‘I knew he would suffer’ – De Zerbi reveals why he started Lucas Bergvall in Tottenham defeat

Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi has opened up on his decision to hand Lucas Bergvall a starting spot in the club’s Premier League opener, revealing that the choice came down to the Swedish teenager or Rodrigo Bentancur. Ultimately, the Italian opted for Bergvall due to the Uruguayan’s limited involvement during pre-season preparations.

Despite the heavy defeat, De Zerbi admitted the result stung but acknowledged that growing pains were inevitable given the sweeping changes to his starting XI. When pressed by Football.London on whether he was caught off guard by his side’s showing at the Gtech Community Stadium, he responded: “Yes, I was surprised. I felt the pain of the loss, but we’re still putting in the work. If you look at last season’s backline—Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie—today we had Gray, Van Hecke, Senesi, and Robertson. That’s four new faces.

“In midfield, we had Bentancur and Palhinha last term; today it was Bergvall and another. Why not Bentancur? He joined late in pre-season. We built our summer work around Lucas. For the start of this new project, it felt right to go with Bergvall. But I knew going in—at 20, in a game like this, he might struggle more than Bentancur, who’s nine years older. I was aware before kickoff, but in the end, you have to make a call.

“We’re pushing forward to build something lasting for the club. We need Gray, we need Bergvall—either we invest in that now or we only play for today. And tomorrow? I can’t say. For today’s result, I take responsibility. But for the long-term plan and the direction the club wants, this is part of the natural process. Even though the defeat hurts—and it does, especially in the manner we lost—they deserved to win and we were well below par.”

De Zerbi backs Bergvall to learn from costly error against Brentford
The former Djurgården midfielder’s misplaced pass led directly to Brentford’s second goal, while goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky also came under scrutiny after parrying the ball straight to Vitaly Janelt.

Still, De Zerbi defended the teenager’s overall display and expressed faith in his development. “Lucas Bergvall—the second goal,” he said. “I don’t think he played badly today, even though I brought him off at half-time. In two years’ time, he won’t give that ball away in that situation. But these are the steps you have to take to improve.”