De Zerbi walked into the away dressing room at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday and told his players the truth they had just seen from the touchline: Tottenham had been outfought from the first whistle.
Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring inside 12 minutes, Vitaly Janelt doubled the lead in the 33rd minute after Antonín Kinský could only parry Mathias Jensen’s shot, and Michael Kayode drove in a third two minutes into the second half. Igor Thiago missed a 55th-minute penalty against the post after Rodrigo Bentancur brought down Kevin Schade, sparing Spurs a heavier scoreline.
The expected-goals split was brutal. Sky Sports put Brentford on 3.96 and Tottenham on 0.47, and Spurs failed to register a shot on target in the first half.
“We didn’t fight in the right way”
De Zerbi did not hide behind the numbers. Speaking after the game, he put the blame squarely on his own side.
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“We were not ready to fight the duels. We made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure with Mikey Moore,” he told reporters.
“We didn’t play well. We didn’t fight in the right way.”
He then framed the defeat as a symptom of a squad still under construction.
“Even if we win on Wednesday or next Saturday we need time to become a team,” he said.
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An injury list before a ball was kicked
Spurs walked into their opener without several first-choice players. De Zerbi had confirmed the day before that Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Pape Sarr were all unavailable. Mohammed Kudus was “nearly ready” but not risked, while Wilson Odobert, Dejan Kulusevski and Xavi Simons remain longer-term absentees.
Four summer signings, Sandro Tonali, Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke, all made their competitive debuts in a reshaped back line and midfield, with Mateus Fernandes introduced at half-time. Tottenham spent over £200m in the window, according to Citizen, and De Zerbi acknowledged several of the newcomers were still short of full match fitness after late arrivals from a summer of international duty.
Brentford’s opening-day habit
For the hosts, Keith Andrews got exactly the performance a first-time head coach on opening weekend wants. Brentford extended their home opening-day unbeaten run to seven matches, six wins and a draw stretching back to 2019, in front of 17,180 at the Gtech.
“There was a lot to like about how the lads performed. We should enjoy games like this, as they are hard earned,” Andrews said.
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Janelt captured the tone Brentford set from kick-off.
“Straight from the off, we were very front-footed. We tried to make it very difficult for them and punished them,” the German said.
Spurs’ stand-in captain Archie Gray reached the same verdict from the other side.
“It was simple really: we lost too many duels. They just outfought us all over the park,” he said.
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Tottenham are back in action against Charlton Athletic on Wednesday in the EFL Cup before their next Premier League test the following Saturday. De Zerbi has asked for time. His players now have four days to give him a first sign that his message is landing.
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