🔗 Share this article

Dominating the rivals was the strategy at the club last season but now the emphasis is on stopping goals at the other end of the field.

Midweek's 1-0 win against Villarreal in the team's UCL debut was the fourth consecutive clean sheet they had kept in five games so far.

Conversely, they had managed just a single at the same stage of last campaign, when the more attack-minded Ange Postecoglou was in control.

“We talked a lot about 'defensive mentality' this year because we let in a lot last year,” the club midfielder one of the stars stated.

Star defender the Dutch international noted: “I think we are a challenging team to play against, definitely. Organisationally we are set up really good and we all know what to do, so we're a hard team to beat.”

The approach of Tottenham against the Yellow Submarine was in sharp contrast to the attacking football played under their ex-coach.

They were much more defensive, even after being handed a quick-fire opener thanks to a calamitous mistake by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior.

Improved Backline but at an Offensive Cost?

The North Londoners have let in a single goal to date - in the one-nil loss to Bournemouth.

That is a major improvement on how they began the last campaign, when they conceded five goals in their first five games.

In the domestic league they have kept three already - meaning they are just a couple short from replicating their total for the complete of last season.

The more stable platform is possibly coming at a cost, however, with their sole attempt on target against Villarreal the second occasion in their last three games they had produced so few efforts on goal.

The manager knows this is an area that has to get better.

“We have a very good base to stand on in terms of our backline setup and I think it's solid and we gave little away,” he said.

“This is the European competition against a quality team. Moreover, I knew we took a step forward against their London rivals, in attack is the area we need to get better.”