Brentford’s opening-day demolition of Tottenham didn’t just start the season with three points – it set the tone we had hoped for after an impressive pre-season. A 3-0 win, a Premier League debut to remember for Mamadou Sangare, and a Gtech in full voice from kick-off. Here’s what we took from the win, speaking to fans after the final whistle, from the managers and from the crew back at the Steam Packet who were still buzzing about it.
1. Sangare Announced Himself Immediately
Brentford’s record signing needed twelve minutes of Premier League football before the “I Want To Dance With Sangare” chant rang out around the Gtech. “He presses and he goes for balls, drifting wide to cover for teammates while the rest of the side reorganised instinctively around him. We’ve sorted ourselves out close season, big time.”
2. Tottenham Never Got Going
“They were like rabbits in the headlights,” was the verdict from the Gtech within minutes. Keith Andrews summed up the mood on the touchline afterwards: “I thought we started the game brilliantly and they were fully engaged. We want to be relentless. We looked like a real team.” Roberto De Zerbi didn’t disagree. “Bad game. We lost and suffered the difference in the duels,” he admitted. “We didn’t fight in the right way.”
3. Thiago’s Miss Couldn’t Dent The Performance
A penalty against the inside of the post was the one blemish on an afternoon Thiago otherwise worked himself into the ground for, tracking back to clear balls out of his own box minutes after the miss. “The performance eclipsed the result,” was the feeling in the stands – even with Forest reportedly sniffing around and a £70million figure being talked about (not too seriously mind you), nobody in the Beesotted camp is taking that too seriously at the moment.
4. The Defence Barely Broke Sweat
“They didn’t really have a sniff,” was the assessment of a Brentford back line that needed just a couple of smart saves from Kelleher all game. Even De Zerbi’s own numbers backed it up: he later named Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke and Sandro Tonali as three players well short of full fitness, with the Dutch debutant singled out for going “nowhere to be seen” when the game demanded a centre-half who could dominate it.
5. The Bench Looked As Good As The Starting XI
Five substitutions, and Brentford didn’t drop a level. “When we put five different subs on we look just as good as when we started,” was the reaction from the terraces, with Callum Wilson, Yehor Yarmoliuk and Aaron Hickey all introduced to see the game out. It’s the strength in depth Brentford lacked in previous seasons, now paying off from the very first weekend.
6. KLP And Janelt Got The Recognition They Deserved
Neither of Brentford’s other two goals came from the front three – Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt did the damage instead, both praised as squad players stepping into the spotlight. “It’s everything we dreamt of,” Lewis-Potter said afterwards. “We want to make our stadium a ground where it’s so hard to play for away teams. We have a special connection and it definitely shows.”
7. De Zerbi’s Game Plan Backfired
There was a sense from the fans that Tottenham had arrived with a physical approach in mind and got badly burned for it. Mateus Fernandes’ introduction at half-time did shift things – Tottenham found a bit more of a foothold once he was on – but by then Brentford had already taken their foot off the gas rather than been forced off it. De Zerbi’s own admission afterwards was blunt: “For many reasons I think we are not a team yet.”
8. The Atmosphere Plan Worked
All the talk of flags, red and white and getting in early paid off. “I thought the atmosphere, the flags were incredible,” was the verdict from the pub afterwards, with the fans given credit for matching the players from the first whistle. Steve from Corrupt FM summed up the shift in mood from twelve months of being written off: “There’s strength in our squad as well… it just looks optimistic now.”
9. Even The Opposition Fans Were Honest About It
Credit where it’s due – the Tottenham supporters who stuck around for a chat afterwards didn’t dodge the result. “Fair play to Brentford today, they absolutely walloped us,” one admitted, pointing out Brentford “were fitter, quicker, faster” and had a settled pattern of play their own new-look side simply couldn’t live with yet. There was also a rare bit of common ground: neither set of fans thought Thomas Frank’s brief spell in charge of Spurs had been given a fair crack of the whip.
10. Nobody’s Getting Carried Away – Yet
For all the goals and the songs, the line from the terraces stayed grounded: one win, seven days to Leeds, a long way still to go. But as Andrews put it of Sangare and the summer’s business, “the cohesion he brings to an already-talented midfield, we’re really happy with him” – and after a start like this, Brentford fans are entitled to enjoy it while it lasts.
Dave Lane
