Big-spending Spurs begin with dismal defeat at Brentford

23:01He has a little scan and now he's pointing because he knows he is free right there. And here's your deepest midfielder, Tonale. He cannot connect to Jensen to defend. The pass detail from Sangare is outstanding, as we saw all game, because he absolutely rips it through the lines and says, go forward. It pulls Van Hecker out and then look who ends up getting the return pass. And this is what I'm talking about with speed of play. look at Sangare again here how quickly he shifts this ball out here as soon as he receives it look at that, one touch and it completely drops Tottenham off completely drops them off to a point where Tell is the left back but they didn't like it so they didn't play forward they build and look where they've got Tottenham now the whole 11 here or the whole 10 outfield here and then they wait for the moment and then like you say Sangare just does the business here pulls Bergvall out gets into the space so Tara and then look here the ability to pick somebody out in that moment is absolutely class and then the finish is clean as anything I love it I think you're absolutely spot on with Tottenham what you'd also say is that was unbelievable football from Brentford wasn't it but defensively from Tottenham I think you've nailed it that was a fantastic team goal it won't win goal of the season but in terms of every player playing their role filling in seeing where the picture is I thought that was a magnificent team goal and it shows you you asked a question to Keane And that might be how they start to evolve now with this team at Brentford.

24:30Well, hopefully we get a chance to talk to Keith Andrews as well later on. And it feels, the way that you've described it, both of you, that it's a real coach's goal. So we'll get his thoughts on that a bit later on. 2-0 this time, but it was Vitaly Janult on the scoreline. Yeah, and you flip this one because this is Tottenham playing out from the back. And we'll get to it in a minute from the next angle. But we spoke about the lack of desire and that 50-50 duel from Bergweld there. He loses it. And then it's a second phase finish, kind of a scruffy goal. But this is the bit which we want to highlight here.

25:01So we highlighted it at half-time. We just roll it back just a tiny little bit. Because this is what Tottenham want to do in terms of what they do to teams. They want to build with two deep midfielders. Centre-back and then Van Hecker will be out here somewhere in sort of like a box. But because Brentford are just being really aggressive and brave, Kingsky has to go long. And this is so important for a deserved team. We saw it at Brighton, we saw it at Marseille. that the highest man here, Richarlison, that can get the ball, he has to pin the ball. He has to hold it, doesn't he, Jamie? He has to hold it.

25:32So as soon as this pass goes in here from Kingsky, in this moment here, what I would expect to see from a De Zerbe team is one of these midfielders to come and connect underneath him. And being really critical, could Bergvall come in this space here so he can see him, at least see him, because where's the space? Absolutely. Where is the space? Can you just hold it there as well? You know the other thing as well, how brave are the two Brentford centre-backs? You know, both Collins and Ayer. They're so high up the pitch, you've got Coyote in a ready position there in case that ball gets in behind just to help his centre-back.

26:09Such a brave side to play. You're spot on, Jamie, because the importance of Richarlison holding on to the ball in this moment, it's equally important for Ayer here to win the ball. Because exactly like you say, look where he is. So as the ball progresses here, he gets a little nick on it, But then this bit here from Bergvall, and I don't want to be too hard on him. He's a young player with obviously a very bright future ahead. But in this moment now, it goes without saying, you have to win that duel. You have to win the duel because then look what happens. Jensen again, confidence is high. Like I said at half-time, he telegraphs the shot, gets a lot of dip on it.

26:44Kingsky has to make a save. The ball's moving, it's dipping. And then there it falls to... I'm out for the finish. it's a good goal for Brentford but again poor from Tottenham in terms of their build-up structure In terms of Brentford's third goal Jamie were there signs that this was maybe somewhere they were going to get some joy? I looked at the first corner at the start of the game and you've heard me say this a lot Kelly I'm not a big fan of leaving players on the edge of the box free especially when Sangare if you go through his time in France he's got a really good shot he scores goals from distance I can't get my head around it And if you look, there's Mikey Moore, who's a winger.

