Tottenham Hotspur’s transformation from a winless streak of 15 matches to securing three victories in just five games marks a remarkable turnaround, spearheaded by an eight-week revival that steered the club clear of its first relegation in nearly half a century.
Roberto De Zerbi’s arrival in March turned the tide, as his leadership and the team’s crucial 1-0 triumph over Everton ensured Spurs retained their Premier League status. In just 54 days, De Zerbi’s infectious optimism and fierce determination provided the squad with the much-needed boost to fight for their survival.
The Italian’s fresh and lively approach to both training and team dynamics served as a welcome contrast to the previous coach, Igor Tudor. Tudor’s strict and abrasive style had cast a shadow over the team, leading to a sense of foreboding among players. His harsh demeanor and questionable tactical choices eroded more confidence than they instilled.
“I was lacking self-belief,” confessed Conor Gallagher, a player acquired in January. “The previous manager didn’t believe in me, and the fans were skeptical of my abilities.”
De Zerbi, however, recognized Gallagher’s potential, having seen him shine at Chelsea and under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. A few high-energy training sessions convinced De Zerbi that Gallagher’s dynamic play was ideal for a more advanced role, key to implementing the high-press strategy he envisioned.
Roberto De Zerbi knew the Conor Gallagher of old from watching him play key roles for Chelsea and the ultra-competitive Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid
His faith in Gallagher paid off in a vital 2-1 win over Aston Villa, with the Englishman firing in a long-range strike to give Spurs the lead
Shifting from the lackluster performances under Tudor and Thomas Frank, De Zerbi revitalized the team by adopting an attacking mindset, putting their rivals on the defensive. This strategic shift paid off with a crucial 2-1 victory against Aston Villa, a team Gallagher had declined to join in favor of his £35 million move to Spurs from Atletico.
‘I’ve not really been able to speak to anyone in the last few months,’ said Gallagher, who opened the scoring from distance at Villa Park.
‘It’s obviously been really tough times for me and the team and I’ve just been so focused on trying to improve to help the team as much as I can. Roberto completely turned around my Spurs career. He came in, showed belief and gave me my confidence back, and I was able to show what I can do.’
De Zerbi had shown him a video on YouTube to boost him. It was titled ‘Bossing the midfield, Conor Gallagher’. The coach did the same with other players to build them back up. Gallagher admitted that, up until Sunday, the threat of relegation had been hard to escape.
‘You always have those thoughts about what could happen,’ he said. ‘I haven’t been able to relax for the last three or four months to be honest. There’s definitely a sense of relief. We worked so hard since the new gaffer came in, I think it’s something we deserved.’
From the outset, De Zerbi brought energy to training. One-touch and two-touch drills, encouraging the players to enjoy possession of the ball again. He put an arm around those who needed it, encouraging the young players and rebuilding the mindset of the older ones bruised by Tudor’s tenure.
Fabian Otte and Dean Brill, the goalkeeping coaches, also put in extra work with Antonin Kinsky to ensure the foundations of the team were not damaged by the humiliating chapter he suffered under Tudor at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, subbed off inside 20 minutes while 3-0 down after a pair of errors.
‘They treated me the same after the Atletico game,’ said Kinsky. ‘Same opinion of me, treated me normally and still kept pushing to prepare me.’
De Zerbi, who has lived with his six backroom staff at the hotel at Spurs’s training ground, made effective tactical tweaks to enhance performances. Players who stayed over before home games for extra rest said it wasn’t unusual, after four or five tactical meetings already, for De Zerbi to produce the tactical board again at 9pm to go over changes and ideas; obsessed with his plan to keep his side in the Premier League. Under him, the team pressed more effectively and forced more turnovers in the final third.
Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky is another who has been rejuvenated under De Zerbi
And in the space of 54 days, De Zerbi turned Spurs from winless in 15 games to winning three of their last five and staying up
‘Without him coming in, there is a serious possibility we would have gone down,’ said James Maddison. ‘He switched the mindset, he switched the passion. The passion he shows every single day rubbed off on the players and I think you could see that in the last few performances.
‘Yes, maybe we could still be better in terms of quality in some moments. But the passion and the intensity just switched. I never questioned the group’s mentality. I didn’t see a group who weren’t willing to try, it just needed Roberto to come in and fine-tune it and get it out of some of the players. And he managed to do that, so big credit to him.’
Now De Zerbi is working to transform Spurs into the team fans expect and demand. Talks are underway for Manchester City’s Savinho while they hope to see off a challenge from Juventus for Liverpool’s Andy Robertson and remain in pole position for Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi. Resilience, character and winning mentality will play a greater part in their recruitment profiling.
‘We need to be responsible for holding ourselves to higher standards and demanding more from each other individually,’ Maddison said.
De Zerbi again insisted he would ‘100 per cent’ want to keep Sunday’s goal hero Joao Palhinha at the club too and Tottenham’s option to buy the 30-year-old is £25.8m. ‘I think the next season will be really different and I truly believe it will,’ Palhinha insisted.
