Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi felt a lack of readiness to fight was key to their dreadful start to the new Premier League season as they were beaten 3-0 at Brentford.
Expectations around Tottenham have risen significantly on the back of a big-spending summer, with a squad that narrowly avoided relegation last season undergoing a significant revamp.
Spurs have spent over £200million on new players so far in the transfer window, but they were comfortably second best against their London rivals as Brentford surged to an emphatic win.
Keane Lewis-Potter put the Bees ahead in the 12th minute after excellent work from Brentford’s new club-record signing Mamadou Sangare.
Vitaly Janelt punished Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky for only being able to parry Matthias Jensen’s drive as he tucked away the rebound to make it 2-0, and four minutes into the second half Michael Kayode netted the third from point-blank range in markedly similar fashion. Sangare’s fizzing effort proved too hot for Kinsky to handle, and Kayode prodded home.
Igor Thiago squandered a chance to make it 4-0 as his penalty hit the post, but that was cold comfort for Spurs and De Zerbi on a chastening evening.
Speaking to Sky Sports, De Zerbi said: “We suffered physically but we knew that before the game. We were not ready to fight the duels. We made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure with Mikey Moore. We arrived too many times late and we lost too many duels to compete with Brentford.
“I am sorry for the defeat. I know we have to improve in our physical condition, in the organisation. There were many new players but it was the first game. It’s part of our journey. With a lot of new players, we knew we needed soul and style of play to become a team. Today I think there was the soul but we didn’t fight in the right way.”
“I believe in my players. Especially in the first half, we were not in the right position to make the right pressure. If you analyse the game, you can see how many duels we lost in the first half when the game went in Brentford’s direction.
“We didn’t play well. We didn’t fight in the right way. Not because we didn’t remember the last season. Because these players are good people and with value and memory. But we lost too many duels.”
“We have to analyse this game. We cannot destroy everything because we are working well. Physical condition is not the same for all players because many started the season later.
“I don’t want to make excuses but we need to keep improving. We need to find the right spirit to fight but today, it wasn’t there. I expected better for sure. I didn’t expect this result but I knew the problems we would find today.”
