A Massive Win For Tottenham | Conor Gallagher, Roberto De Zerbi & The Relegation Crossroads

5 May 2026 · 57 min · 22 chapters

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In short

Tottenham’s recent surge under Roberto De Zerbi, highlighted by a dominant performance vs Aston Villa, and the “relegation crossroads” of the season’s run-in. The hosts debate De Zerbi’s tactical/mental impact, defensive improvements (chance prevention, pressing work), and whether Villa’s squad rotation and PSR context explains the controversy around the result. They also discuss league permutations for safety, plus broader recruitment/club-model comparisons (Brighton/Tony Bloom).

Guests

Conor Gallagher (Tottenham midfielder; praised for a “10/8/6” role flexibility, high defensive recoveries, and motivational leadership referencing his Chelsea captaincy season). Roberto De Zerbi (Tottenham head coach; described as emotionally calm, motivational, and tactically similar to his Brighton approach). No other named guests are present.

Key claims

Spurs’ first-half football resembled De Zerbi’s Brighton patterns (right-side overload with runners). Defensive metrics improved: top minutes per expected-goal conceded; Gallagher/Tell/Colwill/Morani contribute recoveries. De Zerbi’s calm “intense one-on-one” sessions drive results. Villa’s rotation claims are dismissed as irrelevant; Villa’s PSR “lean machine” makes their depth issues explain the match.

Notable examples

Gallagher’s six recoveries; Tell still working to 89th minute; Van de Ven’s composed sweeping runs; comparisons of recoveries to Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Guimarães, Joe Linton. Relegation math centers on Leeds and West Ham/Arsenal outcomes; Villa’s seven-player rest and PSR tightrope.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Spurs' Recent Performances

1:32 to 3:15

Discussing Tottenham's recent games and the implications of winning streaks.

“I think it's been swept under the carpet a little bit that Deserby said about we're going to win five games in a row after Brighton.”

Analyzing Gallagher's Role

3:15 to 5:08

A deep dive into Gallagher's role and performance in Tottenham's system.

“There was a lot of what I saw this weekend that felt very similar to some Deserby Brighton in the shape that we saw.”

Potential and Scrutiny of Tell

5:08 to 6:31

Exploring Tell's development and potential amidst criticism at Tottenham.

“because every time I say something on Twitter, like I think Tell is good, I get told I'm deluded or that he's actually useless or it's my sort of standards that are driving Tottenham into the ground.”

Roberto De Zerbi's Impact

6:31 to 12:10

Examining how De Zerbi's coaching style has influenced the team's mentality.

“Zerbe, when he talks about individual players, often, he's done a lot of praising, hasn't he?”

Defensive Improvements at Spurs

12:10 to 14:00

Analyzing Tottenham's defensive stats and strategies in recent matches.

“but in a way that's relatively I would say relatively basic I mean it didn't feel basic watching that first half because we were like, we haven't seen football like this.”

Defensive Strategies and Key Players

14:00 to 16:00

Discussion on Tottenham's defensive performance and key player contributions.

“So the chances are that if you concede one next year, you'll concede one goal.”

Analyzing Player Performances

16:10 to 19:58

In-depth analysis of individual player performances and their impact on the team.

“It's one of the things we used to love seeing was that the ball would go down the right-hand channel when it's off he'd come from his left side, fly across and take the ball across.”

Relegation Battles and Future Prospects

19:58 to 23:01

Exploration of Tottenham's current relegation troubles and future team building.

“Do we achieve that with players like Polini, in particular, Polini or Gallagher?”

Upcoming Matches and Their Importance

23:01 to 28:00

Preview of upcoming matches and their implications for Tottenham's season.

“I mean, the positive for us is it might only be this game, mightn't it?”

Understanding the Rivalry: Spurs vs Arsenal

28:00 to 29:50

Exploration of the emotional dynamics between Spurs and Arsenal fans.

“I know that Arsenal winning stuff is horrible and unpleasant, but I do think this whole experience has just made me really appreciate that I definitely love Spurs more than I hate Arsenal.”
Show all 22 chapters

The Importance of Prioritizing Sporting Success

29:50 to 32:16

Discussion on how focusing on football can lead to better outcomes for Spurs.

“It's a complete catastrophic failure if Spurs go down.”

Current State of Tottenham and Man United

32:16 to 34:38

Analyzing Tottenham's position in comparison to Manchester United's resurgence.

“And so, yeah, I think we have to cheer on Arsenal this weekend.”

Aston Villa's Squad Management and Performance

34:38 to 36:59

Examining Aston Villa's management and the implications for Tottenham.

“have to beat Man City it's done so are we sort of saying that they're this whole thing is just nonsense, really?”

The Risks of Aston Villa's Financial Model

36:59 to 39:31

Discussing the financial strategies of Aston Villa and potential consequences.

“Two guys on over 200 grand a week on wages with the gamble that it will get them into Europe that they would make some more money and it will keep them in the position they did.”

Future Prospects for Spurs and Villa

39:31 to 42:01

Speculation on the future of Spurs and Villa in the context of their current strategies.

“You wouldn't pay a lot of money for him, though.”

Analyzing the Spurs Management and Recruitment Strategy

42:01 to 43:12

Discussion on Tottenham's management choices and recruitment strategies in comparison to successful clubs.

“Can you imagine how much Langer and Vinay are going to be patting themselves over the back, though, about deserving?”

Brighton's Success: Lessons for Spurs

43:12 to 44:12

Exploring how Brighton's data-driven approach and bold decisions contribute to their success.

“You could see that happening quite easily.”

The Importance of Club Culture and Selling

44:12 to 45:40

Examining the cultural differences between Tottenham and clubs like Brighton in player sales and recruitment.

“But they're also brave enough to do enough moves.”

Challenges of Player Retention and Market Expectations

45:40 to 47:20

Discussing the difficulties Tottenham faces in retaining players and the expectations from fans.

“Not the right profile, not the right guy, not this, not that.”

Arsenal's Approach and Its Implications for Spurs

47:20 to 48:25

Analyzing Arsenal's player turnover and how their strategy could inform Tottenham's future decisions.

