Outscoring the opponents was the mentality at Tottenham last season but now the priority is on preventing goals at the other end of the field.
Tuesday's narrow win over Villarreal in Spurs' UCL opener was the yet another clean sheet they had achieved in five games to date.
By comparison, they had kept just one at the same stage of last season, when the more attack-minded their previous manager was in charge.
“We discussed a lot about 'clean sheet mentality' this year because we conceded a lot last year,” Tottenham midfielder a key player stated.
Star defender Micky van de Ven noted: “I think we are a tough team to play against, without a doubt. Structure-wise we are positioned really good and we all know what to do, so we're a tough team to beat.”
The style of Tottenham against the Yellow Submarine was in stark contrast to the attacking football played during their ex-coach.
They were much more defensive, even after being gifted a fourth-minute opener thanks to a costly mistake by their rivals goalkeeper their number one.
Stronger Backline but at an Offensive Cost?
Tottenham have conceded just the one goal so far - in the one-nil loss to their Premier League rivals.
That is a major improvement on how they kicked off the prior campaign, when they conceded multiple goals in their first five games.
In the English top flight they have kept multiple shutouts already - meaning they are just two from replicating their total for the entire of last season.
The more solid platform is potentially coming at a cost, however, with their single effort on target against their European foes the second time in their last three games they had recorded very limited efforts on goal.
The manager recognizes this is an area that has to get better.
“We have a very good platform to stand on in terms of our defensive structure and I think it's solid and we gave little away,” he said.
“We're playing in the UCL against a good team. Also, I knew we took a step forward against their London rivals, going forward is the area we need to get better.”
