Outscoring the opposition was the mentality at Tottenham final season however now the main focus is on protecting out objectives on the different finish of the pitch.
Tuesday’s 1-0 win towards Villarreal in Spurs’ Champions League opener was the fourth clear sheet they’d stored in 5 video games thus far this season beneath Thomas Frank.
In distinction, they’d stored only one on the similar stage of final season, when the extra attack-minded Ange Postecoglou was in cost.
“We talked so much about ‘clear sheet mentality’ this yr as a result of we conceded so much final yr,” Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall advised Amazon Prime.
“They [Villarreal] didn’t have a shot on track, so we did a very good job.”
Defender Micky van de Ven added: “I believe we’re a troublesome staff to play towards, for positive. Construction-wise we’re standing actually good and everyone knows what to do, so we’re a troublesome staff to beat.”
The model of Frank’s Tottenham aspect towards Villarreal was in stark distinction to the swashbuckling soccer performed beneath Postecoglou.
They have been way more cautious, even after being gifted a fourth-minute opener due to a calamitous mistake by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior.
However their defence was wonderful, with Van de Ven in notably halting most of Villarreal’s assaults.
Although the guests had 10 pictures, Guglielmo Vicario did not have a save to make all through.
The value for that stage of pragmatism was that Tottenham themselves solely had one shot on track – little or no for the house followers to get enthusiastic about.
“We defended rather well and gave little away all through the sport towards a very good Villarreal aspect,” Frank stated.
“I believe offensively we did not hit the best stage. There was positively a spell second half the place we determined let’s give it to the Villarreal guys after which we’ll dash again, that is an excellent enjoyable factor.
“It was a really even sport that we simply edged.”
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