2026-08-23 11:32:12
Roberto De Zerbi admits Tottenham Hotspur lacked fight in their defeat to Brentford.
The North London club has spent lavishly in the off-season – but De Zerbi’s new-look team slumped to a 3-0 loss to their cross-city rivals.
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.”
Spurs have bought the likes of Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes over the summer, spending huge sums on their new-look line-up.
De Zerbi is convinced that Spurs will eventually get things right, but he knows it’s not an overnight process.
The Italian coach – who joined Spurs towards the end of last season, helping them to avoid relegation – said: “I believe in my players, I believe in my club, I believe in myself.
“After the Hoffenheim game [final pre-season game last weekend], 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.”
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