Tottenham Struggles as De Zerbi Acknowledges Team Issues

Tottenham’s new era began with a jolt, not a statement.

A 3-0 defeat at Brentford is bad enough on paper. In reality, it felt worse. Spurs, who flirted dangerously with relegation last season and are preparing to throw more than £300m at a rebuild this summer, were outworked, outplayed and, as Roberto De Zerbi bluntly put it, simply not a team.

At the Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford swarmed. Tottenham sagged.

“We are not a team yet for a lot of reasons,” De Zerbi said afterwards, the assessment as stark as the scoreline. “Before you become a team you can’t say what you can do.”

This was supposed to be the first step of a reset. Instead, it looked like a continuation of the chaos Spurs are trying to leave behind.

A rude awakening for Spurs

From the first whistle, Brentford set the tone. Keane Lewis-Potter struck, Vitaly Janelt added another, and Michael Kayode finished the job. Each goal underlined the same problem: Tottenham lost duels, lost second balls, lost belief.

“We could fight stronger than we did today,” De Zerbi admitted. “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 close to the truth. Spurs looked miles off the physical level required. De Zerbi did not hide from that either.

“We are not in the right physical condition for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Some players came back late from the World Cup. In Australia we don’t work in the right way but it is not excuses. It is a normal situation when building a new project.”

The pre-season tour, the late returns, the new faces – all of it has left Tottenham looking disjointed. De Zerbi insisted he is not asking for patience, but he knows there is no shortcut to cohesion.

“I don’t want time but we have to pass through these problems. I cannot lose confidence in my players. I believe in my players, my club, myself. We are working well. We have to improve quickly.”

New faces, same old issues

On paper, this was a fresh Tottenham. On grass, it was a familiar collapse.

Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali all made their debuts. That is half a team changed in one go, and it showed. The structure was loose, the connections missing, the spine fragile.

“There are steps to become better,” De Zerbi 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.”

The spending is not done. Spurs are close to adding Omar Marmoush and Savinho from Manchester City to sharpen their attack. But De Zerbi’s message cut through the transfer noise: signings alone will not save them.

He also pointed to absentees. Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven were all missing, while Rodrigo Bentancur, who started on the bench, only recently returned in pre-season. The spine he envisages is still incomplete.

Even so, the lack of fight disturbed him more than the lack of options.

Brentford’s bright start

For Brentford, this was almost the perfect opening chapter to their second season under Keith Andrews.

Organised, aggressive and confident, they never allowed Spurs to settle. Lewis-Potter, Janelt and Kayode took the headlines with the goals, but the heartbeat of the performance came from midfield, where Mamadou Sangaré dominated on debut.

The £39m signing from Lens looked immediately at home, snapping into challenges, carrying the ball and setting the tempo.

“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.”

Hungry. That word summed up Brentford. It also highlighted what Tottenham lacked.

Spurs will spend, tweak, and talk about projects. Brentford, on this evidence, already know exactly who they are. The question now is how long it takes De Zerbi to turn his collection of signings into something that deserves the same description.