What went wrong for De Zerbi at Brentford? How good is Sangare? What else do Spurs need after £250m spend?
Tottenham Hotspur have spent significantly this summer but Roberto De Zerbi’s side were comprehensively beaten by Brentford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
Spurs have committed to spending nearly £250m on transfers already this summer, with a deal worth up to £85m for Savinho agreed with Manchester City and one for his team-mate Omar Marmoush progressing too.
De Zerbi gave four players their competitive debuts for Spurs in defenders Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi, with Sandro Tonali starting in midfield. But there is understandably work to do before they look a team and Brentford raced into a 2-0 lead in little over half an hour with Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt scoring.
De Zerbi made two changes at the break with Mateus Fernandes making it five Spurs debuts but Brentford struck again, with Michael Kayode finishing after the impressive Mamadou Sangare, making his Premier League debut, had his shot saved.
De Zerbi saved Spurs from relegation last season but looks to have a big job still to do to turn their fortunes around.
The Athletic’s Jay Harris and Liam Tharme break down the key talking points.
What went wrong for De Zerbi?
Firstly, he picked a team packed with technical quality against an opponent known for its physical dominance. And De Zerbi knew that. This was his fifth Premier League match against Brentford and he’s only beaten them once.
Kevin Danso would have offered more protection, particularly against Igor Thiago and Kevin Schade. Brentford won 12 of the 18 first-half aerial duels and 64 per cent of their long passes found a team-mate.
Similarly, the hold-up striker role handed to Richarlison suited Dominic Solanke much better. Richarlison does his best work running into space and isolating centre-backs out wide. He does not have the strength of a back-to-goal target man which was exposed for Brentford’s second goal, when Antonin Kinsky played through the press to him, and Kristoffer Ajer dispossessed the Brazil forward with ease.
Roberto De Zerbi had a day to forget (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
The pick of Conor Gallagher at No 10 was a curious one because this was the one position where De Zerbi opted for physicality. He tried to correct the error at half-time, switching the yellow-carded Gallagher for Mateus Fernandes, but the damage was already done. Lucas Bergvall, who lost a duel in the build-up to the second goal, was hooked too.
At no stage did Spurs get a grip on Brentford’s set pieces — which falls on specialist coach Andreas Georgson — including the third goal by Kayode on 49 minutes, which sealed the win. There’s a root cause here too: Spurs have now failed to win for 35 Premier League matches when going 1-0 down, losing 27 of those, and last won from such a position in November 2024.
Liam Tharme
How good is Mamadou Sangare?
This was supposed to be the day where Sandro Tonali demonstrated why Spurs spent a club-record £100m to sign him from Newcastle United. However, Tonali was completely overshadowed by Mamadou Sangare who was making his Premier League debut and cost half the price.
Brentford bought Sangare to replace Jordan Henderson. It seemed strange at the time that Brentford were not particularly bothered about losing Henderson to Chelsea but now it all makes sense. Sangare is elegant in possession and unafraid to stick his foot in too. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Sangare sent Spurs a few warning signs with some clever line-breaking passes and his ability to effortlessly glide past tackles.
Sangare celebrates his role in the third goal (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
The Mali international created Keane Lewis-Potter’s opening goal almost single-handedly. He picked up the ball, exchanged a slick one-two with Dango Ouattara and burst into the box before picking out Lewis-Potter with a perfectly-weighted pass.
Sangare continued to be a nuisance for Spurs with Tonali and Lucas Bergvall powerless to contain him. Just before half-time, Marcos Senesi was the favourite for a loose ball until Sangare produced a beautiful pirouette and nudged it with his backheel into the path of Ouattara.
De Zerbi sacrificed Bergvall and Conor Gallagher at half-time for £85m signing Mateus Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur yet the situation became even worse. Sangare’s half-volley from the edge of the box led to Michael Kayode’s goal and then Bentancur gave away a penalty for fouling Kevin Schade. Fortunately, Igor Thiago hit the post to limit the damage.
It looks like Brentford have found themselves another hidden gem in the transfer market.
Jay Harris
Spurs have spent about £250m. What more do they need?
Spurs’ humbling defeat to Brentford reminded everybody why they still have more work to do in the transfer market. Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi had difficult debuts but the defence will be improved significantly when Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven return to full fitness. Mateus Fernandes’ promising second-half cameo suggests he could forge a strong partnership with Sandro Tonali in central midfield.
It was painful to watch Spurs attempt to create chances though. Richarlison was completely ineffective at holding the ball up and connecting with his team-mates while Conor Gallagher lacks the creativity to function as a No 10. Mikey Moore wasted three great chances to score in the second half before he was replaced by James Maddison.
Maddison tried his best but is still finding his feet after recovering from two ACL injuries. The only player to emerge with any credit is Andy Robertson for whipping multiple excellent crosses into the box.
Tonali struggled to assert himself in midfield (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)
Signing Savinho from Manchester City will give Spurs a versatile winger who can provide competition and cover for Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel. Omar Marmoush is potentially the more exciting acquisition. Spurs have lacked a quality centre-forward since they sold Harry Kane to Bayern Munich three years ago. Dominic Solanke has struggled with injuries over the last 18 months and will need to rediscover his sharpness. Marmoush’s speed, two-footedness and flexibility could offer Spurs a wildcard option upfront and open up a lot of interesting different tactical approaches. Spurs just need to hope Marmoush and Savinho have not been put off by this underwhelming performance.
It should be pointed out that five years ago Brentford beat Arsenal on the opening day of the season. Arsenal were missing several of their key players, handed debuts to a couple of new signings and spent more money before the window closed that year. Arsenal went on to finish fifth under Mikel Arteta. Spurs will be hoping history repeats itself and that by the end of the season this will also be viewed as a freak result.
Jay Harris
What next for Brentford
Tuesday, August 25: Birmingham City (away), Carabao Cup, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Tottenham Hotspur?
Wednesday, August 26: Charlton Athletic (home), Carabao Cup, 7.45pm UK, 2.45pm ET