27:25He's not a defensive player. And I know he's only going to try and block. I hear it all the time. There's your players there, you know, that are going to attack the ball. Sinesi and Van Hecker. I really don't like this set-up. But what they do, they actually do a really clever corner here, where I think it is Keane Lewis Potter is going to come into this area here where Sangari is. He's going to come out. But my, I don't know for sure, because I'm not in a dressing room, but I think what Brentford do after this is they'll identify something that can definitely work for them in the second half.

27:54And that is by keeping Nathan Collins here at this back post, he then can head the ball back to somebody if you keep them on the edge of the box because they don't mark the edge of the box. Anyway, let's just let this one play on because this is a really clever corner. But I think at halftime, we're talking about brilliant set-piece coaches now and the level of detail that these guys look at everything. I've got no doubt at all that they would have done something where the set-piece coaches would have said, Right, we've got an opportunity here. Tottenham do not mark that area. Again, different story.

28:28But we've got a back post situation with Archie Gray and Nathan Collins. That's a mismatch. Complete mismatch. Jan Elk's got a really lovely left foot. There's no doubt he can play this ball into exactly where he wants to. You get Thiago taking Mikey Moore in, Sharda. He doesn't want to be doing that, Mikey Moore. Because there's no doubt he heads that ball back knowing that this man here is as free as a bird on the edge of the box. And as the corner comes in, it plays out like this. Because you can keep your eye on Mikey Moore. You keep your eye on them. They follow him in. Heads it back now.

28:59There you go. Great strike. And obviously, Coyote reacts first. And it just shows you this is the level of detail that you have to do now. You know, there's no doubt at all that I've ever looked at that at halftime. And that's where you reap the rewards. And this is the level of the game. And this is what set-piece coaches do, whether you like them or not. But they're so bright in every single aspect of it. You know, Keith Andrews used to do the set-pieces. so I'm sure he's involved in it now. But they are brilliant at these kinds of things, Brentford. And they don't just score really good team goals, they can also score these types of effective goals as well, Izzy, can't they?

29:30Spot on. I think the strike from Sangare on the edge of the box as well, it's all well and good finding the edge of the box and creating that moment, but having the composure to keep it down and the technique to hit it on target, fizz it into the mix with pace, and it'll be a problem for the goalkeeper and then it proved to be a goal. They also cause problems for Spurs in the sense that Spurs conceded a penalty in this game. The foul was Bentancur on Sharda. There was a lot going on, actually, in the build-up to this. There was a possible claim for handball, but the penalty was given for this incident that's just coming up, where they clattered into each other.

30:05I'm not sure either of you think it was a particularly nailed-on penalty, but certainly not a particularly soft one either. Clever from Sharda, because he gets the first contact on it and causes Bantankur to make the decision where the referee deemed enough to make a foul. And you made a great point on this, Jamie, about Thiago. Yeah, I suppose that's the only... It's not a blot in the copy books. They were so good, but for his confidence, it would be nice for him to get that goal, that penalty, just to get him off to a good start. Post-World Cup as well. Yeah, exactly. But if it had been 4-0, even 5, Mikey Moore had a couple of chances.

30:41That wouldn't have been... I don't think it would have done him... It would have been a disservice, really, because they were that much better than Tottenham today. And obviously with Sangara in midfield, revelation. If you're watching on Sky Sports' main event, you're going to be heading over to the golf now. The FedEx is underway. BMW Championship. Roy McIlroy is in action. You'll be able to follow that right now on Sky Sports' main event. And if you stay with us on Sky Sports' Premier League, we'll continue to reflect on the fallout to Brentford's 3-0 victory over Tottenham. and we'll focus more from a Tottenham point of view on where it all went wrong.

31:18We'll hear from their boss, Roberto De Zerbi, next.

