Tottenham struggles with player fitness after World Cup as Newcastle test looms

Roberto De Zerbi is not a manager who sugarcoats things. After Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford on Saturday, he publicly singled out three of his own new signings for being physically below the required standard. Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, and Sandro Tonali were all given what you might charitably call constructive feedback, and what you might more accurately call a very public dressing down. The timing is particularly awkward. Tottenham had just brushed aside Charlton 3-0 in what looked like a comfortable return to action. That result apparently masked deeper problems lurking beneath the surface, problems that a side like Brentford was more than capable of exposing. The World Cup hangover is real The root cause isn’t exactly mysterious. The 2026 FIFA World Cup wrapped up recently, and players who participated in the tournament are still working their way back to peak condition. Recovery timelines are compressed, pre-season preparation gets truncated, and managers are left trying to field competitive squads with players running on fumes. De Zerbi made clear that none of this caught him off guard. He knew the condition of his new arrivals before the Brentford match. The c...