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When Conor Gallagher chose to join Tottenham Hotspur over Aston Villa a little under four months ago the decision looked a sound one. Sure, Spurs were bobbing about uncomfortably in 14th but Thomas Frank was still finding his feet, the team were only six points off the Champions League places, and few questioned which was the bigger club.

Everything that has happened since will have made Gallagher regret his decision – right up until Sunday afternoon at Villa Park where Tottenham’s world changed; where a 2-1 thrashing of Villa didn’t just take them out of the bottom three and kick-start the Roberto de Zerbi era, it also put Gallagher at the very heart of the project.

Gallagher was Spurs, Spurs were Gallagher: tenacious, aggressive, energetic, and just plain good at football. Starting as De Zerbi’s number ten he lived up to the pressure that comes with the role both figuratively and literally, asserting Tottenham’s dominance with the ball by scoring the early opener and leading the way without it, harassing from the front to set the tone of the De Zerbi era.

Ange-ball never had a single player who truly embodied its core principles, which might say something about why it failed, or more specifically how amorphous those ideas really were. You cannot accuse De Zerbi of that. Frantic high pressing is the core of the mantra, and there aren’t many players in the Premier League who embody that better than the wild and snarling Gallagher, not so much a footballer as a medieval jouster.

So, here’s the plan writ large: run like Gallagher, press like Gallagher, believe like Gallagher. From the first minute he was a terrier, leading the hunt as De Zerbi’s long training sessions paid off. Within six minutes of kick-off Villa had been caught passing out from the back no fewer than three times, a pattern that repeated again and again until, by the time Richarlison’s 25th-minute header added to Gallagher’s superbly-taken first, the match was already over.

Not that Spurs had to do very much, in truth. After one-sided games there is always a debate about whether one team was good or the other just bad, and on this occasion, although the narrative pull is towards the former, we have to confess the real headline was Aston Villa’s abysmal, brain-melting display. Unai Emery made six changes and the resulting disconnect between the players, coupled with the distraction of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final to come, produced arguably the worst performance of any Premier League side this season.

Villa really were sensationally bad, loping about in the evening sun to give De Zerbi a neat replica of his midweek training sessions: seniors practicing their high-pressing drills against a hapless and half-interested B team.

Emery watched on in silence, unnervingly still on the touchline, too shell-shocked to react or maybe simply paralysed by boredom. That he chose not make any changes until the hour mark, and even then only one, showed where his priorities lie, although the constant boos ringing around a furious Villa Park suggested the supporters realise a third consecutive defeat, no matter the context, could have a fatal impact on morale ahead of Nottingham Forest’s visit next week.

That, or Villa fans just desperately wanted Spurs relegated, a prospect that looks significantly less likely after Emery’s side gifted the visitors a De Zerbi tactical masterclass; gifted a messianic performance from Gallagher to lead them into the final three matches of the season.

Neutrals might even call this a dereliction of duty, such has been the collective schadenfreude regarding Tottenham’s anti-miracle, a tonic uniting this fractured nation these past months. It’s one thing to ring the changes, another to entirely ignore the obvious tactical mismatch that occurs when you ask Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof to orchestrate the passing moves against a De Zerbi press. It gave the distinct impression of a manager who, assuming Champions League football is already secured, genuinely did not care about this one.

Which is surprising considering Aston Villa’s stated aim is to break up the ‘Big Six’ and become a serious player by the 2030s. Helping to relegate one of those six should form part of the long-term strategy, as should straining every sinew to finish fourth, not fifth, which if paired with a Europa League triumph might hand Champions League qualification and its financial windfall to a sixth-placed Chelsea.

Instead they’ve helped Tottenham climb out of the relegation zone and find their identity under De Zerbi. For the first time in months Spurs look not just capable of avoiding the drop but likely to do so, a prospect that ought to worry Villa. It might not be long until Tottenham are right back up there, challenging Villa for European places, throwing their weight around, muscling them out of Gallagher-sized deals.

