Tottenham's Collapse: De Zerbi Admits Team Still in Progress
Tottenham’s season began not with a stumble, but with a collapse. A 3-0 defeat at Brentford, brutal in its simplicity, left Roberto De Zerbi staring hard at a group he insists cannot yet be called a team.
At the Gtech Community Stadium, Spurs were outplayed, outfought and out-thought. A club expected to spend north of £300m this summer, desperate to move on from last season’s flirtation with relegation, were given a sharp, unforgiving reminder of how far they still have to go.
“We are not a team yet for a lot of reasons,” De Zerbi said afterwards, his assessment as stark as the scoreline. “Before you become a team you can’t say what you can do.”
Brentford, in contrast, looked like exactly that: a team. Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode scored the goals, but the gulf went deeper than the numbers. Tottenham lost their duels, lost their shape, and in key moments simply lost heart.
“We lost too many duels today,” De Zerbi admitted. “We arrived second in the second balls. We didn’t win one second ball, one duel, one tackle.”
The pressure told early and never really eased. Brentford snapped into challenges, hunted in packs and played with the conviction of a side comfortable in its own skin. Spurs, for long spells, looked like strangers.
De Zerbi did not hide behind the summer’s upheaval, but he did not ignore it either. He pointed to physical conditioning, to a disrupted pre-season and to a squad still trying to find itself.
“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 word “project” came up more than once. So did “team”. For now, De Zerbi insists, Spurs are something short of that.
“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.”
This was supposed to be the first glimpse of that new era. Spurs handed debuts to Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali. Big names, big fees, but little cohesion.
They are close to adding more firepower, with Omar Marmoush and Savinho expected to bolster the attack, yet De Zerbi’s words cut through the noise of the market: signings alone will not solve this.
“I don’t want time but we have to pass through these problems,” he said. “I cannot lose confidence in my players. I believe in my players, my club, myself. We are working well. We have to improve quickly. We could fight stronger than we did today.”
He was not helped by absentees. Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven were all missing, while Rodrigo Bentancur, who started on the bench, returned late in pre-season and is still playing catch-up.
Even so, the manner of the defeat will sting. Tottenham did not just lose; they were overrun by a Brentford side entering their second year under Keith Andrews with purpose and clarity.
For Andrews, this was the ideal launchpad. His side were sharp, aggressive and ruthless in both boxes, and his new £39m midfielder stole the show.
Mamadou Sangaré, signed from Lens, delivered an outstanding debut, knitting Brentford’s play together and dominating the middle of the pitch. Andrews did not hide his delight.
“The club deserve a lot of credit for getting that deal done,” he 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 was the difference. Brentford had it everywhere. Tottenham barely showed it at all.
De Zerbi spoke of belief, of trust in the process, of the inevitability of teething problems when a “new project” begins. But Premier League seasons do not wait for projects to settle. The fixtures keep coming, the pressure keeps building.
If this is the starting point, how quickly can Tottenham find that “spirit” and “soul” their manager demands?
