The score line flattered Tottenham-it should have been more.

Tottenham were beaten easily by Brentford and showed no stomach for the fight. Tottenham went down 3-0

Last season, Tottenham escaped relegation on the last day and finished 17th in the EPL.

The way the team played today told the story of why it ended up in that ignominious position. 

Brentford, playing at home, looked brighter from the get-go with Keane Lewis-Potter scoring the opening goal for the Bees in the 12th minute.

Tottenham has a habit of coming back from behind, and it appeared all was not lost, not with the “talent” its coach, the Italian Roberto De Zerbi, put out on the pitch. 

What tells the story is that Brentford had four attempts on goal in the first seven minutes, whereas Tottenham took an hour to make three attempts on target. 

This was a dismal performance by the team from north London who showed no strategy, no fight, no conviction. New season, same old Spurs.

Vitaly Janelt got Brentford’s second goal in the 33rd minute, which had Tottenham coach Roberto De Zerbi scratching his head.

Richarlison still has concentration problems and lost the ball near the halfway line, leading to Mathias Jensen pouncing and shooting from long range. Tottenham goalkeeper Kinsey parried the shot but only in the path of Janelt, who did not miss.

Tottenham were 2-0 in a little over the first half hour.

The humiliation continued with Tottenham posing no threat. 

Come the second half,  surely De Zerbi’s team talk would wake Tottenham out of its slumber. They would come out with purpose to turn the game around and win.

That didn’t materialise. 

Four minutes into the second half, Michael Kayode found the back of the net as a result of Tottenham’s goalkeeper failing to hold a volley from  Mamadou Sangare.

To make Tottenham’s misery complete, Bentancur brought down Kevin Schade in the box, giving away a penalty which Thiago failed to convert. 

Despite Tel, Richarlison, Solanke, and Maddison all featuring in this match, Tottenham were impotent.

With Tottenham expected to spend over 300 million pounds this summer on new players, this performance against Brentford was not a good return on money spent.

After the match De Zerbi said: “We are not a team yet for a lot of reasons. Before you become a team, you can’t say what you can do. We are not in the right physical condition for a lot of reasons. Some players came back late from the World Cup. In Australia, we don’t work in the right way, but it is not an excuse. It is a normal situation when building a new project.

“I don’t want time, but we have to pass through those problems. I cannot lose confidence in my players. I believe in my players, my club, myself. We are working well. We have to improve quickly. We could fight stronger than we did today. We lost too many duels today. We arrived second in the second balls. We didn’t win one second ball, one duel, one tackle.”