Lewis Holtby says Andre Villas-Boas has created a siege mentality within the Tottenham dressing room.
Villas-Boas last week claimed that Spurs were the victims of an agenda and that ‘us against the world’ attitude is creating a special bond between his squad.
The Tottenham manager’s position remains under scrutiny despite last night’s 2-1 win at Fulham but his relationship with his players appears stronger than ever.
Holtby, who scored the winner at Craven Cottage as Spurs won in the Premier League for the first time since October, says everyone is fully behind their manager.
“There is a lot of negativity coming from outside but we are all sticking together,” he said. “We are not discussing things that are happening outside, that is not our job. Bringing this bad mood into the team will not help.”
Asked whether that mentality comes from Villas-Boas, midfielder Holtby said: “Definitely. He bonds us together and is very close to the team. Everyone accepts him and his way of playing football. We all stick behind the gaffer and give our best for him.
“If you go to the training ground every day, the team spirit is very high. We were all responsible for that disaster at Manchester City but the way we responded since then has been good. We have to carry on doing that.”
Tottenham play at Sunderland on Saturday and Holtby said: “Last season we did really well during this period and got ourselves high up the table. The fixtures we have are important now and there is a possibility of getting a lot of points.”
Jan Vertonghen will have his swollen ankle assessed today and is a doubt for Saurday’s match.