The Pressure of Expectations at Spurs vs. Other Clubs

48:25 to 50:31

Discussing the unique pressures Tottenham faces in comparison to clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth.

“Arsenal have managed it, so there's no real reason why Spurs shouldn't be able to, I don't think.”

Fantasy Football Insights and Community Engagement

50:31 to 51:28

Sharing insights about fantasy football and the importance of community in the game.

“you're like, okay, so if I identify this guy, he's just going to have an, oh, what have I got to do on my search?”
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Transcript

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1:22Jack:Hello everyone, welcome back to Rule the Roost podcast. Baker, welcome back. Spurs are winning games. Spurs are winning games. What's going on? Two games in a row. Two games in a row. I think it's been swept under the carpet a little bit that Deserby said about we're going to win five games in a row after Brighton. I mean, you know. Do we all have to get our hair cut if we win five in a row? What, like the Deserby? Like, no. Yeah, maybe we should all do Deserby. Just try and get that Man United fan. He must be gutted. Do you know Man Utd have now won three games in a row? Yeah, he's nowhere, that big fella with the afro.

1:59Jack:Everyone got a bit tired of it, didn't they? Everyone got tired of it. Yeah, he jumped his shark, you know, and we're all like, that's it, mate. We've done him. The Zerbi's done him. We're the new five in a row. If we win the five in a row, I'll say it now. If we win the five in a row, I will get the Linkin Park haircut and goatee. There we go. And I will start next season with the Linkin Park hair and a goatee. There we go. Fabulous. There we go. There we go. Subscribe to Rule The Roost podcast and all that wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, it's quite astonishing, isn't it? Like, I mean, Aston Villa away.

2:38Jack:We did our, like, rundown of the run-in, if you like, a few weeks ago. And I think we had us down as losing this match. Yeah. But still staying up. Had we? No, no. I think we said we were winning at Wolves. So we were winning at Wolves, we were losing at Villa, and we still projected Spurs to stay up. So, I mean, we are ahead. It is looking good. But outside of the bigger picture stuff right now, we will get into that. This performance in itself is a performance I haven't seen for Tottenham for a very, very long time. I mean, what did you make of it? Yeah, I mean, the first 10 minutes becomes 20 minutes, becomes 30 minutes, you know, of that first half, you were like we haven't seen this we haven't seen this you know it's obviously epitomized by Gallagher in in in that 10 role you know is we we talked about this a few weeks ago but I always expected that it would be a presser that they would put in that 10 role and I think it's a lot of people are saying with like Gallagher that it's like a throwback to what he was at Palace and it is but it is also 100 how deserve he used alexis mccallister you know is is in the a lot of people because he scored goals for you know the that's where the mac 10 came from with him type stuff but it's that nuisance part 10 but will also drop in and be the eight and be the six and spend a lot of time in there so i definitely think you know as much as we've said from Not much Deserby has talked about arm around the shoulder, motivation and stuff like this.

4:17There was a lot of what I saw this weekend that felt very similar to some Deserby Brighton in the shape that we saw. Using, you know, using Tell as a, Tell was really, and actually just even the left hand side completely, was almost a decoy to an extent. You know, all of our play where we were moving the ball around, certainly as soon as it came over the halfway line, was all down that right hand side. It was like maybe six or seven players were on the right-hand side of the pitch and really used Destiny and Tell as just runners. And that's very similar, very similar to how we used to see Deserbys Brighton where Solimarch, for example, and Gross would be out to the right, that more playmaker style.

5:00It sits that side and then Matoma is almost a weapon. So I think we can fully say this is Deserbys' time.

5:07Jack:I feel like I'm watching a different player to a lot of people because every time I say something on Twitter, like I think Tell is good, I get told I'm deluded or that he's actually useless or it's my sort of standards that are driving Tottenham into the ground. I mean, again, I thought, look, it was far from a perfect performance from him on the weekend. And I'm not saying, you know, every single thing he tried to pull off happened. However, what I see there is a completely rough diamond. I see a young player who has been, you know, he's trying to adapt to not only a new country, but a new team as well.

5:46Jack:He's been shunted in and out of that starting XI. He's been kind of like jettisoned from the team almost entirely by Frank. So he's had to come over quite a bit is my point to get to where he is. So I can forgive him for being quite rusty. But what I generally see at its core is a player who is brave, who is willing to try things, who seems to have a pretty accomplished technical skill set. Yeah, he can build on that. He can definitely improve. But, you know, the rush to kind of write him off, I find quite strange, don't you? I see him as a player that in a couple of years' time, if he is worked with and he continues to work hard himself, could be a real asset for the club, couldn't he?

6:31I think he's ahead of that. I do think it is interesting. Zerbe, when he talks about individual players, often, he's done a lot of praising, hasn't he? I don't think he's gone the full world-class type, you know, Liam a senior type, just overbuilding it type stuff. But he's done a lot of these are fantastic players, fantastic players. He often, when he mentions tells, adds the word potential to the end of it. So I've heard him say it a lot, I say fantastic potential, really great potential. Like he just adds the potential word to it. So I think there is definitely some roughness to him. But look, one is he obviously offers goal threat.

7:05He's looked an enigma of a player type stuff, you know, that you would class as like luxurious to an extent. But he made six recoveries on the weekend. That's a lot for a midfielder. That's a heck of a lot for a midfielder. He was fully built in as much as where we're trying to, everyone's trying to press. It doesn't work with Gallagher. like he does just become the dog in the middle of a rondo if he's the only guy that's doing that press it needs the people outside of him to also do it so you know i think everyone will talk about the defensive work that that gallagher put in in that place and they'll say the same with bentico and polinia but tell's also doing his bit he's not just this fancy guy tries to shoot all the time or or tries that's a ball six recoveries is a lot you know that's that's um can you give us some context context for it so that's like a similar this weekend that's the same number as Kobe Mainu again who had a you know fantastic performance against Liverpool it's the same as Bruno Gimerez on his like first game who made a huge difference to being back for Newcastle it's actually the same as Joe Linton who was out there to the left so that's big big numbers and they're quite high up as well in terms of in terms of the position so one you know when we're looking at sort of like defensive stats ones you're looking at like what is the number of recoveries they get but then actually where do they get them yeah so if i looked at for example i said when we're looking at stats for all these guys like dams guard on the weekend dams guard was like seven okay but four of his are like just outside his area where his job is i'll win the ball back and I'll hit the ball long.