In the end money always wins. Gallagher, after tonight, will finally realise that he chose well.

Remaining fixtures

West Ham: Arsenal (h), Newcastle (a), Leeds (h)

Arsenal have regained some of their swagger, moving six points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a commanding 3-0 win over Fulham, while there was drama at the other end of the ladder as West Ham stumbled away to Brentford.

Meanwhile there was a big flashpoint in Sunderland’s clash with Wolves, with a red card shown for an offence that has become a major talking point in the EPL over the last few months.

But we start our Premier League wrap in London, where the Gunners were up 3-0 before half-time in their game against Fulham, thanks to strong performances from Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres.

Saka, making his first start since returning from injury, setup the opener for the big Swedish striker before the pair swapped roles for the second goal, with Gyokeres making it 3-0 with a header from a Leandro Trossard cross just before the break.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was understandably pleased with the result, particularly as it came just two days after his side returned from Madrid following their controversial draw with Atletico in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

“We knew how difficult it was going to be, especially coming back from Madrid so late on Thursday afternoon and the energy that we spent in that game, and understanding that you don’t want to talk about it if you have a huge game in a few days here,” Arteta said.

“We had some fresh legs from a few players. You could notice that big time because the individual performance increased and then the team flowed in a different way.”

Another all-London clash saw Brentford beat West Ham 3-0, although unlike Arsenal’s win, Brentford’s was anything but a walk in the park.

The scoreline masked a hard-fought game in which West Ham unbelievably struck the woodwork four times.

“We had chances, hit the post twice, hit the bar and post again,” West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen said on Sky Sports. “It’s really disappointing.

“We had good opportunities. On another day we would have got the win. We’ve done a lot of good things.”

A West Ham player did actually find the back of the net although unfortunately for them it was an own goal from defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, before a penalty from Igor Thiago and a late goal from Mikkel Damsgaard sealed the result.

West Ham remain two points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, but Spurs have a game in hand and could jump out of the relegation zone – at the Hammers’ expense – if they win claim a surprise win against Aston Villa on Monday morning AEST.

The most controversial moment of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures came from an unlikely source – Sunderland’s 1-1 draw against already-relegated Wolves.

The flashpoint came midway through the first half when Sunderland defender Dan Ballard tussled with Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare, and appeared to grab hold of the Nigerian’s hair.

Referee Paul Tierney initially took no action before being asked to consult the replay by VAR, and he went on to change his decision and issue a red card for Ballard – the third such send-off for hair-pulling this season.

Arokodare has been on the receiving end on two of those occasions; the first was after a hair-pull by Everton’s Michael Keane, while Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez was sent off just a few weeks ago after grabbing a handful of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s man-bun.

Some are clearly not pleased with the Premier League’s crackdown on the offence, with Sunderland’s fans chanting ‘it’s not football anymore’ as Ballard was issued his marching orders, while Black Cats manager Regis Le Bris was left frustrated.

“It wasn’t violent conduct,” said Le Bris. ”I understand the rule, and the referee has to execute the rule, but it’s hard to understand in that condition.”

In the other game overnight, Newcastle broke a five-match losing streak as they beat Brighton 3-1 thanks to goals from Will Osula, Dan Burn and Harvey Barnes.

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS

Arsenal 3 – 0 Fulham

Brentford 3 – 0 West Ham

Newcastle 3 – 1 Brighton

Wolves 1 – 1 Sunderland

Morgan Gibbs-White inspired Nottingham Forest who eased themselves further clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a stunning 5-0 victory at Sunderland.

The 26-year-old, who scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s 4-1 win over Burnley, starred in a first-half Friday rout as the Europa League semi-finalists established an eight-point gap to 18th-placed Tottenham, who only have five games left to play.

Aided and abetted by a shambolic defensive performance by Regis Le Bris’s men, Forest put the game to bed before the kettle for the half-time tea had even been filled.

