Tottenham's Transformation Under De Zerbi: A New Era

Guglielmo Vicario could barely walk a few weeks ago. On the final day, he was sprinting, arms flailing, before almost choking Roberto De Zerbi in a bear hug on the touchline.

Joao Palhinha had just scored against Everton. The goal that helped keep Tottenham in the Premier League. The goal that turned months of anxiety into raw, unfiltered relief.

For Vicario, watching from the sidelines after hernia surgery, it felt like vindication. For De Zerbi, it was confirmation that his late-season rescue act had worked.

“This club deserves at least to stay in the Premier League,” Vicario said. “This is the minimum you can get at this football club.”

Tottenham had been drifting. Confidence gone, hope fading, football flat. Then De Zerbi walked in and, as Vicario tells it, rewired the place.

“He gave us a lot of confidence, good vibes, good feelings and we got the result,” the 29-year-old explained. “Sometimes there are situations that happen that are not in your control. You lose the focus, you lose hope, you lose a lot of stuff but fortunately Roberto came in.”

The turnaround was brutal and simple: 11 points from the final six games. Survival, with just enough to spare.

De Zerbi’s message: play for the badge

Vicario has not been able to help on the pitch for the past month, but he had a front-row seat for the transformation behind the scenes. The Italian goalkeeper describes a head coach who went straight to the core of a fractured dressing room.

“He had a lot of talks with the players. I spoke a lot with him,” Vicario said. “I was not able to help him on the pitch but I tried to do it behind the scenes. It was important for everyone to get everyone around the environment, very focused and to play for this badge. That was his first message.”

De Zerbi did not just coach patterns and possession. He rebuilt belief. He demanded the crowd come with them. And they did.

“Get behind the people to try to follow us and to stay close to us in these tough moments and they did it brilliantly today. The response from the crowd was unbelievable. We felt it,” Vicario said.

Tottenham staggered through a brutal spell, then found their feet when it mattered most. The goalkeeper is adamant this is a line in the sand.

“We went through this tough period and we got the result, that is the most important thing. From next season there will be a different Tottenham Hotspur for sure.”

Kinsky’s redemption

No player embodies that change quite like Antonin Kinsky.

Back in Madrid, under interim boss Igor Tudor, the young Czech goalkeeper endured the sort of night that can scar a career. Substituted after just 17 minutes against Atletico, he left the pitch with his confidence shredded and his future in doubt.

Fast forward to the run-in and Kinsky was the one keeping Tottenham alive.

With Vicario out, the 23-year-old produced a series of outstanding displays, pulling off big saves against Wolves, Leeds and Everton. The horror of Madrid was replaced by a defiant, mature calm.

“He has been incredible, impressive, he did unbelievably well,” Vicario said. “In every game it was not easy. Now it’s easy to say but I was sure of his mental strength and ability.”

The turning point came the day De Zerbi signed. The new head coach wanted to know about his young keeper. Vicario did not hesitate.

“When I spoke to Roberto the first day he signed he asked me how Toni was and I said, ‘I think he is fully recovered from what happened because in football it can happen’, and he showed it,” Vicario revealed.

“That’s the biggest strength he can put on the pitch. I’m very proud of him, he made some really important saves to keep us in the league and he deserved his moment. Sometimes football is downs, I think he had the brilliance to show his ups. Especially in the last two, three games. He did unbelievably for us.”

From liability to lifeline in a matter of months. Tottenham stayed up, and Kinsky walked off the pitch on the final day as one of the stories of their season.

A new defensive edge

De Zerbi’s reputation has long been built on his attacking ideas, his insistence on brave, front-foot football. At Spurs, he has added steel.

“Roberto has been massively important for us. He changed everything. He changed all the mood, all the vibes, all the football as well, because we needed also the football on the pitch because we were struggling to play good football,” Vicario said.

But it was what happened without the ball that really caught his eye.

“He is probably known very well for the football he wants to play but also the defensive phase since he came in has been unbelievably good,” Vicario pointed out.

The Everton game was the clearest example. With everything on the line, Tottenham barely gave up a chance.

“[Against Everton] we conceded just one shot where Toni did this big save at the end of the match but for 95 minutes we didn't concede any shots. Both on the ball and off the ball I think he did an unbelievable job.”

That shift did not come from De Zerbi alone. It required buy-in from a squad that had been struggling for months.

“Also the boys, everyone who was playing or not playing followed him in a great way. That is of course the credit he deserves, and I can say without him this result would not have been possible. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart because we were suffering a lot and he gave us a lot of joy in every aspect.”

Looking ahead

Vicario himself has been linked with a move back to Italy and Inter Milan this summer, but his focus, for now, is on recovery and what comes next under De Zerbi.

He describes himself as “not 100 per cent fit but in a better place” and “confident” that a break will leave him ready for next season. The way he talks about Tottenham’s future under the Italian is revealing.

“Yeah of course we are [excited],” he said. “Roberto has been massively important for us.”

The mood has flipped. From fear of the drop to talk of a “different Tottenham Hotspur” on the horizon. Survival was the minimum. The question now is what De Zerbi can build from it.