From no wins in 15 to three wins in five – and an eight-week masterclass that saved Tottenham Hotspur from a first relegation in 49 years.
There were only 54 days between Roberto De Zerbi’s appointment in March and the 1-0 win over Everton that secured Spurs’ Premier League status for another season, but throughout them his players have raved about his positivity and passion to fight, giving them the extra impetus they required in their battle for survival.
The Italian’s ‘bright and breezy’ attitude to training and to the group was seen as the perfect antidote to the austere regime of Igor Tudor, which had brought a cloud over proceedings for several first-teamers and a sense of ‘impending doom’. Tudor had an abrasive manner which was viewed as demeaning to some of the players and his tactical decisions, substitutions and tinkering merely depleted confidence rather than built it.
It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows under De Zerbi – there have been a few dressing-downs issued – but they’ve been few and far between, and aimed at motivating players to give their all. The manager’s emotional intelligence was seen as a key factor, going from the abrasive Tudor to a man who knew exactly what the players and staff needed – positivity and belief.
‘I was low on confidence,’ admitted January signing Conor Gallagher. ‘The last gaffer wasn’t having me and the fans didn’t think I was any good.’
De Zerbi knew the Gallagher of old from watching him play key roles for Chelsea and the ultra-competitive Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid. After a couple of up-tempo training sessions, De Zerbi reasoned that the 26-year-old’s high-energy style would be perfect in a more advanced role to set the tone for the high press he wanted to instigate in games.
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
After the tepid surrenders under Tudor and Thomas Frank, De Zerbi turned defence into attack by putting Spurs’ opponents on the back foot, switching the pressure. His reward came with their pivotal 2-1 win over Aston Villa, the team Gallagher had turned down to join Spurs for £35million from Atletico in January.
‘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.