8:47Whereas, whereas Gallagher and, and tell on Colin Morani, they really, along with, obviously we know what the Charleston's like is, you know, incredible or oppressing as a four, they all did their part. Yeah. I think everyone will give the defensive credit to those three center refielders. Everyone will give it to, you know, to, uh, England Gallagher, but, but tell Morani and, um, and Rashad. And I think that's why, you know, like Colin Morani actually comes off. I was like, was it 64 minutes, 65 minutes he came off. it's probably just because suddenly it's like we're now demanding so much of them in that press.

9:23Yeah, Mawani can only manage 65 of it. Tell was still going on the 89th minute.

9:27Jack:He had quite a nice minute, Colin Mawani as well. He's a player that's come under quite a lot of scrutiny during his time at Spurs. And I don't think a lot of it's been unfounded or unfair, really. you know there has been this talk that Deserby has pretty much earmarked him almost as somebody that could be a real real game changer for Tottenham Conor Gallagher was spoke about this after the game as well saying that Deserby's whole approach has been to have these seemingly quite intense one-on-one sessions with these lads sitting them down to remind them of who they were you know Gallagher's saying Gallagher said specifically he said think of the Conor Gallagher during his second season at Chelsea when he became the captain you know like think of that player that's who you are where's he gone kind of thing and you could argue he he made an appearance the other day at Villa Park um Colomarani is somebody who was one of the most sought after players in Europe during his time at Frankfurt you know that can't just disappear and as much as you know because this is something I've been sort of drumming into myself lately after as I keep referencing Andros Townsend talking about more often than not in these situations it's not the players don't care it's not that they're some overpaid prima donna that isn't asked about the situation they're in more often than not they're just sad they're just sad and they feel like they're not very good and that's why the team is not very good they they they put it on upon themselves and you know you can only speculate you can only speculate but you still have a fairly good idea of the way thomas frank probably handled this squad given his outward messaging which was generally we're not very good what am i supposed to do with this group of players whereas De Zerbe's coming in as we say has said I'm going to win all five and these are all amazing players even when we've lost Xavi Siemens and the whole narrative has turned to what are Spurs going to do now they haven't got any good players he said you know not in these words but he's basically said that's complete bollocks that we've got lots of really good players here so what are we what are we all moaning about um are you quite surprised by and I think it's fair to say this the sort of level of emotional maturity that Roberta does you know this is a guy that's come with this reputation of being a hothead but he's shown this real kind of calm emotionally mature approach to things at Spurs hasn't he?

12:03Incredible and I think there's just a lot of it that feels feels motivational but in a way that's relatively I would say relatively basic I mean it didn't feel basic watching that first half because we were like, we haven't seen football like this. We haven't seen football like this forever. But actually, there are some really simple things that he's done over the last four games. So, in my nerdy world, as I'll bring to you, 16 yellow cards in the last four games. The second most is 12. Go kick them. Come on, you spurs. Go kick them. More fouls than anybody else. Nobody else has committed. more fouls than us over the last four games.

12:47Look, you're a bit weak. Go beat some people up.

12:50Jack:I don't know if you've got the data there, but I would assume that we were very much the other end of the scale prior to this as well. Yeah. We've been nowhere. To be fair, we've done enough that we're catching up. I think we now have the most yellow cards in the league. I think we're now the dirtiest team in the league. Probably New Spurs. there's something you'll never sing that you know but it feels now in a way of doing it in a much more sensible way than oh what have you done way yeah yeah yeah well we're scrapping aren't we and that's what we need to do you know everyone's going to talk about the fact obviously that defensively we've been much better with kinski versus vicario and you see a lot of narrative of that's that's the big difference that's the big difference that's the big difference but quite simply we're not conceding the chances i'm pretty sure even even vicario who i was i think we last came on you know i first came on with you guys was like every other team in the league would have dumped their keeper a lot a lot quicker than what we have um but we're conceding so you know again let me go last four weeks um it's something like uh so minutes per expected goal conceded yeah so So the chances are that if you concede one next year, you'll concede one goal.

14:11So the golden aim is to be over 90 minutes because if you're over 90 minutes, chances are you'll keep clean. Over the last four weeks, our minutes per expected goal conceded is 125 minutes. That is top in the league. Second best is Leeds, which is interesting for next week. So the two best defensive teams in the league currently are Tottenham and then Leeds. for Leeds is 98 minutes, 125 minutes per expected game. That is absurd, absurd numbers that we're seeing. We're nowhere near that, nowhere near that. So our whole season average is 68, and that includes these four games. So it's probably more like 60.

14:55So if we're not conceding the chances, your keeper can't make the clangers. Your keeper can't just throw one in. We're doing all of the sensible things very, very well. So as much as it... How do you think he's achieving that? Well, maybe it's just Benton Kerr. Maybe the whole thing is Benton Kerr. I know maybe it's just all Benton Kerr.

15:21Jack:I mean, he's brought Polinia back in from the sidelines as well. He'd sort of been pushed out of the side a bit. I can't remember if Tudor really used him as a go-to player, at least anyway. I mean he's another one that deserves a shout out for the weekend because he was absolutely phenomenal Polinia as well just bizarrely so yeah you don't wash your jersey during a win streak you don't switch seats when your team's up big and you definitely don't shave during the playoffs when things are working you don't change them that's why when you drink Jägermeister you drink it ice cold anything else? well that'd just be bad luck drink it cold or don't drink it at all Jägermeister damn that's cold drink responsibly jägermeister liqueur 35 alcohol by volume imported by mass jägermeister u.s white plains new york yeah i i mean i always felt he would come in under under the zerby at some point because it just feels like his guy like his and and do you see the do you see the post-match presser with deserve it where he talked about talked about this talked about the grabbing of the chest you should see like the excitement on his face and he quotes fantastic he said like i see this and he said i just go crazy and i'm like i quite enjoyed that it's uh so yeah look desire makes a big difference i don't know in i think it was in the first half there was um i think it was rogers trying to get through behind and and van der Ven done what used to be quite a trademark of just flies across the pitch absolutely glides at a million miles an hour and just sweeps the ball off and and off they go and I was like, I cannot remember the last time I saw one of those bits where Van der Ven just came, that was trademarked.

