Roberto De Zerbi's Risky Choice: Lucas Bergvall at Brentford

Roberto De Zerbi knew he was gambling. He picked Lucas Bergvall to start at Brentford, and the Premier League promptly reminded the young Swede exactly how unforgiving it can be.

Tottenham were beaten 3-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in a bruising opening to their season, the midfield overrun and the new project exposed before it has even had time to settle.

A Risk De Zerbi Took With Eyes Open

With Mateus Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur short of full fitness after disrupted pre-seasons, De Zerbi turned to Bergvall to partner Sandro Tonali in the heart of midfield. It was not his ideal scenario; it was simply the one he felt he had.

Fernandes has been managed carefully because of calf fatigue. Bentancur reported back late after the World Cup and has been playing catch-up ever since. Neither, in De Zerbi’s view, was ready to start a Premier League opener played at Brentford’s relentless tempo.

So Bergvall got the nod. And Brentford went after him.

The 20-year-old struggled to get a foothold, unable to match the intensity of a Brentford midfield that swarmed and snapped into challenges. The pressure told on Tottenham’s second goal, when Bergvall surrendered possession in a dangerous area and Brentford punished the mistake.

By half-time, with Spurs 2-0 down inside 33 minutes and the game slipping away, De Zerbi made the change. Bergvall was withdrawn at the break in search of a reaction that never truly came.

A New-Look Spine, Harshly Exposed

De Zerbi pointed to the scale of change running through his side. Last season’s defensive line of Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie has been ripped up. At Brentford, Archie Gray, Jean Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson formed a completely new back four.

Behind them, the midfield axis has also shifted. Where once it was Bentancur and Joao Palhinha, here it was Tonali and Bergvall, a pairing still learning each other’s movements and the manager’s demands.

De Zerbi framed his selection as part of a broader decision about what Tottenham want to be at the start of this “new project”: pick the players who trained all summer, or lean on those with pedigree but limited preparation.

“In the pre-season, we worked with Lucas Bergvall,” he said, explaining why he stuck with the Swede over Bentancur. For him, it was “good” and “right” to reward that work, even knowing the potential cost in a game of this intensity.

He admitted he went into the match aware Bergvall might “suffer more” than Bentancur, who is nine years older and far more battle-hardened. He chose the long view anyway.

Pain Now, Belief in What Comes Next

This was a chastening night for Bergvall, hooked at the interval and left to digest the moment that led to Brentford’s second goal. Yet De Zerbi refused to pin the defeat on him.

He insisted the midfielder “didn't play bad”, despite the error and the substitution, and made it clear this is part of the process he expects a young player to go through.

In De Zerbi’s eyes, the lesson will stick. The Tottenham head coach believes that “in the next two years” Bergvall will not lose that kind of ball in that kind of moment. That is the point, as he sees it: there are steps a player has to climb to become what Spurs need him to be.

Tottenham were outplayed, their pre-season disjointed, their new structure exposed. But De Zerbi is already weighing something bigger: do Spurs live for the comfort of today, or accept nights like this to build the midfield of tomorrow?