Tottenham Struggles as De Zerbi Admits: We Are Not a Team Yet
Tottenham’s new era began with a thud, not a bang. A 3-0 defeat at Brentford, brutal in its simplicity, left Roberto De Zerbi staring hard at a project that is still only lines on paper rather than a living, breathing team.
At the Gtech Community Stadium, Spurs were not just beaten. They were bullied.
Brentford, sharper in every duel and quicker to every loose ball, exposed a Tottenham side that looked undercooked, disjointed and miles away from the lofty ambitions that accompany a summer spend expected to clear £300m. For a club that flirted with relegation last season and vowed never to dance that close to the trapdoor again, this was a jarring reminder of how far there is still to go.
“We are not a team yet for a lot of reasons,” De Zerbi admitted afterwards. “Before you become a team you can’t say what you can do.”
He didn’t try to hide behind excuses. He listed them instead as obstacles to be climbed: players returning late from the World Cup, a pre-season tour of Australia that, in his words, meant “we don’t work in the right way”, and a squad still learning each other’s names, let alone each other’s movements. But he refused to let those factors soften the edge of his criticism.
“We are not in the right physical condition for a lot of reasons,” he said. “We could fight stronger than we did today. We lost too many duels today. We arrived second in the second balls. We didn’t win one second ball, one duel, one tackle.”
That last line stung because it felt true. The numbers will say one thing; the eye test said another. Every time the ball dropped, a Brentford shirt snapped into view first. Every 50-50 looked more like 70-30.
New faces, old problems
Tottenham did not lack for novelty. Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali all made their debuts, a flurry of fresh signings thrown straight into the fire.
On paper, it looks exciting: a rebuilt spine, big reputations, a clear attempt to drag Spurs into a new competitive cycle. On grass, it looked exactly like what it is – a group of strangers trying to impersonate a team.
De Zerbi knows it. He almost sounded like a man giving a lecture on team-building as much as a post-match debrief.
“There are steps to become better,” he said. “Now the target is to become a team. You can’t become a team from the transfer market on paper. You become a team when the players find a connection, a spirit, a soul. It’s a project.”
Tottenham are close to adding more firepower, with Omar Marmoush and Savinho set to bolster the attack, Savinho arriving from Manchester City. Yet the manager’s words were a reminder that you cannot simply spend your way into cohesion.
Complicating matters, De Zerbi was without Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven. Rodrigo Bentancur, a key figure in midfield, only made the bench after a late return in pre-season. The absentees explain some of the disjointed play. They do not excuse the lack of fight.
Brentford set the tone
If Tottenham looked like a side still sketching out their identity, Brentford strode into their second season under Keith Andrews with clarity and purpose.
Keane Lewis-Potter struck, Vitaly Janelt added another, and Michael Kayode completed a scoreline that could easily become a reference point for both clubs as the campaign unfolds. Every goal felt like the natural consequence of pressure applied, of a team that knows its patterns and its roles.
The standout, though, wore Brentford’s new colours in midfield. Mamadou Sangaré, a £39m signing from Lens, produced the kind of debut that instantly justifies a transfer committee’s conviction.
“The club deserve a lot of credit for getting that deal done,” Andrews said. “You’ve seen today what he’s capable of, the attributes he has. It adds to a talented midfield. I really enjoyed his performance today. He’s slotted in really well. He’s a humble young man who’s very, very hungry.”
Hunger. Fight. Second balls. Words that echoed uncomfortably with De Zerbi’s assessment of his own side.
A long road ahead
De Zerbi insisted he will not lose belief. “I cannot lose confidence in my players. I believe in my players, my club, myself. We are working well. We have to improve quickly.” The urgency in that last word told its own story.
Tottenham wanted to use this season to “kick on” from last year’s brush with danger. On this evidence, they first need to learn how to stand their ground.
The money is coming. The names are coming. The question now is whether the soul of a team will follow.
