If there was ever a game to snap you out of a summer haze of Tottenham Hotspur optimism, Saturday’s 3-0 opening-day defeat to Brentford was it.Tottenham were outfought and outplayed by a Brentford side who, after an outstanding season last year, may have hit a new apex. They were everything Tottenham were not at the Gtech Community Stadium: coherent, powerful, quick and decisive in the final third. While Brentford look to be edging closer to the finished article under Keith Andrews, Roberto De Zerbi is still stuck on his introduction.Out of context, it was a poor enough performance to revive memories of last season before De Zerbi joined, when Spurs looked rudderless and on their way to the Championship under Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor. Placed within a busy summer, with incoming and returning stars lacking match fitness after a World Cup and injury-disrupted pre-season preparations, it remains concerning, but with some mitigation.Here, The Athletic analyses three key points and asks whether fans should be patient or panicked after Tottenham’s first game of the 2026-27 Premier League season.The performanceTottenham and Brentford are at very different points in their respective journeys. Under Andrews, Brentford are a well-oiled machine who were among the league’s biggest overperformers last term. It is also an extremely settled team, many of whom were involved from the start of pre-season, with only three of their current squad at the World Cup. Mamadou Sangare, their only summer signing to break into their starting line-up on the opening day, appeared to be worth every penny of the club-record fee it took to prize him from Lens.Their seamless transition from last term’s record-breaking season to this year was underscored by a dominant 7-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt last week. Tottenham’s preparations have been much less straightforward. De Zerbi referenced Spurs’ pre-season tour of Sydney and Auckland in his post-match press conference, suggesting they “could not work in the right way” due to the travel demands.