31:48We'll be right back. Search Get Sky Sports to find out more. That's not bad, you know. Do you reckon I could get on the telly? Don't push it. Well, there goes that dream. The football season is back and you can keep across all the action on Sky Sports with 1 ,500 live games available for you to watch this season. That includes 80 % of all televised Premier League games plus matches in the WSL, EFL and Scottish Premiership. If you're not already a Sky customer and want to sign up, head to sky.com to get all the details. Now, though, let's get back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. You're listening to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast.

32:34Let's get back to the studio for more reaction to today's game. Much was made of the money spent in the transfer window of the new players that have come into this new look Spurs for the first full season. The first start to a season that Roberto De Zerbi has been in charge for, but it's ended in a 3-0 defeat by Brentford. Let's hear from the Spurs boss with Jonny Phillips. Roberto, from your perspective, what went wrong today with that performance? Oh, we suffered the physicality. But we knew before the game that we were not ready to fight in the duel. I think we made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure with Mikey Moore on the left center.

33:27We arrived too many times late, but at the end we lost too many duels to compete with Brentford. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for the defeat. I know we have to improve in the physical condition, we have to improve in the organization, because anyway there were many new players, but the first game is a part of our journey. We knew before the game even too many, a lot of new players to become a team. We need two things I said yesterday in press conference, soul and style of play. Today I think the soul, there was the soul but at the end we didn't fight in the right way. maybe for the difference of the duels because Brentford is maybe one of the most important teams in the Premier League in terms of duels.

34:44But, well, my first game. You prepared the team. So why do you feel they didn't fight in the duels? Was that their mentality out on the pitch? What was it? No, no, because I believe in my players. I don't know, it was a game especially in the first half, in one direction, we were not in the right position to make the high pressure, I said with Mikey Moore, but then if you You analyse the game and you can see how many duels we lost in the first half. In the first half, the way of the game went in the direction of Blenford. In the build-up to this game, you said that it was important to remember where this team has come from.

35:40They've been finishing at the wrong end of the table. I know there were some new players today, but did that still look like a team that could finish at the wrong end of the table? You are right, we didn't play well, we didn't fight in the right way. I think no, because we didn't remember the last season, because all these players are good people and are people with value and with memory. but we lost too many duels one of the best quality of Brentford is the one-to-one the man-to-man to win the duels and the set pieces Do you expect this team to change a lot in the coming weeks? Do you feel the team you put out today won't be the team that plays most of the season?

36:33No, I think the first 11 was was able to compete. Normally, if the game went in this way, now we can say a lot of things, but I don't lose confidence in my players. I don't lose confidence in these people. We have to work, we have to work, we have to improve, we have to analyse better the game and to find the improvement. Apart from the duels that you've identified, what other areas do you feel really need working on before the next game? I think we have to analyse well this game. We can't destroy everything because we are working well. We have improved physical condition for sure. The physical condition of the players is not for all players the same point because a lot of players they started the season late like Senesi, Bergwahl and a lot of players.

37:45but I don't want excuse. I want to stay focused on the improvement we have to do. And as an improvement, the first one is to find the right spirit to fight. And today, now maybe the spirit, by then we were not right to fight. Did it surprise you? Did you expect better? Yeah, better for sure. I didn't expect this result, but I knew the problems we could find today, especially in the duels, like I said. Thanks for your time, Roberto. You returned to that idea of them losing duels a couple of times during that interview. You also talked about the fact they need to improve on their conditioning and on their organisation.

38:35When you looked at the analysis and were critical of the way that they defended in terms of the Brentford goals. How much of that, Izzy, can we put down to the fact that this is not a group of players, by and large, who've played in a competitive game together? Yeah, I think to a certain extent, I understand the physical condition part. I think at this stage, not everybody's fully fit. Does the World Cup play into that as well? Possibly, quite possibly. And I think the thing is, though, that Jamie made the point pre-match. De Zerbe had the seven games at the back end of last season, kept them up, but now he's had the full pre-season to work with the players and obviously opened up the Premier League season for them tonight with that heavy defeat.