17:09We really got used to it. It's one of the things we used to love seeing was that the ball would go down the right-hand channel when it's off he'd come from his left side, fly across and take the ball across. And I was like, I genuinely can't remember the last time I saw that.

17:24Jack:He has looked a lot more composed, hasn't he, the past couple of games? It's the desire. is the elephant in the room here Christian Romero not being in the side because Kevin Dancer has come in and looked a pretty solid assured player and I'm not quick to jump on the narrative I know Christian Romero is annoying in many ways but I do still think he is an elite centre back so I'm I don't always like to jump on the whole kind of you know we're better off without him stuff however it does feel like there's maybe a level of composure to everything that we perhaps don't get with him as much as i do think his kind of emotional flailing is overstated at times and i've gone on about sky building this narrative around him it is kind of undeniable that he does get flustered and he does lose his head sometimes i think i think from a defensive point of view of course is having palina in the team is having dancer in the team going to improve view defensively and make you more solid yes but on the flip side what i don't think we do right now do know sorry what i think we don't know right now is what happens if we get punched in the mouth because yeah our actual attacking numbers in terms of the amount of shots that we're taking like the expected goals that we're creating they're low so even even during these last four games there's only walls fulham and burnley that have created less xg than us in the last four games that's uh that's some uh some grand company we're in there yeah well it's not a lot now it's to be expected without uh without a naturally creative player isn't it to a degree we're grinding and that's that's you know so so as much as is um is danzo the right dog for the fight right now rather than Romero probably but if we were 1-0 down would we start getting a lot more frustrated with Dan so with Polina and all those type stuff and this is a lot of the conversation right because there is naturally going to be talk as we come towards the end of the season especially if we stay up what happens to a Polina what happens to a Rando Calamuani because these are two players that we do have on loan and there has already I've seen some talk the past couple of days that De Zerbe would like both of them to stay permanently now we know there's a hell of a lot of discourse around Polinia and the type of team he makes Tottenham in the respect that fine Polinia is great as we're talking about right now so this type of situation that we find ourselves in when we need some fight when we need some solidity we need to ensure that the other team aren't scoring goals against us but if we want to you know look down the road at them, if you like, and say, we want to be the team that's trying to win the Premier League again, like we were under Maurizio Pochettino.

20:18Jack:Do we achieve that with players like Polini, in particular, Polini or Gallagher? Those are the two sort of names that are generally seen as like the horsemen of the attacking apocalypse, aren't they, really? But I think you shouldn't forget that that deservedly signed Milner. Was that one of his? That was one of his. yeah so is is like i don't know what was he that he was 37 he's he's always been 37 as far he he was he was 16 and then he was 37 and that's that's james milner you know that's it but so it doesn't surprise me like even the the links out there that suggest that we've got like a pre-arrangement with Andy Robertson and like maybe he just thinks well actually as squad guys having the likes of Apollina seeing the grabbing of the shirt the pumping of the fist is that good for the likes of Archie Gray yes is an Anamopson good for the likes of the development of the doggy yes does Dan so in in his ways tell Romero do you know what mate you do need to head the ball occasionally it is a squad game I guess the question is do you need as big a squad next season let's just say we do stay up do you need as big a squad when you're only going to potentially play low 40s in terms of the number of games that we play because we won't be in Europe when you've got a week to prepare between each game we're getting ahead of ourselves let's just stay up well yeah exactly this is this is the thing isn't it right now because i would say spurs are this is it's such for me it's such a pronounced crossroads because i've i have been i've been blown away by the level that spurs have been playing at under under deserby i just you know it just in the in the very if we look at kind of like the structure of the performance and the vibes of the performance against Aston Villa.

22:27Jack:It's up there with some of the best football I've seen at Tottenham. Honestly, in years, it was really, really, you know, mind-blowing to me. And I look at De Zerbe and I think this is what he's achieving with a squad that is completely or has been completely shot for confidence, is completely shot for fitness. if if the board and it's a big if if the board learned from this season the huge warning sign that's been given to them this season if this is if Spurs stay up we could really build something incredible with him and I look at this guy and I think wow the you know the only way is up right and we can start dreaming about big things again but the flip side of this is relegation and that's the abyss for Tottenham that's financial hardship that's selling lots of players that's a huge period of uncertainty whether we come straight back up or not it definitely definitely completely alters the outlook of the football club for quite some time I would say so it's it's it's just it's really it's really quite pronounced this kind of position that we find ourselves in and it's one that it's hard to get a real kind of because as we keep saying here you know we can we can talk about the squad and we can talk about what this means going forwards but it almost feels like it doesn't really matter right now what really matters is game by game taking each game as it comes great we're out of the relegation zone that's brilliant and that is good I would imagine for vibes and for mentality however it means nothing if West Ham if West Ham get a draw against Arsenal or even win against Arsenal, which I can't really see happening, but could happen and we don't beat Leeds, then it's back on again, isn't it?

24:20Yeah. I mean, the positive for us is it might only be this game, mightn't it? This Leeds game might be the only game that matters for us. We might be up just from one game because how the fixtures are kind of playing out quite well to us is we know the hands of our opponents by the time we play. So obviously West Ham play Arsenal before we play. If they lose and we win, then we have four points with two games to go. And then they play Newcastle before we play, and that's a way. So if they lose that game, then we can do whatever we like against Chelsea and Everton because they can't catch us.

