Manager Roberto de Zerbi has urged Tottenham to “silence the voice inside of us” as the club battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Despite posting their first league win of 2026 against bottom side Wolves last weekend, Spurs remain in the relegation zone and are two points behind 17th-placed West Ham with four games remaining.
They take on fifth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday before facing Leeds United, Chelsea and Everton as they bid to avoid their first relegation since 1977.
Speaking before the trip to Villa Park, De Zerbi delivered an impassioned, four-minute monologue at the start of his news conference, insisting negativity has become Tottenham’s biggest opponent during their dismal run of form.
“The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us, inside of the players, inside the staff and the fans,” said De Zerbi, who became Spurs’ third boss of the season in March.
“This voice produces negative thoughts and the voice says we are unlucky, we have too many injuries. We lost Xavi Simons and he was in the last two games one of the most important players for us.
“Our medical staff is not good enough, the pitch of the stadium is not good, our training pitch is not good. Winning two or three games in a row is impossible because we hadn’t won a game in 2026. I think it’s all negative things and it’s rubbish.
“It’s like we’re all crying and relegated. No, not yet. We have to die on the pitch.
“We have to play, we have to fight, we have two points less than West Ham. They have to play a difficult game like us.
“It’s not the best moment for us, a tough moment, but the losers cry, they think negative and I don’t want people close to me crying or to think a different way than me.”
‘Maddison can be important’ in survival fight
Netherlands attacking midfielder Simons has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Wolves – and joined a lengthy Spurs injury list.
Striker Dominic Solanke also went off at Molineux with a hamstring injury, while goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario will also be unavailable against Villa – with Ben Davies, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Cristian Romero among long-term absentees.
“I want to keep the focus on ourselves and the quality of my players,” De Zerbi said.
“We go to play against one of the best teams in this moment Premier League, but if Tottenham win at Villa Park it’s not a miracle. Maybe we lose but we have the quality to win this game. It’s not a miracle. We have to be positive.
“If Xavi and Solanke are injured we can play with [Randal] Kolo Muani, [Mathys] Tel, Richarlison… they are different but very good players. All these things – I don’t have too much time to hear these things.
“We are good enough to win the games and to stay up and then we will see because it’s the unique way. The way I know is to work hard, give my best, to trust in my idea of the players, their confidence and to be realistic.”
However, one player close to returning from a long-term injury is James Maddison.
The England playmaker has not featured this season because of an ACL injury but was named on the bench against both Brighton and Wolves.
“I would like to play with Maddison because he is a special player but we have to consider physical condition, a lot of things. But I think he can be important in the next three games,” De Zerbi said.