Roberto De Zerbi admitted that Tottenham are “not a team” yet after beginning the season with a damaging 3-0 loss at Brentford.
Spurs hope to progress after narrowly avoiding relegation last season and are likely to invest more than £300m in new players this summer. However, Brentford delivered an early reality check at the Gtech Community Stadium, dominating the visitors and exposing their lack of intensity. De Zerbi also raised concerns about his squad’s fitness and acknowledged that the pre-season trip to Australia had not provided ideal preparation.
“For several reasons, we have not developed into a team yet,” the Tottenham head coach said. “Until that happens, it is difficult to know what we can achieve. Our physical condition is not where it needs to be. Some players returned late from the World Cup, and our work in Australia was not good enough. These are not excuses, though. Such difficulties are understandable at the beginning of a new project.
“I do not want to ask for more time, but we must work through these issues. I still have complete faith in the players, the club and myself. We are making progress, but improvement must come quickly. We should have competed with greater determination today. We were beaten in too many individual contests and repeatedly reacted too slowly to loose balls. We barely won a second ball, challenge or tackle.”
Tottenham gave first appearances to Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. The club are also nearing deals for Manchester City attackers Omar Marmoush and Savinho, although De Zerbi stressed that assembling talented individuals is not enough without creating a unified side.
“Improvement comes through several stages,” he said. “Our immediate priority is to form a genuine team. That cannot be achieved simply by completing transfers or looking strong on paper. It happens when the players establish trust, unity, character and a shared identity. This is a long-term project.”
De Zerbi noted that Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven were unavailable. He also explained that Rodrigo Bentancur, who began the match among the substitutes, had returned late during pre-season.
For Brentford, the victory represented an excellent opening to their second season under Keith Andrews. Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode provided the goals, while Mamadou Sangaré produced an impressive midfield display on his debut following his £39m transfer from Lens.
“The club deserve enormous praise for completing the transfer,” Andrews said of Sangaré. “His qualities and capabilities were clear today, and he gives us even more strength in an already gifted midfield. I was extremely pleased with his display. He has adapted quickly and is a modest young player with a tremendous desire to succeed.”
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