25:09So that's, I think that's, you know, it's just really fortunate for us in terms of how the games have played out because, and we've got plenty of time, not only a little bit of time, because obviously you've got, it's the West Ham Arsenal game Sunday 4.30, but then obviously we're Monday night, eight o 'clock. The other thing is just to note of how well this is playing out for us in a way that some people might say is a conspiracy. We can talk about that. If Arsenal beat West Ham, then obviously there's no chance. Even the 0 % chance of Leeds going down becomes 100 % 0%. There's zero chance. Cannot possibly go down.

25:50So therefore, the motivation for Leeds, suddenly they might turn up with their pina coladas, ready for the beach, which has turned out well for us. And then our game against Chelsea has been moved to the Tuesday which means we get a whole which is a whole 48 hours after Newcastle play West Ham.

26:10Jack:If we talk about their respective form as well like you've already said Gamera's is back for Newcastle who have been in stinking form but they've started to pick up again. Gamera and Joe Linton, Anton Ali the whole midfield three are back. Can they chase down? I don't think they can chase down Europe anymore can they? but they can play for a bit of pride can't they at least and then and then you know interestingly the news comes out that eddie howe because there's been a lot of talk about will eddie howe come or like will he go anything like that so that so the news is that eddie howe will stay so suddenly that news comes out they're at home guess what happens they win i mean to be to be fair if brentford and Bournemouth have a bit of a stinker and a few of those teams do, they could maybe break into the top seven.

26:58Jack:They could maybe get Europa Conference League, but it's unlikely. It's unlikely. It's very unlikely, but... It's still the last home game of the season with their big midfield freeback. This might be it. We talked a lot about it will definitely go down to Everton. It might not even go down to Chelsea. I mean, Chelsea, I know they look chaotic at the moment, but I'd never bank on them not showing up for a game against Tottenham, to be honest. Somebody tweeted me this weekend saying that I'm pretty sure Chelsea Football Club were created merely to be a thorn in the side of Tottenham Hotspur. It's kind of how it feels with them.

27:37Jack:Literally. As soon as I saw Palmer miss that penalty yesterday, I thought, I know what's coming now. When everyone starts saying, oh, Palmer's not going to the World Cup, maybe he should go to the World Cup and do all that. I'm like, we know what happens when he plays us. but it might not go that far. I guess the question is, therefore, would we mind if West Ham and Arsenal drew this weekend? I think the main... Can we be green, D? I don't, I just, I get it. I know that Arsenal winning stuff is horrible and unpleasant, but I do think this whole experience has just made me really appreciate that I definitely love Spurs more than I hate Arsenal.

28:20Jack:And I always felt that the two were kind of pretty evenly balanced, but I will be hoping that Arsenal win against West Ham. I've got to say, you know, I just, I, the thing is, part of this is I've seen Arsenal win that thing. I've seen them win it at White Hart Lane. You know, I was literally there as they were doing it. Like, it's not nice, but that's kind of, that's the bad thing that's happened. And Arsenal, the reality is, it's not really worth getting all upset about it to a degree because they are a big football club that spends loads of money. It's going to happen sooner or later. They are going to win the league at some point.

29:00And if anything, it should just act as a template for Tottenham,

29:05Jack:a club with similar sized resources to Arsenal, that you can achieve this if you prioritize sporting success. If you don't prioritize a partnership with the NFL or concerts or fucking go-kart tracks, if you actually remind yourselves that you're a football club and you want to compete as one, then you can do that. You know, you don't have to just inherit a good play. Again, somebody got tweeted at me, if Spurs had been in Arsenal's position, we would have had Saka and Odegaard and said, yeah, that's enough. You know, we'll do all right there. But they've built year on year on year. This was going to happen.

29:47Jack:What shouldn't be happening is Spurs getting relegated. No. And it's not entitlement. It's a complete catastrophic failure if Spurs go down. It's not just the natural order of things. It's appalling. Whereas you could argue Arsenal winning something is the natural order of things because it was going to happen sooner or later. And it's probably over, Julie. I haven't done it for 20-something years now. I don't know. I agree. Because it just, strangely, with some more optimism of what we've seen under De Zerbe, and also, you know, as you watched Man United yesterday, when they went 2-0 up, I was thinking to myself, God, like, this is comfortably the third best team in this league.

30:34And obviously, they ended up scraping down 3-2, but they probably still are comfortably the third best team in this league. Well, look where they were. Look where they were a year ago. They were where we were. Now, they spent 200 million on three attackers. That's really what they've done. Their defence is still... Their defence still isn't as good. When you look at the individuals, they would take Poirot. They would take Romero. They would take Van der Fede. If Destiniel Degui was fit, they'd take him to... It'd probably be an argument that him versus Dorgou, you know, in terms of talent. But there's not a huge difference between those guys.

31:07Jack:equi-talented, aren't they? But most of those defenders, we would take them over this, but they've kept that. They're still rolling out Maguire and guys like that every single week. They're absolutely reliant on Casemiro in centre midfield. They've got guys like Agate, who we hate when it's like, oh, we haven't got the passing. Agate is literally a criminal against football. Yeah, they still put him out and they're going to finish third. And one of the massive reasons for that is they've played 20 less games than us. It's huge. 20 less games equals a crap load less injuries. It equals much more time on the training ground to work on the work they work with.

31:46It's no coincidence that in these current weeks where actually we are having almost like a week between games, De Zerbe is managing to make huge strides. I have much, much higher trust De Zerbe than I would have Amorim, than I do even carry, is we have got a world-class coach. And you think if you give this guy a Premier League and we back him in the way that he wants on this summer, the bounce back could be so strong. And then when you get that optimism, you're like, we're either so high, or we're completely fucked. And so, yeah, I think we have to cheer on Arsenal this weekend. I mean, it's just...

32:25It also makes a big difference, because obviously if Arsenal win, even if we draw against Leeds, that gap becomes two points. Now, why that gap's important if it's two points is it then means if we draw one of our games, it's probably enough. Probably enough. A draw is probably then enough because our goal difference is so much better than West Ham's.

