Tottenham player ratings vs Brentford: Lucas Bergvall horrendous but new signing impresses
Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 3-0 defeat to Brentford on Premier League opening weekend.
Roberto De Zerbi's side were hoping to capitalise on their strong finish to last season and take that into Saturday's 2026-27 curtain-raiser.
However, Saturday's trip to the Gtech Community Stadium turned out to be the worst possible start to Spurs' new campaign.
Goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode sealed a comfortable three points for the home side.
De Zerbi will now be looking for a huge response when his team take on Championship Charlton in the League Cup on Wednesday night.
Tottenham News rates every Spurs player involved against Brentford on a scale of one to 10.
Lucas Bergvall's future could be back in doubt after Brentford display
De Zerbi confirmed that Lucas Bergvall wants to stay at Tottenham in the lead up to the Brentford clash.
The 20-year-old Swedish midfielder hasn't had it all plain sailing at Spurs, with injuries and inconsistent form limiting his progression.
But, with others dealing with injuries and fitness issues, Bergvall was handed the nod to start against the Bees on Saturday.
De Zerbi will probably wish he hadn't done so now, however.
He could've prevented Brentford's second goal from ever happening, but instead attempted to roll the ball past Mathias Jensen in a 50-50 challenge inside his own half.
Unsurprisingly, this soft attempt didn't succeed, allowing Jensen to let fly from the edge of the Spurs box, which Antonin Kinsky could only parry back into the six-yard box.
Janelt pounced for an easy finish, and Bergvall was subsequently withdrawn at half-time.
As per FotMob, he registered zero shots on goal, completed just 17 passes, was dispossessed once and completed only one successful dribble.
On top of that, he also made just the one tackle, won two of his four ground duels and played only one pass into the final third.
It was the kind of performance that may have Tottenham chiefs questioning whether he should be kept after all.
On the flip side, one of their new pieces of transfer business could hold his head high despite a rough opening day defeat in his new colours.
Why Marcos Senesi didn't deserve Tottenham performance
Signed on a free transfer from Bournemouth earlier this summer, Marcos Senesi always had the feel of being a very shrewd addition for Tottenham.
He would only be able to make one pre-season performance though, getting just over 80 minutes against Hoffenheim.
The Argentinian international looked very assured in that match, and he was arguably Spurs' best player against Brentford on Saturday.
Per FotMob, he had the most defensive contributions (15) and most touches (79) of any player on the pitch at the Gtech.
Meanwhile, he completed 53 of his 59 passes accurately, played four passes into the final third and was accurate with four of his six long ball attempts.
He also made five tackles, one last man tackle, six clearances, two interceptions, two recoveries, won eight of his 11 ground duels and four of his seven in the air.
It was a very encouraging performance from the new man, and one that made it clear he's going to be an essential player for the Lilywhites this season.
Tottenham player ratings vs Brentford
Antonin Kinsky - 3
Archie Gray - 6
Marcos Senesi - 7
Andy Robertson - 6
Sandro Tonali - 5
Lucas Bergvall - 2
Mikey Moore - 5
Conor Gallagher - 4
Mathys Tel - 5
Richarlison - 4
Substitutes
Rodrigo Bentancur (for Gallagher, '46) - 6
Mateus Fernandes (for Bergvall, '46) - 5
James Maddison (for Moore' 67) - 5
Dominic Solanke (for Richarlison, '67) - 5