39:16And I think the physical condition is one thing, but I think the duels and the fight and the spirit should always exist. I would be more concerned about the patterns of play in terms of, but it's hard to put your finger on whether it was just Brentford who were excellent today or whether it was Tottenham who were poor because the basics like this here, losing the ball inside your own third, your defensive third, putting the opponent on an attack, that should have been a goal. Should have been a goal. It should have been in the back of the net. We analysed this one here, Kingsky playing out to Harchie Gray, Sharder gets across, it's a pressing trap, Brentford win the ball back again.

39:48And this is the goal that we saw, Richarlison not securing the ball underneath, giving Ayer the option to do that and win it. The duel is then lost, and then this is how Brentford punish you, isn't it, Jimmy? Absolutely. I think spot on in terms of just being really sloppy. This one comes into Bergvale, loses the ball too easy, cheaply, and then you're turning it over against a really good side. You can see there, get hold of the ball. You must know that someone's coming in behind you. They just have your wing mirrors on. Doesn't work. This is no one gets played into Benton core, gives it away too cheaply.

40:20Now, I will say I'm a big fan of Roberto De Zerbe, but considering the players he had at his disposal, I still think he picked a poor team today. That team that he had and the players that he left out, I don't know what Fernandes' condition is like. I think, obviously, James Madison in midfield would have been a better option. It didn't feel like a team that was equipped to go up against Brentford. And sometimes you have to pick a team that's going to be able to handle set pieces. I looked at Sinesi and Van Hecker and Richarlison, maybe from set pieces. They were the only three that I thought could compete.

40:54They weren't a big enough side. They weren't clever enough. They weren't cute enough on the ball. I think they were lacking in every department. And he has to take responsibility for that because that team just wasn't the right team to be equipped to play against a really good, solid Brentford side. But equally, as you pointed out, seven players missing through injury, including a lot of the leaders within the squad, including a lot of the members of that leadership group, which meant that 20-year-old Archie Gray became the youngest player to captain Spurs. Here he is with Johnny Phillips. Archie, where did you identify the problems in that performance?

41:25Where do you think it went away from you? It was simple really, we lost too many duels They just out fought us all over the park and we need to watch it back and that's the main thing that we need to do better really It's difficult straight away in the aftermath of a performance like that but why do you think you lost those duels? Like I said they just out fought us for some reasons on days in football a team will out fight another team and for whatever reason we weren't You know, go up for the fighters, they were, and that's on us, and for the fans, they were incredible, and for us to let them down like that on the first games, there's not really words for it, so we need to bounce back from that.

42:06Not all the starting line-up are at the same place physically, some have had less work than others. Do you think that was perhaps something to do with it, or do you think it was a mentality thing? I don't think there's any excuses, to be honest. I think we'll all look at ourselves in the mirror and it wasn't good enough. Like I said, we all lost too many jewels and I think that was the main part of the game that we lost. And again, it's that part about losing jewels. Izzy said that that's something that should always be there. Jamie, what would be the reasons that that would be missing from the game?

42:39It's not competing. It's the basics. Fundamentals of football, you want to win a football match, especially I think the game is starting to... It feels like the game is starting to go back to what it was 15, 20 years ago to a certain extent, where there's going to be more jewels. I think referees are letting more tackles go. Now, set pieces might go a slightly different way because obviously with the holding and things like all those, a couple of contentious ones a day. But I think unless you're going to win your midfield battles, unless you're going to win your second balls, you cannot win a football match anymore.

43:04It's not just about playing out from the back and having lovely pretty patterns and looking like what Brighton were a few years ago. You have to win duels. You have to win challenges. And if you don't, you don't win, especially against a side like Brentford. Now, I mentioned it. It's a big squad. Just to point out, we've put question marks over Savinho and Mahmoud because obviously they're reported to be in talks with those two players who may well be heading into Spurs in the not-too-distant future. But they've got question marks. The rest of them, OK, might not be fit at the moment, but that's a big squad.