32:45Jack:What are we on? We've got about 10 goals difference. 10 goals on them, yeah. Yeah, so if we stretch that lead to even two points and then they lose to Newcastle, all we then have to do is draw one of our last two games. That feels slightly more manageable. significant isn't it it's just this villa game is i hope it doesn't give everybody like a false sense of security and i can't imagine deserve you would allow that type of thing to happen but i would say just on a fan level the sort of constant terror and panic that i felt for the past few weeks has almost completely disappeared which isn't good there's a long way to go still there's still matches to come but that Villa Park Villa Park win just feels so significant in the context of this season overall and in this instance I mean let's let's let's talk about this while we are here because obviously there's a lot of dissenting voices about that performance we're not just talking like West Ham YouTubers and stuff we're talking about you know supposedly respected journalists and things calling into question the integrity of the Premier League of Aston Villa's fight and all that type of stuff right I mean up until this point it's been pretty standard service hasn't it for a club to rest players ahead of a significant cup game Villa you could argue have probably quite comfortably got Champions League qualifications sorted through the league I know Bournemouth are starting to breathe down their necks a bit but they should probably do it if they manage to get through this game against Forest they've got Burnley this weekend yeah I mean it should be done a point versus Burnley and then Bournemouth have to beat Man City it's done so are we sort of saying that they're this whole thing is just nonsense, really?

34:47Jack:Because, I mean, it completely is. And I also think it really devalues quite how good Spurs were in that match as well. And also how many injuries we have, how ravaged our squad is. Yeah, look, there's a million ways in which you can cut it, which doesn't add up to anything of any tangible value. Like, if you say, oh, they were without, like, seven of their players that they would normally play. You're like, we've done that all season, mate. but that's our whole season and nobody's nobody's been you know when they've been talking about Tottenham going down they're not saying oh I feel so sorry for them they're not there's no sympathy for it so and then you go well nobody's talking about Forrest being in disrepute but Forrest made eight changes yesterday when Villa made seven Jamie Carragher literally said he commended it that he admired the bravery of them rotating the squad in that fashion yeah so So what you are talking about is the application of the Villa players that played.

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35:46That's not our problem. And some of the reasons why Villa are in that position, let's talk about Aston Villa for any stage. Aston Villa have been walking a PSR tightrope for the last three years. Aston Villa have been doing dodgy swap deals on their transfers, the ones that they were doing back and forth with Newcastle to just manage to keep themselves out of getting bans. as an underhand club we're going to talk about the stuff they've done they've spent all their time getting rid of their youth, getting rid of their squad because of their PSR troubles, so what are we supposed to do feel sympathy for them when they guess what, when they make changes they've got no reserves because they've had to sell them all off it's just like yes you can call in you should probably call in some light that the context of how Villa are running.

36:41They run on fumes. It's such a remarkable model. That's why Unai Emery is so highly thought of is that they gamble it all. If you imagine last season, there were a team that were fully up against it of facing down the barrel of a PSR fine. So what did they do? They went in January and they signed Asensio and Rashford. Two guys on over 200 grand a week on wages with the gamble that it will get them into Europe that they would make some more money and it will keep them in the position they did. And Unai Murray says, I'll just get it. And they just did it. And they got themselves into Europe, just about managed to get there.

37:22And now they're doing it again. You know, Unai Murray has run that squad on absolute fumes for the last two seasons to incredible success. Every season, I think, they are going to fall. I always think to myself, Villa at some point, PSR will catch up with them and they will fall off a cliff and get relegated. Yet somehow, here we are again. Not only are they in the semi-final of a European competition, but they were able to rest seven players and will still qualify for the Champions League. It's just what it is. Ernaumer has got to give some guys a rest at some point.

38:01Jack:Did you hear the atmosphere at Villa Park? I mean, it was pretty fiery considering, like you said, the whole context of the season that they're having right now. You know, it could be on the verge of a pretty historic season and seeing a lot of their sort of Emery, you know, isn't built for this. I don't know, whatever crap, fans say stuff, I get that. But with talk of like Real Madrid sniffing around him and as you say, Villa having their own issues with PSR and everything like that, there's that opportunity there for Spurs to, if they stay up, and if they sort their shit out, to capitalise on that, right?

38:41Jack:Because I can't see Villa. Who are Villa going to bring in if Emery goes? You know? And I think if there is some, if there's anybody questioning what he's achieved at Aston Villa, they're stupid because he's been unbelievable. And I think they will fall by the wayside if he goes. I don't know who steps into that job and does anything remotely close to as good does what he's done at Villa. And they just haven't got, they won't have the money. Obviously, they can sell Morgan Rodgers for a lot of money. But Watkins' value just devalues and devalues every season to the point that you wouldn't get a huge amount of money for him.

39:15Emi Martinez is older and older, like as a keeper. What are you going to get for him? It's only going to be Saudi money if you're going to go to Emi. And then you look around the rest of it. Konza, they could get some money. But the rest of them, Matty Cash is never in salt. Luca Dina, you know what I mean? These guys, Mings. I'd have Buendia. You wouldn't pay a lot of money for him, though. If we said we were spending 50 million quid for him.

39:36Jack:He's way older than I thought he was. I thought Buendia was going to be 24, 25. No, they're all... It's turning 30. Mate, there's no sell-on value in Villa's squad. They are literally running the leanest machine you can do. So guess what? When they make changes, it falls apart. But what happened on the weekend is a natural occurrence of a squad that has been absolutely run ragged. Now, will Villa fans accept that? Absolutely not. If there's one set of fans that won't, I don't know if you, obviously in the fantasy football, we see a lot, but the XG philosophy and Villa fans had a really argumentative relationship, shall we say, for the first half of the season, where for the majority of the season, Wolves have been expected to have better results than Villa based on performances.

40:30But Villa just kept massively over-performing. So every week the XG philosophy would be like, they can't keep getting away with it, can't keep getting away with it. And the Villa fans would be like, XG's a myth, it doesn't exist.

40:44Jack:Correct me if I'm wrong, but we were that team for quite a while, weren't we? Until we did stop getting away with it. We were the team that were getting away with it until we won. so you are 100 % right if we stay up Villa are going to be in Europe again you'd fancy it Chelsea are in free fall it's a mess Chelsea look like they could beat us next season you know Liverpool got a lot of work to do Bournemouth are losing Irreola if Arsenal win one of the big ones if Arsenal win one or both of the big ones do they maintain this sort of level of intensity yeah Palace lose Glasner I don't think Marco Silva signed at Fulham yet.

