Lucas Bergvall proved Roberto De Zerbi right in the worst possible way for Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a humiliating peformance on the road at the Gtech Stadium to open the 2026/27 Premier League season, losing 3-0 to local rivals Brentford in a display even worse than many of Thomas Frank's low points last season.
Spurs will have to recover at mid week against Charlton Athletic in the League Cup before facing an even bigger Premier League side next weekend in Newcastle United, and while he surely won't start after his embarrassing display on Saturday vs. Brentford, center midifelder Lucas Bergvall will continue to be a huge topic of discussion.
Bergvall threw a bit of a tantrum and submitted a transfer request to Spurs even before the Lilywhites officially welcomed both Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, as the Swedish international, even during the World Cup, was already worried about losing his minutes to two better Premier League center midfielders.
Lucas Bergvall got the humbling he needed
Roberto De Zerbi managed to get Bergvall to stay this summer against the odds, but he knew in his heart of hearts that Bergvall is not yet good enough to start regularly for Spurs. He was terrible last season, and while he and others pinned it on Thomas Frank's coaching, Bergvall did not impress under De Zerbi in the 2025/26 Premier League season either.
Surprisingly, De Zerbi threw Lucas Bergvall a bone and started him against Brentford, and he was so bad that he had to get hooked off at half time. Bergvall did not look like he was at the Premier League level, as Brentford bypassed him like he was not there. He made life so much harder on his teammates and gave a legitimate 0 out of 10 performance, one of the worst we have ever seen by a midfielder in a Tottenham Hotspur kit.
After the game, Roberto De Zerbi admitted that he knew Bergvall would struggle and was not ready to start against Brentford anyway, but he did so in order to let the U21 talent sink on purpose. De Zerbi told reporters, via Hotspur Lane, “I think it was important for this new time for Lucas to start. I knew before the game that Lucas might suffer in a game like this more than Rodrigo Bentancur who is much older but it is important for the future of the club and the direction in which we're working.”
So basically, Mateus Fernandes got a bit of extra rest and came in and saved Tottenham from embarrassing themselves further as a significant upgrade, but like anyone could have predicted, he was way better than a clearly overmatched Bergvall.
Some Tottenham fans will be happy De Zerbi gave Bergvall mintues, others will be upset that he sacrificed the team's results. But the larger point remains that Bergvall isn't ready for minutes, and in the long run, him struggling against Brentford was a positive because it proved De Zerbi's point right and is the humbling the youngster likely needed.
