Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi did not hide his disappointment after his side suffered a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Brentford in the opening match of the Premier League season. The Italian coach said the heavy loss underlined the fact that his newly assembled squad "is not a team yet" despite a summer that has seen the club spend well over £300 million on fresh talent. De Zerbi acknowledged that the players lacked the necessary intensity and fight, and he suggested that the squad was still too raw for a competition of this magnitude.
His comments were echoed by former England international Jamie Redknapp, who described the Tottenham side as a "team of strangers" that had not yet found any collective rhythm. Spurs entered the match with five of the six new signings on the pitch, yet the Bees took advantage of the lack of cohesion and physical readiness to dominate the game.
De Zerbi explained that the pre‑season schedule, which included a tour of Australia after the World Cup, meant that many of his players arrived late and missed crucial conditioning work. "We are not at the right point in terms of physical condition," he said after the match.
"The players came back from the World Cup and the pre‑season tour later than we would have liked, so we could not prepare them in the ideal way for the start of the league." He was careful to stress that these factors were not excuses but rather the normal growing pains of a project that is still being built. "When you are creating a new system and a new identity, you have to go through a period of growing pains," De Zerbi told reporters.
"I don’t want more time, but we have to get through these problems and learn from them." The manager also reflected on the tactical side of the defeat. He noted that Spurs lost a staggering number of duels, failed to win any second balls, and made too many errors when trying to press higher up the pitch.
"We could have fought harder than we did today," he admitted. "We lost too many one‑on‑one battles, we made too many mistakes in timing, and we did not win any second balls or tackles. That makes it very difficult to compete." Looking forward, De Zerbi said the priority is to forge a genuine team spirit.
"You cannot become a team simply by signing players on paper," he said. "A true team is built when the individuals find a connection, develop a shared spirit, and discover a collective soul. That is a process that takes time." Redknapp backed up the manager's assessment, pointing out that the lack of familiarity among the new arrivals was evident. He highlighted the absence of a clear partnership between centre‑backs Jan Paul Van Hecke and Marcos Senesi and criticized the team's inability to win duels.
"I never liked the look of the eleven on the pitch," Redknapp said. "I was concerned about Conor Gallagher in the number 10 role and wondered where the creativity would come from. The hope is that Tottenham will look very different in six weeks, but today they failed to demonstrate the fundamentals needed to win a match." De Zerbi also addressed the specific case of 20‑year‑old midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who was substituted at halftime after Brentford’s second goal. The manager said he had anticipated that the youngster might struggle against the physicality of the Bees and that veteran Rodrigo Bentancur, who was not fully fit, would not start.
"I knew Bergvall could find it difficult in this type of game," De Zerbi explained. "He is only 20 and will learn from this experience.
In the next two years he will not lose the ball in that moment." The Italian also used the post‑match briefing to outline the defensive changes that have taken place since last season. He listed the new back‑line – Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie – alongside the four newcomers who featured against Brentford: Archie Gray, JP Van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson. In midfield, the shift from Bentancur and Joao Palhinha last season to Bergvall and the newly signed Tonali this season was highlighted as part of the broader restructuring. Despite the defeat, De Zerbi remained optimistic about the squad’s potential.
"I believe in my players, I believe in the club, and I believe in myself," he said. "We have to improve quickly.
The loss is painful, but it could make us stronger if we learn the right lessons." The next challenge for Tottenham comes in the Carabao Cup, where they will host Championship side Charlton Athletic on Wednesday. De Zerbi hopes the team can secure a win and begin to build the confidence that was missing at Brentford.
After that, Spurs travel to Newcastle for their second Premier League fixture on Saturday. In addition to the tactical and physical issues, the manager emphasized the importance of intangible qualities – the "soul" and the style of play – that he feels were absent on the day. "When we find those two conditions, I think we can become dangerous for everyone," he said. "Until then we have to endure some growing pains, and perhaps this defeat will wake us up stronger than we thought." Archie Gray, who captained the side in the absence of new skipper Micky van de Ven, became the youngest ever Spurs captain in a competitive match at just 20 years old.
Playing at right‑back due to Pedro Porro’s delayed return from the World Cup, Gray admitted the team lacked fight and that the fans deserved better. "We lost too many duels and were out‑fought all over the park," he told Sky Sports. "For the fans, there are no words to describe how sorry we are for letting them down in the first game." Overall, De Zerbi’s message was clear: Tottenham have a massive project underway, but the journey from a collection of new signings to a cohesive, competitive unit will require time, patience, and a lot of hard work on and off the pitch.