There really aren't many silver linings for Tottenham Hotspur to take home from their 3-0 blowout loss in the opening game to Brentford, as the Bees faithful at the Gtech Stadium derided Spurs wtih chants about Thomas Frank as Spurs legitimately looked as terrible as they did at any point last season under their former manager.
But if there was one positive to take hom from the nightmare Matchday 1 encounter to kick off Roberto De Zerbi's 2026/27 Premier League season, then it was young defensive midfielder Mateus Fernandes. It would be a stretch to say that he looked like an 85 million pound player, but it would not be a stretch at all to say he was the best player on the pitch for Spurs in the second half.
Starting Lucas Bergvall over Fernandes, unless if De Zerbi truly felt the Portuguese international lacked the sharpness or fitness yet to start, is an indefensible position that will not be repeated, as Fernandes was by far both the most dynamic and best technical midfielder on the day, including above the more expensive, 100 million pound signing Sandro Tonali.
Mateus Fernandes actually looked more worthy
The thing is, as bad as Tottenham Hotspur looked against Brentford, they actually were not the most disappointing team on Saturday. That dishonor would go to Manchester United, who lost 2-0 to newly promoted side Hull earlier that day - the same Man United that felt Mateus Fernandes was too expensive and whose fan base have mocked Spurs for the signing, only to then spend 70 million pounds on Carlos Baleba.
Now, Baleba is a great young midfielder in his own right and was actually one of the best in the Premier League before a sour 2025/26 season. But it is jarring to see Manchester United mock Tottenham for spending 85 million pounds on Fernandes when Fernandes was much better than Baleba last season and looks like a better overall player when factoring in his passing, creativity, and technical quality.
Baleba did not get to feature for Man United against Hull, but Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos did. Combined, they cost 85 million pounds, and while one game does not doom them to fail and they are aboth excellent players, it is telling from a Tottenham perspective that one player who cost the same in Fernandes actually did play very well on a day in which everything was going wrong for his team whereas Tielemans and Santos were the main contributors to Man United's issues.
That Fernandes could still hold his head high and actually stop the hemorraging from a Spurs perspective against Brentford is a great sign and maybe the only real silver lining to take from a 3-0 blowout loss to the local rivals. Fernandes is already showing a good sign that he is not remotely an overpay on Spurs part.
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