Roberto De Zerbi warns big-spending Tottenham need time and must improve ‘physical condition’ and ‘organisation’ – as boss apologises after crushing loss to Brentford

Roberto De Zerbi apologised as Tottenham started the season with a crushing defeat at Brentford.

De Zerbi admitted Spurs did not ‘fight in the right way’, ‘lost too many duels’ and ‘made a lot of mistakes’.

He also claimed they must improve in their ‘physical condition’ and ‘organisation’ but insisted he believed in his players and needed time for them to become a team.

‘I am sorry for the defeat,’ said De Zerbi. ‘We didn’t play well. We played very bad. We are not a team yet for a lot of reasons. We are not in the right physical condition, but these are not excuses, this is a normal situation when you are building a new project.

‘It’s part of our journey. Yes, I am surprised and I am suffering for this defeat. I expected for sure. I didn’t expect this result, but I knew the problems we would find today.’

Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson all made their debuts for Spurs.

De Zerbi admitted his new look side made ‘a lot of mistakes’ and will need time to become a team

‘We are trying to build something good,’ said De Zerbi. ‘There are steps to become better. Now, the target is to become a team. You become a team when players find a connection, find the spirit, and the soul.

‘Before this game, when people asked me about targets, I said first we have to fight to become a team and the two biggest conditions are the soul and the style of play.

‘We didn’t show the soul or the quality of play, with or without the ball.

‘When we find these, we can become dangerous against every team. Until we reach them, we have to suffer and today can be an important defeat. Maybe we will wake up stronger.’

Lucas Bergvall and Conor Gallagher were replaced at half time. Bergvall after losing a vital tackle in the build-up to the second Brentford goal.

‘Lucas didn’t play badly even though he was substituted,’ said De Zerbi. ‘In two years’ time he will not lose that ball in that moment of the game.’

Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode scored the goals, and Igor Thiago missed a penalty for Brentford.

Mamadou Sangare starred on his Brentford debut with Keith Andrews praising the club for securing his signature

‘Pretty impressive on a lot of fronts,’ said proud Bees boss Keith Andrews. ‘You never truly know what you’re going to get because intensity of Premier League is different to most friendlies, but I felt we were in good spot and the cohesion of the team was coming together nicely.’

On Mamadou Sangare’s starring debut, Andrews said: ‘The club deserve a lot of credit for getting that deal done. There were a lot of clubs looking at Mamadou and we were keen to get that done.

‘He has slotted in really well, adapted really well. You never know coming from a different league. He’s a humble young man, and very hungry. You can see his attributes. Great energy and quality. I enjoyed his performance.’