BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND -- For the third separate time this season a Tottenham Hotspur manager delivered a rallying cry to his players in the week before a potentially season-defining Premier League game.
For the first time, it worked.
Spurs' far-fetched dreams of survival suddenly don't look so distant anymore. Roberto De Zerbi's side travelled to Birmingham knowing that a result would see their time in the relegation zone and in turn, the longest three weeks of the club's modern history come to an end, for now. And his injury-hit side played like a team who had finally realised the gravity of the situation they were in. Perhaps it was West Ham's thrashing at the hands of Brentford the day before that provided an injection of intensity. It was a result that blasted the door wide open for Spurs to make a statement on Sunday, and they did just that.
It took 12 minutes for De Zerbi's side to turn to one of Kevin Danso's infamous, frequently unsuccessful, long throws, but this time the dreaded hush of 60,000 in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wasn't there to accompany it.
His early rocket into the box was headed away by Youri Tielemans but only to the feet of Conor Gallagher. The former Chelsea man took it down exquisitely, set himself and sent a pinpoint volley past Emi Martinez's outstretched palm to do something that many thought would be beyond Spurs on Sunday -- score. The travelling fans in the far left corner at Villa Park almost didn't know what to do with themselves. First they'd seen their team win for the first time in four months at Wolves and then witnessed a corker of a strike away from home. The live table showed them out of the relegation zone; it was almost too good to be true for a fanbase that has suffered so greatly this season.
Their fun in the dying Midlands sun didn't end there with the arrival of 'relegation-battle Richarlison' all too timely. The Brazil forward was tasked with leading the line in a side decimated by injuries and he delivered. With Mohammed Kudus and more recently Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons ruled out for the season, Spurs desperately needed Richarlison to tap into his tag of stepping up when it matters late in the season to marshal a front three consisting of two No. 9s that have found goals an all-too-hard to come by luxury this season. He almost single-handedly saved Everton from Premier League relegation in 2022 and has experience of it at Watford too. He's a divisive character around grounds in England but what makes him so crucial in times where others wilt was evident on Sunday. From the first whistle to the last he looked a level sharper than the rest, tormenting Villa's lax back line, leading presses and winning the ball in dangerous positions on more than one occasion that brought groans around the home ground.
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His reward came before the half-hour mark as he rose to a lovely ball into the box from Mathys Tel to double Spurs' lead, and mark the first time they have scored twice in the opening 25 minutes of a game in two years. It also got Richarlison, who looked as if he enjoyed the added responsibility, to double figures for goals for the season -- an element that will not be lost on him just a month away from a World Cup.
But the joy wasn't exclusive to him. It was the same story all over the pitch. The first-half whistle brought the loudest boos heard at Villa Park in a long, long time and their frustrations were justified. Every single Spurs player on the pitch looked as if they had a second or two more on the ball than their Villa counterparts. Villa's press was nonexistent, their intensity was nowhere to be seen and they went into the break having been played off the pitch by a team who had just ended a 15-match winless run. Granted, changes were made, a defensive partnership of Victor Lindelöf and Tyrone Mings and the likes of Ollie Watkins, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne starting on the bench served as the epitome of Villa's priorities lying in their Europa League return leg in midweek. Still, Unai Emery spoke before this game of the Premier League being a separate competition and the "priority is being consistent." In the end Villa were consistent with their lacklustre showing at the City Ground, not with the form that has seen them rise into the Champions League spots this season.
Still, Spurs looked renewed and despite Villa's helping hand of a performance that saw them fail to register an attempt on target until their late consolation, the architect of their improved fortunes in recent weeks is undoubtedly De Zerbi. Against Brighton, Wolves and then on Sunday he has built up a side that when he took over, looked as if mentally they simply couldn't handle a relegation fight to one that now looks to have flipped the script on its head.
The second 45 was all too unlike the Spurs of this season, there was no late collapse, no horror mistake at the back and no full-scale capitulation if something went against them. They closed the game out comfortably with Danso and Micky van de Ven shepherding a defence that was largely untroubled. Even Emiliano Buendía's late header did little to stop the party in the away end, it came too late to impact proceedings and all the hard work had already been done by Spurs. That is not something you could say very often for this Spurs side so far this season.
In De Zerbi's rallying cry in midweek he said "only losers cry" and that Spurs must "silence" the negative voice around the club in a four-minute unprompted monologue in his prematch news conference. He wasn't the first Spurs manager this season to attempt to kickstart his troops into action but it was his words that perhaps carried the most weight. If anyone had a right to start feeling sorry for himself, it is De Zerbi.
To say he inherited an injury crisis would be the understatement of all understatements. With the Villa win, only now has De Zerbi equalled the number of season-ending injuries thrust upon him with games at the helm, an incredible footnote of his time in charge so far. First it was Kudus, then it was captain Cristian Romero, off in tears in his first game. And of course next up was the sole creative spark in the side as Simons ruptured his ACL in the same game that Solanke was taken off with a suspected hamstring problem -- another one who looks unlikely to play any further part this season. And then came another setback in the increasingly large pile of them as Rodrigo Bentancur went off with an issue after an hour in Birmingham, the extent of that blow still to be confirmed.
All four of those ruled out for the season were specifically singled out by De Zerbi in his opening days at the club as players he would lean on, players that you look to when a club is on the verge of a Premier League relegation that, on financial implications alone, has the potential to undo all of the good work of Spurs' European runs and Champions League finishes in recent seasons.
But clearly De Zerbi is a man who does as he says and instead of focusing on every piece of misfortune that has found Spurs this season, he has chosen to combat it. The unorthodox combination of Tel, Randall Kolo Muani and Richarlison leading the line looked far above the level of the relegation dogfight Spurs are in. He was forced to put out a front three that started for the first time together this season at Villa Park but it is down to De Zerbi that they were able to come in against a side Spurs have lost six of their last ten against and look so comfortable.
"They played with the ball and without the ball, an amazing game," De Zerbi said. "Simons, Solanke, both are top player for us, but Kolo Muani is different as a characteristic, but now as a quality. You're not watching the best Kolo Muani, but Kolo Muani is a top player. Mathys Tel is very young, but he has amazing potential as a player, amazing potential as a player. Richardson is playing in the Brazilian national team.
"I'm lucky because I have a lot of players. Now I think the injuries are finished because otherwise it's a big problem, but I'm lucky. I said two days ago in press conference, if we win in Villa Park it is not a miracle. [And[ it was not a miracle."
Once you get to May in the Premier League and you're playing for survival, the technical side of the game often goes out of the window. It's about mentality, motivation and tenacity -- all elements of the game that Spurs did not have until De Zerbi. He confirmed with his second win in charge, by putting full faith into those at his disposal, that he might just be the man for the job. Third time lucky for Vinai Venkatesham, Johan Lange and Co. in the Spurs boardroom, and just in time at that.
Another silver lining in Spurs' golden evening was Gallagher's return to the form that saw him become an England regular at Chelsea. His early volley was tucked away with all the composure that often lacks with his frenetic, box-to-box nature. His first goal could not have come at a better time for Spurs and his arrival as a genuine midfield asset, with his partner Bentancur possibly out moving forwards, could prove crucial.
The travelling Spurs contingent ended the night with a rendition of "Tottenham away, Ole, Ole," and didn't stop when Buendia scored Villa's consolation in stoppage time. They had just seen a performance that made them believe next season will start in the top-flight and that Villa will be paying them a visit.
One point above the drop zone with three to go, West Ham will have something to say about that. But if Spurs can summon what they did at Villa Park thrice more, then they won't be going anywhere.