43:35Yeah, I think if you looked at the two midfield players, you're going to have Tonali and Fernandes. Their certainties, you know, in the 10, Kulicheski, if they can get him fit. I'm a big fan of his in this area. But James Madison, Simmons is obviously out for a long time. Gallagher doesn't work in a 10 for me. I think he's more one of the defensive midfield players or he won't be in the team. Savino, if they can get him, really good option. I thought Tell was probably the only player today that I thought did okay. That thought, yeah, you can walk away from this game thinking I did all right today against a really difficult player in the right back, Coyote.

44:07Up from, this is an area. Richarlison is not good enough for Tottenham. They need to move him on. Marmouche, if they can get in, that would be a great signing. That's a massive upgrade from him. Solanke, if you can keep him fit, obviously a very good player. Savinho, I think would probably play on this side, but you've got Koudis here as well. Need to get him fit. Right back, Porro Gray, that's fine. Udagi, Robertson, Robertson, whoever you want to pick. Maybe Van Der Ven might go play left-back at times, but I would probably like to see, if I'm picking probably the best side you had to win three points, Probably go with Van Hecker and Van Der Ven because of the pace that Van Der Ven gives you.

44:44But it's going to look totally different to what we saw today, Kelly. But they definitely need someone in this area. It's all right spending all the money in the world. You need an elite centre forward. And right now, I don't necessarily believe they've got one. Solanke has elite moments, but does he do it regularly? Not quite. But Savino will be an upgrade. And they're obviously getting Kulicheski fit. It's just how, I don't know how his knee is, but he's such a good player for this side. But when they get their best 11, and it's going to look a lot better than what it did today because, you know, I think with Tonali and Fernandes in there, they should be out of control of the game.

45:16And Marmoucha is obviously going to be a really good signing if they can get him. If they get him and Savinho over the line. Marmoucha, an upgrade, as Jamie said, on Richarlison and potentially on Solanke, certainly in terms of consistency of availability. What are your thoughts, Izzy? Two players that arguably have they yet proved themselves in the Premier League, I would argue no. Are they two players that are talented? Yes. They've been at Manchester City and you don't sign for Manchester City unless you've got an abundance of talent. You know, what we get with Marmouche is a play, he's a different type of nine.

45:48He's not necessarily a hold-up play nine. He's a nine that looks to make those sort of clever little runs, pick up clever little pockets. And as we can see here, when he's given time and space, he can strike the ball. But he's dropping very deep. Very deep. I don't mind him dropping deep if he does that. No problem. I mean, it's fantastic. The goals we've seen are lovely goals, but there were only three of them in 21 appearances. And I think that what Tottenham need, and we speak about this Deserby style of play that we hang our hat on, that we think he's going to want to implement. And the players at the top, the ball has to stick to them.

46:21And then this is an example of what you get with Savino drifting in. He played on both sides for Manchester City, the left and the right. He's got incredible dribbling skills, 1v1 skills, which is exactly what Deserby will need. But again, I'm going to say it, in a Deserby team, the way that we've interpreted their football, at Brighton, at Marseille, is these wide players have to be able to retain the ball and secure the ball under intense pressure when they build. But you can see here, these moments are fantastic. We've got to remember, this is Manchester City. This is one of the elite teams in England who feed players.

46:52What do you think Tottenham need? I think they need a bigger target nine. I think they need a nine who's almost like a... I don't want to say a Jokeres, but like a player that's got a little bit of what Marmouche brings in terms of dropping deep, but I think a bit more physical presence up top. Osherman, perhaps. You know, just sort of a player with a bit more box presence. Salanke has that presence, but he doesn't do it consistently enough. And like you said, he shows it in moments. But I think if Spurs are going to look the way that we think a De Zerbi side will, that number nine plays such a crucial role in their build-up phases through the pitch.

