Tottenham Hotspur’s ambitious summer rebuild suffered an immediate setback as Brentford produced a stunning 3-0 victory to spoil Spurs’ opening Premier League fixture. Tottenham went into the new campaign with high expectations, having signed an array of players in the summer. Instead, Brentford revealed flaws in a display that had the early signs of a lack of form.
The loss was especially hard to endure due to the amount of change that had taken place around Tottenham. Spurs, as a completely different team and with a new season to play, had to get a good start to momentum. But it was Brentford who were in command and who exploited Tottenham’s weaknesses to win the game by 3 goals.
The result was also part of an unusually roller coaster opening weekend. New managers make early impressions for nine Premier League sides and promoted boys make an early start.
Hull City finished off their top flight debut nine years ago with a 2-0 win over Manchester United, and Ipswich Town were 2-1 victors over Sunderland. Leeds United also picked up a late 1-0 victory against Nottingham Forest ruing Oliver Glasner’s debut as he was disheartened.
The results highlight the difficulty that Tottenham and the rest of the Premier League faces. This is especially true of established clubs that assume that if they spend more and have more name recognition, then they will net more points; however, with all the changes in management and players that can occur in a particular season, that is not always the case.
But Tottenham will be keen to stay on defense for now. It’s only day one and the Raiders are down 3-0 so there’s not much to feel good about after a summer that was supposed to be about giving the roster a boost.