41:24Everton have jammed their way to what they've done. Really unbelievably, you know, Moyes has done obviously a very, very good job.

41:31Jack:It's what he does though, isn't it? You know, they're good, they're solid, but they're not particularly outstanding. Opportunity is there. If he could just stay up, the opportunity is there. This is what I'm saying, mate. The crossroads, the crossroads. It would only be Tottenham this way. It feels... But we say this and you know what happens with Enoch, don't you? they'll say, oh, well, you know, you did a good job keeping Tottenham up, didn't you? And you won at Villa Park. Well, you've got Kulisevsky and Maddison coming back, so you'll be fine. You know, they better not. They better not. Can you imagine how much Langer and Vinay are going to be patting themselves over the back, though, about deserving?

42:08Look, if we stay up, they can do more to themselves if they want to.

42:14Jack:They're going to. Yeah. We win five games. you get your haircut we'll have a good time I'm sure you've seen Tony Bloom since stepping in to I think he owns about 29 % of hearts now looks like he could be on the verge of history I mean look there's a lot more to it than just Tony Bloom but you can't help but notice a correlation between the guy coming in with his data model to drive hearts into the midst of the old firm and disrupt things. Do you know much about what the actual model is? What it is that he's doing and why a club the size of Spurs can't be doing that? If we are talking about Spurs staying up and we're talking about how we approach the league next season, because we love digging out Langer, we love digging out Venkateshian.

43:08Jack:And there's sort of slightly, you know, should we say mixed chat around us if we stay up bringing somebody like Andy Robertson into the team and everything like that you know it feels not very ambitious really in its scope and in its imagination what is somebody like bloom doing how is he managing to because you can't argue with somebody that has turned bright and number one into the sort of team they were like for most of my life bright and were what fucking like league one side let alone a championship side they've come up and they're a team that qualifies for europe in the premier league now they're They're a team that if things went their way, I wouldn't say it would be ridiculous to suggest that Brighton could finish in the top four nowadays.

43:52Jack:You could see that happening. You could see that happening quite easily. And again, like I say, Hearts are going to be on the verge of winning their first title since the 50s, if memory serves. Yeah. I mean, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, 6th, 7th, 8th, all very similar models in terms of working. And I guess it's just, look, where they're quite lucky is you know smart people recognize smart people so they get they get the right guys um and if you align the right guys with the right manager recruitment's good and look sometimes you have to also get a bit lucky in terms of these guys hit we've had you know there's been some purchases where we've made purchases and you've gone i'm really excited about that purchase but somehow we managed to somehow we managed to spurs them up it doesn't quite play out that way whereas their hit rates definitely have been much stronger than what we have.

44:45But they're also brave enough to do enough moves. So with Brighton, if you think about it, they spent like 50 million quid on the two young Greek strikers who we've seen very, very little of. They're willing to be brave enough to be like, we'll keep plowing into this and we'll see what we get from it. They turned down an offer for like 75 million for Belieber and then Belieber completely falls out of the team. And probably if they'd sold Belieber at Christmas, probably couldn't have got 30 million quid for Belieber. Now he's starting to get back in the team a little bit more. He plays a little bit.

45:19But they're not without mistakes, these guys, but they're brave enough and their fans are brave enough to sort of embrace in the project, embrace in the, okay, we'll all keep trying. I think with us, a lot of the times is, if you think about leaving Gallagher, for example, as a 30 million pound player, If you think about the amount we talk about, we've talked about it continuously. Not the right profile, not the right guy, not this, not that. Doesn't do this, doesn't do that, doesn't do that.

45:50We, as fans, we often, I think in Tottenham, we massively over concentrate on how every pound is spent and how successful that pound should be. As opposed to be saying, we'll get that guy in, but we should also go and get some more. and one of the reasons is probably why we don't is because we also we're a pretty poor selling club that's also not helped so I think at the moment we look around and we say you know is we've got lots of good young talent in one of the things that we need to do is better at moving it on so like Pape Sarr if he ain't starting when we need him in this run-in he gotta go

46:24Jack:What about what about Archie Gray there's been a lot a lot of discourse about him past few days Probably young enough that we probably wouldn't necessarily but it depends but if If De Zerbe says, you know what, we're better to make some money on this guy and bring them in, some new guys in, we need to be much more embracing of that. That's definitely what Tony Bloom will do with Brighton is they'll continually sell people. We don't sell enough guys. I mean it was it was done in a very different way but a sort of proto version of that still came from somebody like Alex Ferguson at least at its core back in the day that Manchester United team was constantly being reinvented, rejuvenated, refreshed with new talent and he was never scared to chuck he fucking got rid of David Beckham when he was the biggest player on the face of the planet you know he got rid of Yap Stamm when he was one of the best defenders in the world he wasn't afraid to do that type of thing and like you say it feels like spurs have been i mean and tanker is a bad example because he's come in and he's been pretty transformative in in in this latter stage of the season but there was that bit of me when we gave him a new contract at you know midway through the year when i thought what are we doing why why are we doing this again why did we give romero a new contract why are we clinging on to this guy that wants out like he is great yeah i get it but why have we done that why have we made him captain he's been courting like atletico madrid all summer you know things like that that you just think we don't need to make everything such a struggle all the time do we like if we just get a bit more grown up about it and realize that this type of thing happens players come and go that's the very nature of the sport that we're we're in especially with successful teams and and i do agree with you i think it is different i think and i really do stand by that i think it's i do think it's different for clubs like brentford's brighton and bournemouth in particular because they have uh there's much less scrutiny on them than tottenham yeah you know because it's not just us it's not just us saying gallagher's this gallagher's that spurs have a couple of bad games and you've got it's a main ticker piece on talk sport or on sky sports or or wherever you know there's always going to be conversation there around Tottenham and what they're doing and where it's going wrong and they have these lofty ideas of being a big team but they're not they're actually useless but then when we are useless we should be doing better than that Tottenham have spent all this money you know we sort of find ourselves in this position where we can't really please anybody and nobody leaves us alone long enough to actually figure out who we are or what we should be doing um but that's the nature of the game, isn't it?

