Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur believes a change in energy sparked by Roberto De Zerbi has been the catalyst for their dramatic turnaround.
Spurs were made the favourites to go down by bookmakers last month after they slipped into the relegation zone and were on a 15-match winless run in the Premier League.
The mood has been transformed after a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Wolves was followed by a comprehensive display in a 2-1 triumph away to Aston Villa, which has lifted the club up to 17th and increased belief before Monday’s visit of Leeds.
Bentancur placed the credit with his new head coach, he said: “I think the energy (changed). When Roberto came in, he tried to change the energy, the mentality, to feel again these positive things.
“He works a lot on this and I think we change, the players change, we understand also the situation.
“And, you know, now after you’re back to winning games, the energy changed a lot and we feel really good.
“Yeah, the fans, here in the training centre and now after two wins we feel really good and we want to continue on this roll.”
The return to fitness of Bentancur has also been crucial after he was sidelined for three months with a hamstring injury in January.
De Zerbi has immediately got the best out of Bentancur after his form was a talking point during Thomas Frank’s ill-fated tenure.
Bentancur has provided calm and composure in Tottenham’s midfield, which for much of this season had struggled to create chances and bring the required solidity, but this has not been the case under De Zerbi.
“I think we change a lot now in the last week with Roberto,” Bentancur told SpursPlay.
“After four, five weeks, you can see also in the games, we change a lot, but I tell you this, Roberto tries to work in a positive way.
“In the mentality, the positive aspect. He said, ‘you guys play really good, now we need to start to play again’, so we work in this.
“He works really good in tactical aspect and then with the ball, he is amazing, you know and we try to do this.
“What we work in the week, we try to do the same in the game and I think the last game against Villa, we show how we want to play.”
Spurs’ last league home win occurred on December 6 against Brentford, but Bentancur is determined to end that run after a 2-2 draw with Brighton there last time out.
He added: “Against Brighton, they showed me a lot of love and also the atmosphere is really, really good. It’s amazing. We need to work really hard and we need to win these three finals.”
Joao Palhinha willing to take pay cut to join Sporting
De Zerbi has already delivered his first transfer demand of the summer, publicly backing Bentancur's midfield partner, Joao Palhinha, to join in a permanent deal.
The Portugal midfielder is on loan from Bayern Munich, who would be willing to sell permanently this summer for around £25m.
"Yes, 100 per cent. We have to start from this type of people. More than players, we need reliable people, reliable players.
“Palhinha is one of the best, as a player for sure, but as a guy (also). I want to see the player with the same passion, the same attitude, the same spirit, the same personality. And we are lucky to have with us Palhinha.” - De Zerbi on Palhinha signing
However, according to A Bola, Sporting CP are interested in bringing the 30 year-old back to his boyhood club, where he spent a decade of his career before joining Fulham in 2022.
Sporting expect to lose both Hidemasa Morita and Morten Hjulmand this summer and are eyeing Palhinha as a replacement.
The player, for his part, would be very open to a return home for family reasons, and would even take a reduction in salary to make it happen.