47:27And the ball has to stick. Has to stick, or you have to be able to have that one-two touch ability to bring somebody else into play consistently well, like we saw at Brighton with the likes of Danny Welbeck. And it comes back to what Roberto De Zerbi said before the game, before he'd seen his side lose by three goals to nil, that this squad was by no means complete. And we know that they're interested in those two players that we've looked at. Potentially, they might be looking at more. Spurs have had a big spending summer, but it's yet to gel for them after that opening game. For Brentford, though, they've had consistency over this summer, and it's shown in their performance against Tottenham.

48:04We'll get the thoughts of their boss. Keith Andrews is up next.

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48:51You can get free Premier League, EFL, WSL and Scottish Premiership highlights through the Sky Sports app. There are also exclusive videos, live scores, our 24-7 transfer centre and the very latest news. It's free and you don't need to be a Sky customer to use it. Just head to your app store and search for Sky Sports. Now let's get more reaction to today's game on the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. It's time to get more analysis of today's match and head back to the studio. Mamadou Sangare pushed forward in front of the Brentford fans by his team weights to take their plaudits on what was a player of the match performance from him on his debut for Brentford.

49:43They paid a record-breaking transfer fee for him and it looks like after one game, it's paid off. The Brentford fans on finalysis rated him 92. He is their top-rated player. Also worth having a look at the two managers for contrast. Keith Andrews on 90, Roberto De Zerbe on 35 after that opening game of the season.

50:11So very different perspectives on the managers. We'll hear from Keith Andrews shortly. But Mamadou Sangari, 92 on the finalysis ratings. Player of the match performance. We touched on it earlier when we were looking at his role in Keane Lewis Potter's goal, for example. What did you make of his all-round contribution, Jamie? Yeah, it was a sensational debut. I think from minute one, he just controlled that game. He got the speed of the game very quickly. He's got that lovely cultured left foot. He's progressive when he goes with a ball. He passes forward every time he gets it. Those types of passes that you want to see from a midfield player.

50:45He wins duels. I just thought he was absolutely magnificent. He made the game look so easy today. and it's not always, especially as a midfielder, everyone talks about the pace of the Premier League, how difficult it is to adjust to it. He adjusted in about five seconds. He was just magnificent. And I said before the game, it was a really bright, intelligent piece of management, his agent himself to come to Brentford is the perfect place to develop. Because there's no doubt he's a, you can see it. You haven't got to be a sports scientist to realise that's an elite footballer we've been watching tonight.

51:20and he can play for a top four club. But the time is maybe not yet. You've just got to climb that ladder slowly. Don't think it's about getting there as quickly as possible. I think for Brentford, for a year or two, will be perfect. It's the perfect position for him. The fans will love him. They'll learn under Keith Andrews. And then when the right time comes, they'll find the next Sangare and they'll sell him on for an absolute fortune. And that's what football, that's what it's about. It's about recruitment, getting the right players in. And I was so impressed with him today. I thought he was absolutely magnificent.

51:49I can't think of too many midfield debuts that have been as good as that in a long time. No, I totally echo what you said. I think the humility as well, his post-match interview with Johnny was lovely as well. You can see he hit the nail on the head. The humility to come to a club like Brentford as well, like you say, he knows he's going to develop. I was reading before the game, Keith Andrews, what he said about him when he signed for Brentford was that he fits everything he wants a Brentford player to be. Now that tells me two things, that Keith Andrews has got a very clear vision about how he wants to look, losing Jordan Henderson, replacing him with that guy, 24 years old, experience of winning last season with Lons in the Coupe de France as well, which I think always adds something to it, that winning mentality, which is really important.

52:30So I think they've got themselves an absolute gem. You know what else I liked as well? Sorry, I was just going to say, in football now, we label, he's a six, he's an eight, he's a ten. He's just a midfield player. He's just an all-round midfield player that can do everything. And it's quite refreshing to see that because everyone now, even I watch young players play, and they're already playing in their positions. He's just like a brilliant box-to-box player that will get in the final third and score goals that we'll probably see him making goal-saving tackles. There's just nothing he can't do.