49:04Jack:Arsenal have managed it, so there's no real reason why Spurs shouldn't be able to, I don't think. Arsenal's success, if you call it success, being second multiple times, which we would very much take right now, it followed a huge clear-out of being very much a selling club. Put themselves to a position where they had virtually no squad and then have added to it you know, since then. And look, most of the guys they buy, their fans are not particularly happy with. You see when Maduweki starts versus when Saka starts, how annoyed they are. Like at Maduweki, there's a lot of frustration to many of their players.

49:47There's a lot of their guys haven't hit. You know, they spent a lot of money on Gabriel Jesus, has never really hit.

49:55There's lots and lots of players that they spent big money on. They don't all hit. I think the one thing with us and what we can learn with some of these clubs is like spend less worry on yes definitely that must be the best purchase on earth and that's how i must spend it we spend so much time whenever we were linked with someone we get you get the lazy tropes of that'll be another locelso that'll be another and donbele like as soon as we get linked with someone it'll be that'll be like that person so if we're not progressive in the way that we think on transfers then it just all spills through throughout the organization.

50:29Because if you are one of those recruitment guys, you're like, okay, so if I identify this guy, he's just going to have an, oh, what have I got to do on my search? And I'm going to go, well, I can't have someone that has, first thing I must do is I can't have an N followed by a consonant. They've got to go straight out of the window. They've got to go straight out of the window. Can't have those in the recruitment. They've got to get rid of them. We can't go and buy them and die. That's not happening. That's not happening. It's too close, too close to Clinton and G. But we do. We're lazy with it.

51:02Let's just beat Brighton. Let's beat Leeds.

51:05Jack:I know. Beat Chelsea. Beat them all. Five. Beat them all. Five games, then I'll get the hair gel out and it's, you know, it's sorted. And I stand by that. I'll do that. Even though I've got such luscious locks at the moment. Baker, it's always a pleasure talking to you, mate. If people enjoy listening to you and they don't want to listen to me anymore, where can people listen to you more so i do a fantasy football podcast above average fpl got little coasters you got any coasters get some coasters i don't i don't have coasters look at the coasters um and um uh yes we uh if you're very fpl related we do a stream on a thursday night which is just about like our team and our preview of the week still useful i think for us to talk because we'll use a lot of the betting data for the preview in the weekends, how we expect most of the games to go.

51:58And then normally on a Sunday night, I say normally because it just depends at the moment, some of the pictures are weird, like how to do it when Tottenham are playing at 7 o 'clock, for example. But normally Sunday night, 8.30pm, we'll do our review of the weekend's actions, mostly football with a little bit of FPL.

52:14Jack:Have you seen all the news about this lad who's the top FPL player in the world who says he doesn't really know anything about football and it's the first time he's ever given it a go. That's how it happens every year. That's how it happens every year. Every year you think to yourself, not only that, through the year as well, what you'll do is clever people will do scrapes of the site and do that and they'll find teams that basically created their team in July, forgot about it, and they're like 100th in the world. And you're like, what the fuck am I doing? I'm stressing over this game every week.

52:47I'm working out my decisions, trying to do, and there's some guy that just made it in July, forgot he'd done it, has done nothing with the team since, he's just been sitting there as a dead team, but it's still beating you. And you're like, yeah. You need a lot of luck in football. You need a lot of luck in football.

53:01Jack:I always find FPL quite a chastening experience, if I'm honest, and I have done for most of my life because I always sort of tend to think, yeah, I know a fair bit about football. I've got a good sense of players. I'm just always awful. I always do really, really badly. Past doing something like, right, I'll stick Haaland in my team and make him captain. because that's going to be loads of points. You know, it just doesn't work. It just doesn't work in the same way. I think, you know, I think too often I try to build a team that I think would work as a team, if that makes sense. That's 100 % what millions of people do.

53:35And I hope millions of people continue to do because it helps all of us to be better at the game. But you'll see it. The only way they do it, they line it up on the system. It's like, oh, I'll put my right wing on the right of the screen and my left wing on the left of the screen and do all that stuff. why can't I move it they start swiping around on the screen trying to move it

53:52Jack:it's almost unpleasant though when the players aren't in their correct positions just to look at yeah all the colours don't line up they're all over they're seeing them everywhere don't like to see me the likes of me down there in the mud concerning myself with all that whereas you there with your coasters with your coasters saying ha ha ha look at them I'm top of my work we've got to get you up there mate Windy's pretty good at it so you've got to take him down as the top Spurs FPL guy. All right. That's the challenge. Next season. Next season. Is it... Take Wendy down. EFL focused? Is that what...

54:28Jack:No, that's not... There's an EFL game called Gaffer. We can do that. Sounds proper... Proper Yadah, that, doesn't it? Anyway. Baker, much love, mate. Thank you.

54:48Thank you.

From the publisher

Jack is joined by Baker to celebrate a genuinely massive, potentially season-altering victory as Tottenham Hotspur's win at Villa Park lifts them out of the Premier League relegation zone. Pushing back against the incredibly lazy outside narrative that a heavily rotated Villa side simply 'threw the game', the lads choose instead to focus on the undeniable tactical and mental improvements shown by Spurs. We explore the growing influence of Roberto De Zerbi, dissecting Conor Gallagher's revealing post-match comments about the manager's emotional intelligence and the one-on-one man-management that finally seems to be inspiring a broken dressing room.

With the sheer terror of the drop slightly easing, Jack and Baker look ahead to the nerve-wracking final run-in. We compare Tottenham's remaining fixtures against Leeds, Chelsea, and Everton with West Ham's daunting schedule, asking when we can actually let ourselves believe that survival is secured.

There's also time for debating whether the all-consuming, exhausting dread of a relegation dogfight has actually provided a strange silver lining by completely numbing us to the pain of Arsenal's pursuit of major trophies.

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