Trai Hume’s unfortunate own goal sparked a spectacular collapse amid which Chris Wood, Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus all scored inside six minutes before Elliot Anderson added a fifth at the death.

In the process, they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight games and inflicted the Black Cats’ heaviest defeat since their return to the top flight as they conceded four in successive fixtures, prompting a rare, if mercifully short, chorus of boos at the break.

The result left Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham looking the most likely to be involved in the relegation scrap right until the last day of the season.

“It gives us some breathing room and puts pressure on the two chasing behind,” Forest’s New Zealand striker Chris Wood said. “Back-to-back wins do that for you.

“We built on the second half from last week, that is what we wanted to do. We want to build and get better and show what we are capable of. We started fast and what we did today was fantastic.”

Meanwhile, Roberto De Zerbi has turned to YouTube in an attempt to lift the morale and confidence of his relegation-threatened Tottenham squad.

A winless run of 15 Premier League matches has resulted in Spurs slipping into the bottom three and facing a drop into the second tier of English football for the first time since 1977.

It would be a catastrophe for the ninth richest club in world football, but De Zerbi’s faith in his players has only increased after a 2-2 draw with Brighton last weekend.

Ahead of a must-win fixture at Wolves on Saturday after fellow relegation rivals Nottingham Forest thumped Sunderland 5-0, De Zerbi explained: “For sure my words are not enough and I try to find the best solution to reach every player.

“Sometimes you arrive with a video, sometimes with words, sometimes with red wine, or a beer. I don’t know.

“Sometimes analysis videos but sometimes what they have done in their career, also in other clubs. (Randal) Kolo Muani, if I play with Kolo Muani as right winger it’s because he has played in that position.

“If you go to YouTube, and you go to Kolo Muani (at) Eintracht Frankfurt, you can see he played very well in that position and he scored a lot of goals in that position.

“When I don’t work in my office, I go to find something to be important for me to give more information about the players because we have no time and we have to consider everything to stay up.

“YouTube or WyScout, I use to find something to think what can be the best solution, for the players, not for me.

“Today is April 24 and we have not won a game in 2026. Do you think the players suffer for this? For sure.

“To win a game can give us, give them more energy, more confidence, more positivity but they are human.”

Run home

Leeds United: Bournemouth (a), Burnley (h), Tottenham (a), Brighton (h), West Ham (a)

Nottingham Forest: Chelsea (a), Newcastle (h), Manchester United (a)

West Ham: Everton (h), Brentford (a), Arsenal (h), Newcastle (a), Leeds (h)

Tottenham: Wolves (a), Aston Villa (a), Leeds (h), Chelsea (a), Everton (h)

The Ismaila Sarr goal that gave Crystal Palace a 3-1 lead on the stroke of half-time was not the moment Tottenham Hotspur’s relegation first felt inevitable. For those of us inside the stadium, the realisation Spurs were doomed struck just before kick-off.

The atmosphere in the ground these days has gone beyond anger and into the abyss of apathy and resignation, although the depth of feeling didn’t really hit until last Thursday when the usual pre-game pageant began to boom over the PA system: a monologue that thunders over images of club legends while a light show briefly turns Tottenham’s mega dome into the world’s most expensive nightclub.

The speech rose to its crescendo with a final line that has remained unchanged for several years now: “… where we play without fear. Where we dare. Where. We. Do.” Here, too, Spurs supporters have reached indifference, no longer rolling their eyes at the cruelty of that refrain but instead ignoring the entire show. As an observer, the dissonance between the detachment of the crowd and the excitable voice from the speaker produced an unnerving, almost Lynchian tightening of the stomach.

This club is going down. That’s the dissociation talking, and you notice the same feeling in the players as they stagger onto the pitch and begin traipsing around, lost (in the most existential sense of the word) in a fog that gives the illusion there is no tactical shape, no structure, no meaning. Far from providing direction, the pre-game speech only accentuates the alienation painted onto the stony faces of the supporters, the players, and Igor Tudor, who looked dumbstruck long before Sarr had put the game to bed.

