Tottenham Hotspur are on the cusp of Premier League safety. After West Ham's 1-0 defeat to rivals Arsenal, all Spurs need to do is get three points against Leeds United, who are just ahead of them in the table, and stay on top from here on out.
New manager Roberto De Zerbi has Spurs believing again, and the results on the pitch have followed suit. Spurs are in 17th again and most recently beat Aston Villa, who are headed for the same Europa League Final that Spurs won last season.
One of the best things De Zerbi has done is get the players in his squad to play with confidence again. That goes for veterans like Conor Gallagher and Rodrigo Bentancur, but it is also true for Antonin Kinsky, the young Czech goalkeeper who seemed to be headed for an end at Tottenham after an embarrassing display against Atletico Madrid.
Roberto De Zerbi has gotten the most out of Antonin Kinsky
But Kinsky has been vital and one of the bright spots for Spurs in this race to safety, performing at a higher level than injured goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is likely no longer the starter at Tottenham.
Antonin Kinsky has been a microcosm of how Roberto De Zerbi has been superior to predecessors Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor in terms of handling the personalties in the dressing room and getting the best out of players.
Ahead of Monday night's game against Leeds United, De Zerbi praised Kinsky and spoke more about the young goalkeeper, showing how he exactly gets it as a manager. De Zerbi said, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold, "Big character, big personality. Great guy, great professional, and great goalkeeper. He's playing very well, he has to stay with the focus and don't take risks in any situation, but he is playing very well and is very important for us now. Of course he is an example. Of course what he felt after Madrid, for sure, was a big, big motivation for him. If you have pride, if you have dignity, if you have the right spirit, if you have character, and he has all these values."
That is so well said by De Zerbi about Kinsky, who has the ingredients to be the future starting goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur. And that's not something that was a prevailing believe even just several weeks ago after the debacle against Atletico Madrid, but, as De Zerbi said, his professionalism and personality ahve shone through, in addition to his quality on the pitch. Kinsky has become one of Spurs most important players in the relegation battle, and De Zerbi has, in a way, been very key to that and continues to be important in his corner.