52:59You know, you could already see it. And what he did in the French League, I won't pronounce it, Kelly, because I made a... Ligue 1. Ligue 1. I said Ligue 1. People say, was it Ligue 1? Conor got him from Ligue 1. Someone said to me earlier, I didn't know they didn't get him from Ligue 1. Don't worry. But no, great recruitment from Brentford and you can see he's going to be a superstar in this league. Yeah, absolutely. And particularly, as you say, when he's got that freedom to play where he needs to on the pitch because that seems to be what Keith Andrews' plan is for this season. We can hear a bit more from the Brentford boss now.

53:24He's with Johnny Phillips. Keith, you never quite know when you go through a pre-season what it'll be like on the first day, but did that exceed all your expectations? Yeah, I've been through enough to know that. And as good as I was feeling about where we were, you never truly know where the opposition are, really. You get a sense of it from the games they play, but it's hard to feel the intensity of those games from watching on our laptops and meetings we have around us. So, yeah, I'm really happy with what we've produced today. From your perspective, what did you like about the performance?

53:55It was just us. It was us from the first whistle. It was intensive. It was relentless. It was filled with a way of playing that's very difficult to play against. It was filled with individual quality and personality, which I really, really love. and what underlined at all was just that togetherness that we have in abundance. You spent the bulk of this summer money on Mamadou Sangare. Did we see just exactly why he's worth that today? I think he's a top player. There's no doubt about it. He's the one we were after in the window. The club deserve a lot of credit for the work that they did and it was really important that we tried to get him over the line.

54:34He deserves a lot of credit, I think, because I think he could have gone elsewhere, potentially for a few more bob. but I think he recognised this would be a good place for him to come and he's settled quite nicely. And the dynamics he brings to the midfield as well, does that strengthen in other areas, even though it's the same personnel? Are they showing what they're about now too? I think when you bring in a really good player, it really brings the level of the team up. The players look around the dressing room and think, OK, there's competition for places naturally in that area of the pitch, but you're right in terms of the knock-on effect to that, the front line, the protection that the back four get now, but that's not to underestimate what we already have.

55:12You could see Yarmouk coming on and the impact of the dams came on. And that's what we really need. It's a long, long season, as you know, and we need strength and depth. And we certainly have that in that position. And is that with particular reference to finishing out games? I know you didn't need to particularly today, but do you feel that will be a benefit going forward? I think it was really important today. The impact that the bench had. Look at the right hand side, Jaden Anthony and Aaron Hickey came on and gave us real energy and determination and craft down there. middle and midfield have just touched on the two and then obviously we've brought on a pretty proven striker in Callum Wilson.

55:42Jamie Rednack described some of the stuff as total football out there today do you feel you're really evolving in the way the players are going about it? I'm just really comfortable where we are in the journey that we're on, there's going to be bumps in the road everybody knows that, it's football it's a soap opera of football and we just need to deal with that week to week and we're going to try and enjoy the journey It's only one game but you just missed out on Europe last season, you've got a clear run at it again this season do you feel it can go one better? The plan is to get better. I think that's pretty evident then what getting better means.

56:14We're going to keep pushing, keep striving. Today's just a start hopefully. Well done today. Thank you Johnny. Brilliant. Look, what are you two giggling at? He's not having his total football is he? No I am. No he's in Keith's not having it. Oh sorry. I meant the goal was total football. What he probably doesn't want to do is raising it. He's playing it down. But you're spot on, by the way. Well, I think you're spot on. Particularly because they made such improvements last season. I know we keep saying how unsettled their pre-season was last time around. The expectations were rock bottom. I think you said at the start of last season, Jamie, Brentford's first goal is just to stay up.

56:50They equaled their record Premier League finish. They were ninth as they were in 22-23 under Thomas Frank. And they did it having lost some of their best players. What is now, do you think, the ambition for Brentford? Is it to push for European football? Is it to try and win the first major trophy of the club's history? Well, that would be the dream, wouldn't it? Obviously, and Keefe would love that. And, you know, he doesn't want to put too much pressure on his team or the club. And I totally get that. But I look at the squad and the options that they've got, as long as they remain injury-free.

