Tottenham’s Rebuild Stumbles in 3-0 Defeat to Brentford

Tottenham’s lavish summer rebuild lasted all of 90 minutes before Brentford tore straight through it.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side, remodelled and expensively upgraded, looked exactly what their head coach later admitted they were: not yet a team. A 3-0 defeat on the opening day, built on goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode, exposed old frailties in very new clothing.

De Zerbi: “We are not a team yet”

De Zerbi, the man drafted in last season to drag Spurs away from relegation trouble, did not sugar-coat what he had just watched.

“For many reasons I think we are not a team yet. We are not at the right point in physical condition,” he said, before quickly shutting down any hint of mitigation. “But no excuse. When you are building a new project I don’t want time, but we have to pass through these problems.

“I believe in my players, my club and myself. I think we are working well but we are late for the start of the Premier League.

“It’s a step we have to improve quickly. We could fight stronger than we did today and we lost too many duels.

“The target is to become a team. To find the spirit, the soul, is a process.”

Spurs handed debuts to five new signings and are on course to smash through the €350million barrier in transfer spending once deals for Savinho and Omar Marmoush are completed. On paper, it looks like a squad built to leap forward. On the grass, it looked undercooked and oddly flat.

The lack of fight irritated De Zerbi as much as the lack of cohesion. Brentford won the physical battles, the second balls, the key moments. Tottenham never really responded.

Sangare steals the show

If Tottenham’s money has dominated the summer conversation, it was Brentford’s marquee addition who owned the afternoon.

Mamadou Sangare, a €48m midfield signing, walked into the Premier League and immediately looked at home. He pulled strings, broke lines and, crucially, set up two of Brentford’s three goals. While Spurs’ new faces searched for chemistry, Sangare simply got on with deciding the game.

“It’s pretty impressive on a lot of fronts. You never truly know from pre-season what you’re going to get,” said Brentford manager Keith Andrews. “But it felt like we were in a good spot and we produced a pretty good performance.”

Brentford had beaten off strong competition to land Sangare and, on this evidence, that battle was worth every phone call and every negotiation.

“More of the same from him, hopefully,” Andrews added. “It’s been nice working with him and the club deserves a lot of credit for getting that deal done because he could have gone elsewhere.

“He adds to an already quality midfield that we have. I really enjoyed his performance today.

“You never truly know in a different league, with a different language, but he’s a humble young man who looks very hungry.”

Hungry was the word. Sangare played as if he had a point to prove, and Spurs’ midfield simply couldn’t live with his energy and clarity. Every time Brentford surged, he seemed to be involved.

Brentford’s quiet rise continues

Last season Brentford missed out on European football only on goal difference. Even so, they still find themselves talked about as plucky outsiders rather than a fully fledged threat.

Andrews knows the storylines that swirl around his club, and he sounded more amused than aggrieved.

“That’s the beauty of this game,” he smiled. “It’s about journeys, it’s about stories, it’s about narrative. You’ve just got to go with it, haven’t you?”

On this evidence, Brentford’s “journey” is heading in one direction. They look settled, sharp and sure of themselves. Their recruitment once again appears targeted and effective. They out-ran, out-fought and out-thought a Spurs side still staring at the instruction manual for their new project.

For Tottenham, the numbers are eye-watering, the ambition obvious. But De Zerbi’s words cut through the noise. This is not yet a team. Not yet a soul.

The question now is how quickly they can find one in a league that rarely waits.