Roberto De Zerbi apologised for Tottenham’s woeful 3-0 defeat at Brentford as he admitted his players did not fight hard enough in their miserable start to the Premier League season on Saturday.
De Zerbi’s expensively assembled side capitulated in Tottenham’s joint-heaviest opening day loss in the Premier League era.
Tottenham have splashed out over £200 million ($272 million) in a bid to improve a squad that narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship on the final day of last season.
De Zerbi gave debuts to four of his new recruits as Sandro Tonali, Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke all started, while Mateus Fernandes came off the bench in the second half.
But Brentford struck through Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt in the first half before Michael Kayode netted after the interval.
De Zerbi offered no excuses for Tottenham’s shambolic performance.
“We suffered physically but we knew that before the game. We were not ready to fight the duels. We made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure with Mikey Moore,” he said.
“Especially in the first half, we were not in the right position to make the right pressure. If you analyse the game, you can see how many duels we lost in the first half when the game went in Brentford’s direction.
“We didn’t play well. We didn’t fight in the right way. Not because we didn’t remember the last season. Because these players are good people and with value and memory. But we lost too many duels.”
Tottenham have finished 17th in the Premier League for the last two years, but their summer splurge on new signings had raised hope of a vastly improved season.
– ‘I don’t lose confidence’ –
Instead, the away section at the Gtech Community Stadium was empty well before the final whistle as Tottenham’s furious fans made an early exit.
De Zerbi insisted he would not lose faith with his players despite such a frustrating start to the campaign.
“I am sorry for the defeat. I know we have to improve in our physical condition and the organisation. There were many new players but it was the first game. It’s part of our journey,” he said.
“Our physical condition was not at the right level for all players because many came later after the World Cup. Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and Sandro Tonali are not in the best physical condition.
“With a lot of new players, we knew we needed soul and style of play to become a team. Today I think there was the soul but we didn’t fight in the right way.
“I believe in my players. The first XI should be able to compete normally if the game went in this way. I don’t lose confidence in my players and these people.”
Tottenham’s Archie Gray became the youngest captain in the club’s history, but the 20-year-old admitted there was little reason to look fondly on what should have been a day to remember.
“I don’t think there’s any excuses to be honest. The work we do in the week is about moving in the right direction but today we got out-fought,” Gray said.
“We’ve got work to do. It’s not the start we wanted.”
AFP
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