Tottenham Hotspur’s lavish close-season spending failed to disguise familiar shortcomings as they opened their Premier League season with a 3-0 drubbing at Brentford on Saturday.
After successive 17th-placed finishes and a last-day escape from relegation in May, a spending spree that is set to go past £300 million ($409.08 million) was supposed to have the North London club challenging the elite.
On the evidence of Saturday’s performance, however, Spurs first