When football clubs reach a nadir the recriminations usually start by debating just how far back you have to go to find the beginning. But Tottenham’s fall has been so sudden the happy days are still within recent memory. Go back to November 2023 and Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs are top of the Premier League table. Even the following November, just 16 months ago, Tottenham had 19 points from 12 games and all was well – or at least it should have been, although in reality fans were bitterly dissecting the broken promises of Angeball.

There is no club in English football so obsessed with its identity, as the pre-match trumpeting of their “to dare is to do” motto attests. The fans demand freewheeling attacking play not just because their historic success has created a kind of mythical identification with dazzling football but because the club actively encourages them to expect it – even when they make managerial appointments that send the exact opposite message.

To an extent the Thomas Frank project was defeated before it had begun, just as Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho were fated to be disowned. Spurs just don’t do pragmatists; it’s sewn into the badge. Go back 25 years and the only success stories are Martin Jol, Harry Redknapp, Mauricio Pochettino, and Postecoglou, yet under Daniel Levy Tottenham got into the habit of lurching from one tactical idea to another, most recently assuming that after the expansive carnage of Ange they needed a quiet pragmatist to pull on the reins.

Frank looked out of his depth without the structural safety of the Brentford machine around him, which meant all the positives of the Postecoglou era were erased without any new foundations put in place. Yet even that – even Frank’s defensive mindset jarring with the club’s sense of self – cannot quite explain how Spurs could become relegation candidates in such an incredibly short period of time, and nor can an injury crisis that ought to leave more than enough quality in the squad for a mid-table finish.

To understand what’s happened we have to get to the heart of exactly how Spurs got themselves into the position of demanding daring attacking football through a literal loudspeaker even while investing in someone risk-averse.

As ever, it’s all about money. Tottenham are truly unique in English football as a club caught in the limbo between the ‘Big Six’ and the rest, and even as their financial power begins to catch up with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United breaking from their outsider status has proved extremely difficult, hence the self-imposed wage cap that’s lower than Aston Villa’s and the transfer frugality that has allowed rivals to sign elite players while Spurs settle for the tier below.

“When you look at their expenditure and particularly their wage structure, they’re not a big club,” as Postecoglou put it so pithily on the Stick to Football podcast last month. “When you walk into Tottenham what you see everywhere is ‘to dare is to do’, and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that.”

A football club can be run successfully without truly daring, without spending much money. What cannot work is a club selling itself on a motto and then refusing to follow through, getting lost in its own contradictions until they seep out in the form of absurdist pre-match entertainment. It is what lured Mourinho, Conte and Postecoglou but left all three infuriated and flailing. It is what creates the derealisation that has zombified the fans and players. It is how you build a billion-pound stadium and stare into the abyss of relegation.

Tottenham’s chief executive Vinai Venkatesham is reportedly ready to break the chains of their wage structure should the club survive this season and Conor Gallagher’s £200k wages are meant to symbolise a change in attitude. Coupled with Levy’s departure and the thought of Ryan Mason parachuting in to scrape Spurs over the line there is a glimmer of hope yet.

But Gallagher is already a totem of Tottenham’s failures; a bad fit for Frank or Tudor, a player discarded by rivals Chelsea, a man already chugging helplessly in the Spurs midfield. Like so much else about Spurs his presence is jarring, a symptom of something deeply broken.

Walking to or from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium you are struck by its essential incongruence, the most expensive stadium in world sport plonked among terraced houses in an area of north London barely surviving the cost of living crisis. It’s an alien spaceship among mortals, a status symbol willed into existence by a chairman whose ambition was too confused to function.

It told the world Tottenham are a big club who demand the very best of everything. But seven years in, it signifies nothing. Turning up the speakers is pointless now. Spurs fans have tuned out, quietly waiting for the end.