Conor Gallagher: From Doubt to Driving Force at Tottenham

Conor Gallagher stands on the touchline at Accor Stadium and smiles. Eighty thousand tickets gone for a pre-season friendly, Spurs shirts everywhere in Sydney, and the midfielder who once divided opinion in north London now finds himself at the centre of the club’s reset.

He will face Chelsea, the club that shaped him, in the first derby between the sides ever played outside the UK. A novelty on paper. For Gallagher, it feels like a checkpoint in a career that has jolted sharply over the past 12 months.

From doubt to driving force

When he arrived from Atletico Madrid in January, the reaction from some Tottenham fans was lukewarm at best. The team were sinking, the mood was sour, and Gallagher looked like another short-term fix in a long, messy season.

He heard the criticism. He felt the dip in his own game. What changed, he says, was simple: Roberto De Zerbi.

“Obviously, a big reason why I started to perform better was because of the gaffer coming in,” Gallagher explained in Sydney. “It gave me a bit of confidence back and physically I was feeling stronger.”

De Zerbi didn’t reinvent him. He reminded him.

The Italian had seen the energetic, disruptive midfielder at Chelsea and built a role that allowed those traits to breathe again. Gallagher pressed high, snapped into challenges, and surged into the box. An important goal at Aston Villa in the run-in helped keep Spurs in the Premier League and, more importantly for him, restored that sense of belonging at the heart of a big club midfield.

Confidence, he says, is everything.

“I wasn’t playing very well, but he knew what I can do,” Gallagher said. “When he was at Brighton and me at Chelsea, we played against each other a lot. He thought I was a good player, so he knew what I had to do to improve and to get that belief back.”

A new role, same intensity

Pre-season has only underlined that trust. Tottenham have invested heavily in midfield, bringing in two expensive number eights, but Gallagher has been pushed further up, operating as a number 10 both at the end of last season and throughout this tour.

“To be honest, I'm happy to play anywhere the manager wants to play me,” he said. “The 10 or number eight in the double pivot, it's fine. I enjoy playing anywhere in midfield. I've found myself in the 10 more often.”

He likes it there. You can hear it in the way he talks about the freedom to hunt the ball and lead the press.

“It's nice to run forward and I can do what I do best and press well and try and lead from the front. I don't really mind.”

That versatility will matter. Spurs have stacked their midfield with quality and variety, and Gallagher knows nothing is guaranteed.

“When you play for a club like Tottenham, if there's not competition for a starting XI spot then something is wrong,” he said. “Obviously that's what comes in playing for such a top club.”

The arrivals, he insists, are not just about talent.

“Great lads too, not just good footballers, which I think is really important to have the right characters and people with us. It's only going to make us stronger.”

From Simeone’s edge to De Zerbi’s belief

Gallagher’s education has been unforgiving. Diego Simeone at Atletico, De Zerbi at Spurs: two intense, demanding coaches who shape teams in their own image.

“Honestly, Diego is an amazing manager and what he's done at Atletico is incredible,” Gallagher said. The edge, the discipline, the non-negotiables of Simeone’s world have clearly stayed with him.

Yet he keeps circling back to that word: confidence.

“Different managers, I think, in football, confidence is a massive thing and every player needs to have confidence if you're going to perform well. That's what the gaffer realised with me.”

He rejects the idea that any lingering scars from his Chelsea exit still colour his game.

“No. Confidence can come and go in a game, but when you get a run at games and you're playing well, you feel fit, you feel strong, you get confidence back and that's the way it was.”

Now, with a full pre-season under De Zerbi, he wants to turn a strong finish into a full campaign.

“Pre-season is really important for me. I want to push on from that and kick on and hopefully help the club to a good season.”

A fresh start without a clear break

The mood around Tottenham feels different, even if the dressing room hasn’t been completely ripped up.

“Well, no, because there's a lot of the same people, which is great,” Gallagher said when asked if it felt like a new team. “Like I said, it's just like a fresh kind of start and everyone's just very excited to make things better.”

The scars of last season still sit in the background. A relegation battle, unrest in the stands, uncertainty over the club’s direction. That experience, Gallagher says, has hardened the squad.

“We went through a really tough season last season and we are so determined and hungry to improve as a team. Everyone is really excited. It's hopefully going to be a really good season for us.”

Training, he insists, tells the story.

“Yes, it's a lot more enjoyable. Not being in the situation we were last season… it's a fresh start, fresh players, faces, new way of playing and trying to get everyone on the same page to understand how we play and what the manager wants us to do.”

He looks around at his team-mates and sees it.

“Everyone's so happy. We've had a great time in Australia. Training's been great. The games have been good. Everyone's in a great mood and we're really looking forward to a big game tomorrow.”

Leading by example

At 26, Gallagher is now one of the players younger squad members study closely. It still surprises him.

“It's weird because it only feels like you have a day when I was 18, 19 and in the same position,” he said. “So I completely understand where those boys are at and I try and do what I can to set the standards on and off the pitch and show how professional you've got to be. I try and help them as much as I can.”

That sense of responsibility fits neatly with the way he plays. He runs, he presses, he sets the tone. He knows the younger players are watching how he trains, how he reacts, how he carries the weight of expectation at a club that cannot afford another season of struggle.

Sydney, Spurs, and a statement night

All of that folds into this tour finale. A sold-out Accor Stadium, a Tottenham side trying to reintroduce itself to the world, and Gallagher facing the club that once defined him.

“It's amazing. I didn't quite realise how popular Spurs are in Australia,” he said. “The fans have been incredible. They've shown a lot of support since we've been here. Even today in training, it was great to have them watch training.”

“It's really enjoyable. Tomorrow will be really exciting for them and for us. I know there will be a lot of Tottenham fans there and hopefully it will be an exciting match.”

For the supporters in Sydney, it is a rare chance to see their team up close. For Gallagher, it is another step in a season he believes can be very different.

The question now is simple: can the midfielder who fought his way back into form at the end of last year turn that late surge into the standard, not the exception, of Tottenham’s new era?