De Zerbi admits he knew Tottenham were physically off before Brentford's 3-0 mauling

Roberto De Zerbi admitted he saw Tottenham’s humbling 3-0 defeat at Brentford coming as early as the previous Saturday, telling reporters after the Premier League opener on Saturday that his squad were simply not in the right physical shape to compete.

The result was a jarring opening statement for a club that has spent £228 million in the summer transfer window, with further signings expected to push that figure close to £350 million. Brentford led inside 12 minutes through Keane Lewis-Potter, before Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode extended the advantage either side of half-time. Igor Thiago struck the post from the penalty spot on 55 minutes, sparing Spurs an even heavier scoreline.

“I knew before the game, I knew from last Saturday when we played against Hoffenheim, we are not at the right point in terms of physical condition for a lot of reasons,” De Zerbi said. “For the players, they came after the World Cup and they came late for the pre-season in Australia where we had not time to work in the right way, in the best way, but it’s not an excuse.”

The Italian, who named four summer signings in his starting line-up, acknowledged that a young first XI still should have offered more resistance. “We lost too many duels. We didn’t find the right timing to go in the high pressure. I think it’s a sad day for us because I’m disappointed for the result, for the performance, but we have to be good, to analyse well the defeat.”

The defeat is a sobering early reality check for a club that finished 17th in each of the past two Premier League seasons and has backed De Zerbi heavily in the market to reverse that slide.

Despite the chastening afternoon at Brentford, De Zerbi urged calm and urged his players not to let the result erode the confidence built during pre-season. “We can’t lose the confidence. We can’t lose what we created last season,” he said. “We have to stay calm and put the focus on the improvement we have to do. I think we are all in the right situation to build something special, maybe not immediately, we need time, but I think we are in a good way.”

Tottenham next face Charlton in the Carabao Cup in midweek before hosting Newcastle in the Premier League the following Saturday.