Roberto De Zerbi has sounded a sobering note after Tottenham Hotspur's 3-0 thumping at Brentford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, admitting his heavily rebuilt side are "not a team yet" and warning that a genuine collective identity will take time to forge.

The Italian manager was candid about his team's shortcomings, acknowledging they lacked the physical sharpness and competitive edge required for a Premier League opener — and that Brentford fully deserved their win.

A team of strangers

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp pulled no punches, describing De Zerbi's new-look squad as a "team of strangers" — a verdict that resonated given five of Tottenham's six summer signings started the match. Despite a spending spree set to exceed £300 million, including advancing deals for Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush, the wholesale changes in personnel made cohesion impossible from the outset.

De Zerbi said at his post-match press conference: "We are not a team yet, for a lot of reasons. We can fix the target when you become a team. Before (we) become a team, we can't say what we can do."

He pointed to disrupted pre-season preparations — with several players returning late from the World Cup — as a factor, while insisting these were not excuses but rather the realities of constructing a new project from scratch. "I don't want time," he said, "but we have to pass through these problems."

Soul and style — the two conditions

The former Brighton & Hove Albion manager laid out what he believes are the two essential ingredients for his team to function: soul and a clear style of play. Neither was on display at Brentford.

"When we find these two conditions, I think we can become dangerous for everyone," he said. "Until we reach these conditions, we have to suffer — and today, I think this defeat is important for us because maybe we woke up stronger than we thought."

De Zerbi retained belief in his players despite the setback: "I think we are much better than we showed today. So, from Wednesday, we can show our qualities and who we are. But even if we win Wednesday or next Saturday, we need time to become a team."

Bergvall's difficult afternoon

One of the moments that defined the defeat came when 20-year-old Lucas Bergvall gave the ball away, leading directly to Vitaly Janelt's rebound goal for Brentford's second. Bergvall was substituted at half-time for Rodrigo Bentancur, with De Zerbi admitting he had known beforehand that the teenager might struggle with Brentford's physicality.

"Lucas Bergvall, in the next two years, he will not lose that ball in that moment of the game," De Zerbi said, suggesting patience is required as the young Swede develops. Bentancur, meanwhile, was not fit enough to start having returned late from pre-season.

The scale of Tottenham's defensive overhaul was underlined when De Zerbi noted that all four members of their back line — Archie Gray, JP Van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, and Andy Robertson — were new signings replacing last season's quartet of Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie.

Gray steps up as youngest-ever captain

Gray, 20, wore the captain's armband as Tottenham's youngest-ever competitive skipper, deputising for new club captain Van de Ven. He was equally blunt in his assessment of the defeat.

"It was simple really: we lost too many duels," Gray told Sky Sports. "They just outfought us all over the park. For the fans — they were incredible — for us to let them down like that in the first game, there are no words for it."

Tottenham turn their attention to the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, when they host Championship side Charlton at home, before welcoming Newcastle United to north London in the Premier League the following Saturday.