According to Football.London, Tottenham lost 0-3 to Brentford in their opening Premier League match of the new season. Head coach Roberto De Zerbi attended the post-match press conference to answer questions from the media.

In the 12th minute, Brentford took the lead when midfielder Yoane Wissa found space outside the Tottenham box and passed to Bryan Mbeumo, who finished unmarked. After Richarlison's poor control, Lucas Bergvall lost possession to Mathias Jensen. Following Forster's save from Jensen's shot, the loose ball fell to Vitaly Janelt, who tapped it in easily.

Just four minutes into the second half, Brentford extended their lead to 3-0. After Forster's save from Wissa's close-range attempt, the ball reached Mads Roerslev, who headed it in. Shortly after, Rodrigo Bentancur fouled Schade in the penalty area, but Vitaly Janelt's penalty struck the left post and bounced clear, sparing Tottenham.

Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold asked questions at the stadium. Below is the full transcript of the press conference at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Q: The team never seemed to be in control of the game. Was it a fitness issue, a lack of effort, or too many new signings?

A: There are many reasons. I don’t think we are a complete team yet. At yesterday’s press conference, someone asked me about our goals for the season, and I said that we can set goals only when we become a real team. Until then, we cannot talk about what we can achieve.

Our physical condition is certainly not at its best for several reasons. Players returned late after the World Cup, and our training in Australia was disrupted by travel, making systematic preparation impossible. We made many compromises to avoid risks, but these are not excuses.

These are normal challenges when building a new project. I don't need anyone to give me time, but we must work through these issues. I will not lose faith in the players. I believe in my squad, the club and myself. We are heading in the right direction; we are just facing difficulties at the moment.

After the Hoffenheim game, I said we were not in good form and had started this season slowly. But this is just a phase, and we must improve quickly.

In any case, we could have been more competitive today. We lost too many duels and made too many mistakes in our pressing positions. We were always one step too slow to the second balls; we didn't win a single second ball, duel, or tackle, which made the game very difficult. But you should also note that we fielded players born in 2007 and 2006 today.

Lucas Bergvall was at fault for the second goal, and although I substituted him at halftime, I don’t think his overall performance was poor. In two years’ time, he won’t lose the ball so easily in that situation; development takes time.

Our immediate goal is to become a real team. A team is not built through transfer windows, new signings, or on paper alone. Players need to build chemistry and find their team spirit and identity. As I said yesterday, this is a gradual process.

Q: You mentioned young players such as Mikey Moore and Mats Tel. Does today's result suggest that the forward line still needs more experienced players?

A: No, it doesn’t. Archie Gray faced the same situation today. Like Lucas, many of our new signings need time to find their rhythm together—players such as Tonali, Senesi, and van Hecke. My vision won’t change; the club and the entire project are moving in the right direction. We need time, and the top clubs over the past decade have gone through this phase too.

Q: Player integration takes time, but given the team's form at the end of last season, many fans have been shocked by this defeat. Were you surprised?

A: Yes, I was surprised and deeply disappointed by this defeat, but we will move forward. Last season, our defense consisted of Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, and Udogie. Today, it was Archie Gray, van Hecke, Senesi, and Robertson—four completely new defenders.

In midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur and Palhinha could both play, but today I chose Bergvall and did not start Bentancur because he returned late for preseason, and we had been training with Bergvall.

At the start of the season, during the initial phase of a new project, starting Bergvall was a reasonable decision. Before the match, I knew that in a game of this intensity, 20-year-old Bergvall might struggle more than 29-year-old Bentancur. These factors had to be weighed.

We need to build a long-term foundation for the club. We need Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall. We must fight for the present while planning for the future.

Looking purely at today's result and performance, I completely understand the fans' disappointment. From the perspective of the club's long-term plan and our direction, this is a normal growing pain in the building process. We are devastated by the loss, especially by losing in this manner. Brentford deserved the victory; our performance was very poor.

Q: Can this match bring the players back to reality?

A: Yes, it can. Yesterday, before the match, someone asked me about our transfer window success and season goals, and my first point was that we must first become a real team.

In my view, there are two core conditions for becoming a strong team: fighting spirit and a clear playing style. Today, we showed neither.

This applies whether we have the ball or not. Once these two conditions are met, we can threaten any team. Until we achieve them, we will have to endure setbacks like this. This loss is important; it may wake us up sooner than expected.

Q: What role will Archie Gray have this season following Spence's departure?

A: Archie Gray can play as a full-back or in midfield. His performance today was well below his usual standard, but it wasn't just him — van Hecke, Tonali, Richarlison, everyone underperformed.

We won't change our assessment of Archie Gray, Richarlison or Tel because of one match.

Q: How long do you expect it to take for the team to find its rhythm? Can we sort it out before the international break or fix it before next week's Newcastle match?

A: We need time, but the team's true level is much higher than what we showed today. From Wednesday onwards, we will show our real quality and reveal the team's identity.

But even if we win on Wednesday or next Saturday, we still need time to develop into a real team. This is an unavoidable process; we need to analyze our problems, understand where we are, and everyone must keep improving. Wins and losses belong to the whole team.

Q: Last season, Tottenham were very dangerous from set pieces, but with Carlos Romero and Palhinha, two key set-piece players, having departed, how will you adjust your set-piece tactics?

A: Brentford are one of the Premier League's strongest teams from set-pieces, so it's natural that we struggled defensively. Compared to set-pieces, our bigger problem today was being completely outfought in duels and second balls.

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