Roberto de Zerbi stood behind his selection decisions after Tottenham lost 3-0 to Brentford.
Mamadou Sangare shone for the Bees on his Premier League debut in stark contrast to Lucas Bergvall, whose talent still requires refinement to excel consistently at the top level of the game.
·‘We try to build something good for the club’
Rodrigo Bentancur and Mateus Fernandes both came off the bench at half time to join summer signing Sandro Tonali in the middle of the park. The hosts almost immediately added to their two-goal lead with a third strike from a set-piece, but the inclusion of Bergvall remained a talking point.
With those senior options available on the roster, de Zerbi tried to justify his inclusion in the lineup.
“We lost too many duels, we made too many mistakes in the timing when we wanted to push the pressure higher. We arrived second for the second ball, we didn't win one second ball, one duel, one tackle, and it's tough.
“But if you analyse everything, you can find that we played with one [born in] 2007, one 2006.
“Lucas Bergvall, the second goal. I think he didn't play bad today, even if I substituted in the half-time. But Lucas Bergvall in the next two years, he will not lose that ball in that moment of the game.
“I think at the beginning of the season, at the beginning of the new project, it was good, it was right to play with Lucas Bergvall. But I knew before the game, Lucas Bergvall, in this type of game, maybe he could suffer more than Rodrigo Bentancur, nine years older, and Lucas, 20. I knew before the game, but at the end you have to think.