Roberto de Zerbi had called on Tottenham Hotspur to silence the voices inside the club as this traumatic, turbulent season reached the point of no return.
The new head coach referred to the negativity surrounding Spurs as he attempted to mount a late salvage operation and avoid the prospect of the most embarrassing relegation in Premier League history.
And how his players responded to the Italian’s emotional call to arms with their finest display of the campaign, securing a hugely deserved 2-1 victory at Aston Villa that leapfrogged them over West Ham and out of the relegation zone.
This was so emphatic, so transformed from what had been served up before De Zerbi’s appointment on 31 March, that it was fair to ask pertinent questions.
Not just where this version of Spurs has been all season, but more significantly – was this the moment the tide turned for them as they bid to dodge the drop into the Championship?
West Ham’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford on Saturday had left the door ajar, adding weight to De Zerbi’s rallying cry, but those who have observed Spurs on a regular basis this season could not have expected them to burst through it so forcefully.
There was something in the air before kick-off, from the moment Unai Emery’s Aston Villa line-up was revealed – showing seven changes from the side that lost at Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final – to the thunderous reception the players received from their travelling fans as they came out to warm up.
Emery’s teamsheet included defensive trio Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne, as well as top scorer Ollie Watkins, dropped to the bench.
It was effectively a letter of encouragement to Spurs, and a sign the Spaniard and Villa’s priority was firmly on overturning that 1-0 first-leg deficit against Forest in Thursday’s home return.
Their eye was not on the ball here – and how Villa’s fans let them know it with a furious reaction at half-time and at the final whistle. Not that many were left at the end.
Emery’s selection, considering his fifth-placed side were looking to confirm a place in next season’s Champions League, would certainly have been greeted with sinking hearts in east London, where West Ham would have been looking to Villa for a favour in the battle for survival.
Following on from last weekend’s vital win at Wolves, De Zerbi had said: “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. 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.”