The challenge for Tottenham Hotspur this week, if they want to give themselves any chance of staying up, is simple — or at least it is simple to write down in words on a laptop from a distance.
They must expel the painful memories of Georginio Rutter’s 95th-minute equaliser, the goal that shattered hearts and denied them what would have been their first Premier League win of 2026.
Spurs must somehow move on from the palpable devastation that left Kevin Danso on the floor, needing to be pulled up by his team-mates, and other players looking utterly crestfallen at the final whistle.
When the players return to training on Monday afternoon, Roberto De Zerbi will have no time for anyone dwelling on their sadness or disappointment. He said that he wants to see everyone showing up with a smile, and that anyone who does not will be sent home immediately. He did not sound as if he was joking. “I have no time to see negative people,” he said. “To see sad players or sad assistants. I don’t like people who cry, who think negatively.”
Maybe that will work. But there is no avoiding the reality of how much this hurt. The game was into the fifth of eight added minutes when Rutter made it 2-2.
During the 18 minutes when Tottenham were ahead, it was impossible not to think of the future, of the potentially transformative power of the first league win since December, of the relative riches of being on 33 points, of the huge mood-change that would represent. It is only human to get a bit carried away, to project what you see into happier times to come.
It has certainly felt recently that Spurs just needed one win, somehow, a win that could remove their mental block, break the spell and allow them to be themselves again. Right up until Rutter’s goal, it felt as if they would finally have it.
The first challenge for De Zerbi is psychological. Since he arrived at Spurs, he has spoken about his job being to work on the players’ minds. Last week, he described how he had to be a “brother” and a “father” to the players more than a coach. So much of what he has been doing so far — even down to taking the players out for dinner last week — has been to that end.
This is a big job. Removing Spurs’ mental block is like cleaning the Augean stables. Under marginally different circumstances, in a world where Spurs won, the job might be done. But De Zerbi will have to go and lift the players again, and convince them all is not lost. His press conference on Saturday evening felt like the start of that.
De Zerbi has certainly earned the right to be heard. And while Spurs’ path to safety is narrower than ever, they at least look like they know how to put one foot in front of the other again. Even ending as painfully as it did, this game was Spurs’ best and most positive league performance of the season.
They had a game plan which they stuck to. They ran as hard as they could from the first whistle to the last. They pressed aggressively and selflessly, turning over the ball in dangerous positions, creating both goals. They went direct to Dominic Solanke and played off him. They had a solid base in midfield thanks to the returning Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma. And they got Xavi Simons on the ball in pockets where he could hurt the opposition. Round pegs found round holes all over the pitch.
Perhaps none of this should be a surprise. This was not alchemy, it was just good players playing back at their natural level again. It was not De Zerbi casting a spell, but rather removing one. Spurs simply looked like themselves again. Maybe De Zerbi’s work is already paying off and the mentality is starting to change.
It is no solace, and besides the point, but if Spurs had played like this all season, they would need a telescope to see 18th place. The boardroom decision-makers do not deserve sympathy — this is the problem when you only find the right manager during the March international break.
Tempting as it is, there is nothing to be gained from imagining a world in which De Zerbi had more time with these players, the football they might have played, the teams they might have beaten, the games they might have won.
Instead, we have to take the world as it is. The world in which Spurs are in the relegation zone with five games left. There is only one treacherous path to Premier League survival next season, and it starts with winning at Molineux on Saturday. Then they need to win at Villa Park, too, and never look back.
It has to start with the display, performing as well as they did on Saturday, with the same commitment, unity and character. De Zerbi said afterwards that they played “with the right blood”. They have to keep getting on the ball and moving it forward, even if that exposes them to risk.
Performance alone can only ever be a necessary factor, rather than a sufficient one. Football at this end of the table is profoundly random. Spurs need to be lucky too, with injuries, decisions, deflections and little details — precisely the things that have gone against them for so long.
Despite all the churn, the drama, and the improvement on Saturday, they are still ultimately in the same position they have been for months, under multiple managers: desperately needing a win to ignite a move up the table. And time is running out.