Outscoring the opposition was the strategy at the club last season but now the focus is on preventing goals at the other end of the pitch.
Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Spanish side in Tottenham's UCL opener was the fourth clean sheet they had achieved in the first five games to date.
By comparison, they had kept just one solitary at the equivalent stage of last term, when the more forward-thinking Ange Postecoglou was in control.
“We spoke a lot about 'clean sheet mentality' this year because we let in a lot last year,” the club midfielder one of the stars stated.
Center-back Micky van de Ven added: “I think we are a challenging team to play against, definitely. Organisationally we are standing really good and we all know what to do, so we're a difficult team to beat.”
The style of Tottenham against Villarreal was in stark contrast to the free-flowing 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 the opposition goalkeeper Luiz Junior.
Improved Defence but at an Goal-Scoring Cost?
Tottenham have let in only one goal to date - in the one-nil loss to their Premier League rivals.
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 clean sheets already - meaning they are just a couple short from equalling their total for the complete of last season.
The more stable platform is possibly 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 produced very limited efforts on goal.
The head coach acknowledges this is an area that has to improve.
“We have a very good base to stand on in terms of our defensive structure and I think it's solid and we gave little away,” he said.
“We are in the UCL against a good team. Also, I knew we took a stride against West Ham, going forward is the area we need to improve.”
