Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi believes their dismal 3-0 opening-season defeat at Brentford shows his new-look side are “not a team yet” after a big summer of spending.
The Italian also admitted his team lacked fight in the loss in west London and feels they were undercooked for their opener, as Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp labelled them a “team of strangers”.
Spurs’ summer spending is set to surpass the £300m mark, with deals advancing for Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush.
But despite five of Tottenham’s six summer arrivals featuring against Brentford, Spurs were stung badly by the Bees in a deserved defeat that epitomised their back-to-back 17th-place finishes after avoiding relegation on the final day last season.
De Zerbi said at his post-match press conference: “I think we are not a team yet, for a lot of reasons. We can fix the target when you become a team. Before (we) become a team, we can’t say what we can do.
“We are not in the right point in physical condition for a lot of reasons. For the players, they came late after the World Cup because in Australia [pre-season tour] we couldn’t work in the right way for the trip; we don’t take risks for a lot of things.
“But (these) are not excuses, (this is) the normal situation when you are building a new project, a new process. I don’t want time, but we have to pass through these problems.
“I believe in my players, I believe in my club, I believe in myself. After the Hoffenheim game [final pre-season game last weeked], I said we are not in the right point, we are late for the start of the Premier League, but it’s a step; we have to improve quickly.
“We could fight stronger than we did today. We lost too many duels, we made too many mistakes in the timing when we wanted to push the pressure higher. We arrived second on the second ball; we didn’t win one second ball, one duel, one tackle, and it’s tough.”
He added: “Now the focus and the target is to become a team because a team. You can’t become a team for the transfer market window – the player on paper, no.
“You become a team with the players; they find the connection between them, they find the spirit, they find the soul – it’s a process.”
De Zerbi’s two ‘big conditions’ to become ‘a team’
Tottenham will aim to earn their first victory of the new season on Wednesday as they host Championship side Charlton in the Carabao Cup second round, live on Sky Sports, before hosting Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, also live on Sky Sports.
The ex-Brighton boss said: “We have to become a team, and to become a team, in my home, there are two big conditions: the soul and the style of play, and today, we didn’t show the soul, and we didn’t show the quality of the play with the ball and without the ball.
“When we find these two conditions, I think we can become dangerous for everyone.
“Until we reach these conditions, we have to suffer, and today, I think this defeat is important for us because maybe we woke up stronger than we thought.”
He added: “We need time, but I think we are much better than we showed today. So, from Wednesday, we can show our qualities and who we are.
“But even if we win Wednesday or next Saturday, we need time to become a team.”
Wednesday 26th August 7:00pm
Kick off 7:45pm
De Zerbi admits starting Bergvall was a risk
Spurs conceded a soft second goal as Lucas Bergvall gave the ball to allow Mathias Jensen’s saved shot that led to Vitaly Janelt’s rebound strike.
Bergvall was substituted at half-time for Rodrigo Bentancur, and De Zerbi admitted he knew the 20-year-old would struggle with Brentford’s physicality, but the experienced Bentancur was not fit enough to start.
Vitaly Janelt hit Brentford’s second
He said: “Lucas Bergvall for the second goal. I think he didn’t play badly today, even if I substituted at half-time.
“But Lucas Bergvall, in the next two years, he will not lose that ball in that moment of the game.”
He added: “If you analyse last season, the defensive line is: (Pedro) Porro, (Kevin) Danso, Micky van de Ven and (Destiny) Udogie. And today, Archie Gray, JP Van Hecke, (Marcos) Senesi and (Andy) Robertson – four new players.
“Two midfielders [last season]: Rodrigo Bentancur and (Joao) Palhinha. Today, two midfielders: Bergvall (and Tonali). Why not Bentancur? Because he came late in the pre-season.
“In the pre-season, we worked with Lucas Bergvall. I think at the beginning of the season, the new project, it was right to play with Lucas Bergvall. But I knew before the game that Lucas Bergvall, in this type of game, maybe he could suffer more than Rodrigo Bentancur, who is 29 years old and Lucas is 20. I knew before the game, but at the end you have to think. We go and we try to build something good for the club.
Saturday 29th August 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
“For the plan, for the project, what the club want and what we are in the direction we are working, I think is the normal process.
“Even if we are suffering for defeat, we are shocking for this defeat, especially for the way we lost the game, because they deserve to win and we played very, very bad.”
Gray: Brentford outfought us
Michael Kayode added a third
Archie Gray became Spurs’ youngest-ever captain in a competitive fixture as he took the armband in the absence of new skipper Micky van de Ven.
The 20-year-old, who played at right-back due to Pedro Porro’s late return from Spain’s World Cup win, admitted the team lacked fight in the defeat.
He told Sky Sports: “It was simple really: we lost too many duels. They just outfought us all over the park. We need to watch it back: that’s the main thing we need to do better.
“For whatever reason, we weren’t up for the fight as they were. That’s on us. For the fans, they were incredible, for us to let them down like that in the first game, there are no words for it.”
