when Spurs’ problems were laid bare.

On 12 minutes, new Brentford signing Mamadou Sangare drifted into the Tottenham box with alarming ease. No pressure, no contact, no alarm bells. He simply looked up and rolled the ball across to Keane Lewis-Potter, in even more space, who side-footed in. Simple for Brentford. Damning for Spurs.

The second goal was worse. Sloppy, soft, and entirely self-inflicted.

Richarlison failed to hold the ball up, Lucas Bergvall was weak in the challenge, and suddenly Mathias Jensen was running at goal. Antonin Kinsky pushed out his effort but only into the path of Vitaly Janelt, who tapped in. Spurs’ structure fell apart in seconds. Their composure followed.

After the break, the punishment continued. Four minutes into the second half, 3-0.

Kinsky parried a Sangare strike through a crowd of bodies, but again the loose ball went to a Brentford shirt. Michael Kayode reacted first and smashed into the roof of the net. Tottenham’s opening day had turned into a full-blown embarrassment.

It could have been worse. Rodrigo Bentancur clipped Kevin Schade in the area and Brentford were awarded a penalty. Igor Thiago stepped up, sent Kinsky the wrong way – and hit the left post. The rebound flew to safety. One of the few moments that went Tottenham’s way.

‘We are late for the start of the Premier League’

De Zerbi has never hidden behind polite soundbites, and he didn’t start here.

“We are not in the right point in physical condition,” he admitted. Players returned late after the World Cup, pre-season in Australia was disrupted by travel and risk management. He stressed they were “not excuses”, but “the normal situation when you are building a new project, a new process”.

He knew this was coming. “After the Hoffenheim game, I said we are not in the right point, we are late for the start of the Premier League.”

He refused, though, to let that cover the lack of fight.

“Anyway, we could fight stronger than we did today. We lost too many duels, we made too many mistakes in the timing when we wanted to push the pressure higher. We arrived second for the second ball, we didn't win one second ball, one duel, one tackle, and it's tough.”

The word that kept coming back was “team”. Or rather, the absence of one.

“Now the focus and the target is to become a team,” he said. “You can't become a team for the transfer market window, for the players, the new players, the paper. You become teams with the players, they find the connection between them, they find the spirit, they find the soul.”

Youth, risk and the cost of a project

De Zerbi leaned hard into the context: this is not a settled side. It’s a rebuild, and it’s raw.

He pointed out he had used players born in 2007 and 2006. Mikey Moore. Mathys Tel. Lucas Bergvall. Archie Gray. Talents, not yet finished products.

Bergvall, in particular, sat at the heart of the debate. His mistake helped gift Brentford their second goal, yet De Zerbi refused to scapegoat him.

“I think he didn't play bad today, even if I substituted in the half-time,” he said. “Lucas Bergvall in the next two years, he will not lose that ball in that moment of the game. But there are steps to become better.”

The same applied to Archie Gray, who struggled at full-back.

“Archie Gray can play as a full-back, as a midfielder. But I think he's much better than his performance today. But not just Archie Gray, also JP Van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, Richarlison, everyone. We didn't play a good game.”

That was the choice laid out by the head coach: play the kids now, suffer, and build – or chase short-term comfort and stall the project.

“We need also Archie Gray, we need also Lucas Bergvall, or we work for today. And tomorrow, I don't know,” he said. “For the plan, for the project, what the club wants and what we are, in the direction we are working, I think is the normal process. Even though we are suffering for the defeat, we are shocking for this defeat, especially for the way we lost the game.”

A different back four, a different midfield, a different reality

De Zerbi pointed to the contrast with last season’s run-in.

“If you analyse last season, the defensive line, Porro, Danso, Micky Van de Ven and Udogie. And today, Archie Gray, JP Van Hecke, Senesi and Robertson, four new players.”

It was the same story in midfield. “Two midfielders, Rodrigo Bentancur and Palhinha. Today, two midfielders, Bergvall… Why not Bentancur? Because he came late in the pre-season. In the pre-season we worked with Lucas Bergvall.”

From his perspective, starting Bergvall was consistent with the work done over the summer and the club’s long-term thinking, even if he knew the risk.

“I knew before the game, Lucas Bergvall, in this type of game, maybe he could suffer more than Rodrigo Bentancur, nine years older, and Lucas, 20. I knew before the game, but at the end you have to think. We go, and we try to build something good for the club.”

‘We didn’t show the soul’

If there was one line that cut through, it was this:

“To become a team, in my home, there are two big conditions. The soul and the style of play. And today, we didn't show the soul, and we didn't show the quality of the play.”

He didn’t spare his players with the ball or without it. “With the ball and without the ball,” he repeated. “When we find these two conditions, I think we can become dangerous for everyone, every team. Until we don't arrive, we don't reach these conditions, we have to suffer.”

And so, in his view, this defeat has a use.

“Today, I think it's important for us, this defeat, because maybe we woke up stronger than we thought, maybe.”

Time, but not a free pass

How long will it take? Fans will not want to hear the word, but De Zerbi kept coming back to it.

“We need time, but I think we are much better than we showed today,” he said. “So from Wednesday we can show our qualities, and we can show who we are.”

He was clear: one win will not mean the job is done.

“Even if we win Wednesday or next Saturday, we need time to become a team. Because to become a team we need time. We need time, we have to analyse the situation, we have to understand the situation. The improvement we have to do, every one of us, because we lose and we win together.”

There was at least one area where he refused to panic. Set-pieces.

Last season, Tottenham were a major threat from dead balls with Cristian Romero and Palhinha dominating in both boxes. Both were missing here.

“Listen, Brentford in set-pieces are maybe the best team in the Premier League. So it's normal to suffer,” he said. “I think we suffer more the duels, more the second ball than the set-pieces.”

Shock, questions, and Newcastle looming

He knew supporters would be stunned by the manner of the loss, given the way Spurs finished last season.

“I was surprised, I was suffering for this defeat,” he admitted. “We are shocking for this defeat, especially for the way we lost the game. Because they deserve to win and we played very, very bad.”

He insisted, though, that he has not lost faith.

“I couldn't lose confidence in my players. I believe in my players, I believe in my club, I believe in myself. I think we are working well.”

Now comes the hard part: proving it.

Newcastle await next weekend. A midweek game offers a first chance to respond. De Zerbi says his side will “show who we are” from Wednesday.

The question after Brentford is simple: who, exactly, are Tottenham right now – and how long can a club of this size afford to wait for that answer?