57:22Because last year, they picked up a few injuries sort of towards the end of the season. It was a bit unfortunate that it did probably end up costing them. But ninth last year, Thomas Frank had a ninth as well, which was obviously an incredible achievement. But ninth, I think when I look at that squad, Keefe would probably in his quietest moments at home think, we can beat that with this squad. Especially they keep the likes of Sangare fit and playing at that level. Callum Wilson's a really good signing. I think the defence looks really strong. I wouldn't be surprised if there's still one more to maybe come in.

57:52They've been talking about Jouf, the left back from West Ham, who'd be a really good signing. although Key Lewis Potter is a really good player, but you just need strength in depth. You know, you look at what Arsenal have done, you know, to get extra players. He's not like, I'm not going to play. It's just actually we need that squad depth just to make sure we can compete. And when I look at Brentford and the way that they do things, it is totally unique. It's an amazing job what they do there with the recruitment and the way they look after the players and the quality that they do things with.

58:19It's been an amazing achievement. So yeah, I do believe they can get into Europe this year, but it certainly won't be easy. And they're certainly not going to tell us at this stage of the season that Europe is their ambition. But they missed out by one goal, 10 minutes of added time in the final game of the season. If that goal had gone in by Wattara, they would have been in Europe this season. They were so close, Izzy. Can they take the next step? They can, but I think they've got no better man at the helm than Keith Andrews in terms of managing the expectations as well. Success for them, in my opinion, is getting around that area of ninth again towards the end of the season.

58:54where they've got the capacity to jump and maybe in the last three, four games have the opportunity to nick a few more points, which climbs up into eighth, seventh and therefore getting European football. And the other thing as well is with it is you've got to be as a club structurally underneath. You're not just the players, the staff, but the ability to play in Europe and compete in Europe requires so much more resource and so much more depth. You know, we spoke about the squad depth of Tottenham, but the squad depth at Brentford, it's sort of like, how can they add? and like Keith Andrews just alluded to there, the teams that Sangare could have gone to, but he chose Brentford, it's a step forward.

59:30It really is a step forward, but it doesn't guarantee European football. It guarantees you continuation of growth. And like I said, I don't think there's any better guy at the helm than Keith Andrews to take them on that journey. And they're just trying to get better every week. That's simply what Brentford are trying to do. They're going to be so hard to play against, isn't it? Yeah, they're horrible to play against. You look at that, because they're not just really hard in every single aspect in terms of the set pieces, but they can also really play. And that's what I meant about total football with their goal.

59:56So they're going to give teams so many problems. I still think they're probably, without playing down what I've said, the first thing you want to do is just for all of these sides now is stay in the Premier League, first of all. And by playing players like Sangare, you pretty much guarantee that, I think. You know, so then it's like, what can we do next? How can we take this club to the next level? But they're in a great position. And like you rightly says, Keith Andrews' stock just keeps getting higher and higher. You can see what he does and how he talks, he comes across so well, so considered.

1:00:23He's a really top manager. We still have a lot of Premier League teams to get our first look of this opening weekend of this new Premier League season. And you can see them over Sunday and Monday here on Sky Sports. 1 ,500 matches across all levels of football this season. And the Premier League continues on Super Sunday. Manchester City against Bournemouth, Brighton against Aston Villa, and then Newcastle against Liverpool. 4.30 kickoff with the build-up from 4 o 'clock. Fulham against Chelsea is an 8 o 'clock kickoff on Monday night and there's all the build-up plus reflection on the big stories from this opening weekend of the Premier League from 6.30 on Sky Sports Premier League.

1:01:06But at the GTEC this evening, it looks as though Spurs still have some problems to solve if they're to achieve what they will hope to achieve come the end of the season. But for Brentford fans who've been dreaming of Europe next season, they might just be starting to be league. Bye-bye.

1:01:26Thanks for listening to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Make sure you give us a follow so you don't miss an episode. See you next time.