Tottenham came crashing back down to earth on Saturday with a humbling 3-0 defeat away at Brentford in the Premier League. After a lavish summer of spending, expectations were high, but Spurs were overwhelmed by Brentford's experience and intensity.
Disrupted pre-season blamed
Roberto De Zerbi's side could not live with Brentford's suffocating press, and the Spurs boss admitted afterwards that a disrupted pre-season had left his team ill-prepared physically. Their performance, from chaotic defending to disjointed pressing triggers, lacked cohesion as Spurs started four debutants, with £85million summer signing Mateus Fernandes also coming off the bench.
Spurs looked like strangers as they fell 3-0 behind inside 49 minutes, with De Zerbi later declaring that his side were not yet a team.
De Zerbi calls for patience
“I think we are not a team yet, for a lot of reasons,” De Zerbi said in his post-match press conference. “Yesterday (last Friday) in the press conference, when you asked me what is the target, we can fix the target when you become a team. Before becoming a team, we can't say what we can do.”
Stopping short of excusing his team's performance, De Zerbi hit on the main issue that Spurs need to address over the coming weeks. After a summer of change, it will take time for his side to build an understanding with each other. “You can't become a team for the transfer market window,” he continued. “You become a team with the players. They find the connection between them, they find the spirit, they find the soul.”
More changes expected
With players arriving back late from the World Cup, and De Zerbi opting to be cautious with the fitness of James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Fernandes, the team that started against Brentford is unlikely to start together again. Mikey Moore is expected to leave on loan, while Spurs are hoping to sign Manchester City duo Omar Marmoush and Savinho in the coming days as they look to overhaul their attack.
More changes are expected, which means more upheaval is likely. This, though, should come as no surprise. Spurs were never going to become a winning machine overnight after successive 17th-place finishes in the Premier League.
De Zerbi is calm. He believes in his players and the direction the club is heading, but he has called for patience. He knows this project will take time, and he acknowledges that his team will need to “suffer” at times this season.
There is work to do across the board. The defence that played together against Brentford sported three debutants and 20-year-old Archie Gray, who, while making history by being named as Spurs' youngest-ever captain, is not a natural right-back. The midfield combination of Lucas Bergvall and Sandro Tonali struggled to cover the gaps, while Brentford bullied Spurs' attack.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong on Saturday, but De Zerbi hopes this performance can act as a wake-up call. In truth, Spurs only have to look at Brentford, who found themselves 3-0 down at half-time against Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend last season, to understand that a line can be drawn under one bad performance.
