Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi declared his side "not a team" after a chastening 3-0 defeat away to Brentford on the opening day of the Premier League season, criticising his players' lack of fight and poor physical conditioning. The result is an early setback for a Spurs side that narrowly avoided relegation last season and is set to spend more than £300m this summer, underlining how much work De Zerbi has to do to build a cohesive squad despite significant investment.

De Zerbi handed debuts to five new signings, including Andy Robertson, Sandro Tonali and Marcos Senesi, but said the team had lost almost every duel and second ball, and pointed to players returning late from the World Cup and a disrupted pre-season tour of Australia as factors, while insisting these were not excuses. He was also missing Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven, with Rodrigo Bentancur only fit for the bench. Brentford, by contrast, made an impressive start to Keith Andrews' second season in charge, with goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode, plus a standout debut from £39m midfield signing Mamadou Sangaré.